Connect, Convince, Convert, and Carry on The Four Cs of Social Media Success

Social media has been widely embraced by a variety of sectors in recent years. But how can social media specifically benefit financial advisors? Consider the four Cs of social media success.

Connect

Connecting is the most widely recognized value proposition of social media tools. By their very nature, social media platforms enable advisors to connect with existing clients and potential prospects. While most advisors understand the potential of these tools, many struggle with proper implementation. Specifically, financial advisors often don’t know how to address privacy regulation concerns. By focusing on intelligence gathering and relationship building opportunities, social media enables financial advisors to connect with prospective clients in a compliant manner.

Convince

There is a major social media opportunity to provide quality content to your niche without selling yourself or your service. By providing advice with regards to the essential financial services, best fit investment strategies and avoiding bad investments and advisors, you can demonstrate your financial expertise. This effort also helps to demonstrate your care and consideration for the particular needs of your clients. In this sense, social media can help you to convince your prospective clients of your trustworthiness and encourage them to engage your services without generating overtly sales-oriented content.

Convert

Social media can be used as a tool to convert prospective clients into long term clients. This is achieved through an enhanced understanding of preferences gleaned through online interaction. Social media users share a great deal of personal information online, offering a window into how they prefer to interact, what sort of communication style they use and where they derive their motivation. This information is critical to the development of a successful advisory relationship. Indeed, advisors often invest a great deal of time and energy through initial client meetings to build trust and understand these personal dynamics. By gaining an understanding of these important factors through social media, financial advisors are much better equipped to convert clients through effective interactions on and off line. The result is a more responsive advisory relationship that facilitates swifter action on your recommendations. Moreover, inspiring trust in your clients adds another dimension of professionalism and credibility that converts prospectives into long term clients.

Carry-on

An often neglected component of the social media toolkit, these platforms can help financial advisors to continue to build long lasting relationships. Financial advisors are well aware that ongoing relationship maintenance is a key part of their business success. Generally, advisors try to stay at the top of their clients minds by sending birthday and holiday cards, issuing newsletters and scheduling an annual review meeting. While these strategies are sometimes successful, they represent a one-way flow of information rather than a genuine relationship building tactic. Social media opens the door for two-way relationship building opportunities. Why not keep abreast of recent developments in your client’s life? An engagement, the birth of a child or the purchase of a new home are both key life milestones and major financial decisions. Social media platforms can help inform you of these developments and leverage your services appropriately.

Finally, carrying on a good relationship requires great communication. Social media opens one more channel of communication between you and your clients. Making yourself available through LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook can help facilitate seamless communication between you and your client.

Connect, convince convert and carry on – four ways social media can help you become a better financial advisor.