Financial advisers could be forgiven for neglecting social media in the past.
Nowadays, with consumers increasingly turning to channels like Facebook for company news and social proof, financial marketing can ill afford to ignore these digital channels.
This does not mean, however, that IFAs should take results on social media for granted. When it comes to financial marketing on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, for instance, financial firms either see lots of success engaging with prospects and clients, or very few results.
It depends on your strategy, as well as the investment and effort you put into it. Financial marketing on social media is not easy. Finance is often a dry subject, with no immediately sexy product to visually grab users’ attention. So you need to be creative and persistent.
It must be said, few brands do financial marketing very well. At least, we’ve not seen many. However, there are the rare few exceptions we come across from time to time. These firms see great results, and many IFAs and wealth managers can learn from them.
For most IFAs, financial marketing on social media takes the form of linking to content they’ve published. These firms believe that, by doing so, thousands of people will see their post, click on it, and share it with their own networks. Bluntly, this kind of financial marketing simply will not work.
In fact, Facebook’s algorithm is now set up to punish posts which are link-based. Instagram has now made link-sharing nearly impossible.
Social media marketing takes a lot of listening, and a lot of hard work. Think of your own social life. It took time and effort to forge the friendships and relationships that hold value to you.
If social media is a social platform or arena, therefore, then it will take time and effort as well.
With that said, we’re now going to share some social media resources with you, that should help you in honing your social media for financial marketing.
Free Resources For Social Media & Financial Marketing
Blogs
There are some great blogs out there to keep tabs on, especially since digital marketing is such a fast-moving, changing environment.
Social Media Explorer
A great social media resource, where many of the blog authors have also published books on social and digital marketing.
Hubspot Marketing Blog
Useful for breaking news about social media updates and tips. Also a fantastic source of how-to guides.
Ebooks
Here are some great in-depth, online guides to social media. With a bit of careful thought, it can be fairly easy to apply these general insights to financial marketing for IFAs.
How To Create The Perfect LinkedIn Company Page
With so many financial firms and IFAs looking to reach professionals on LinkedIn, you should find this resource really useful.
Attract More Facebook Customers
Facebook holds huge potential for IFAs as a financial marketing channel. This guide by Hubspot offers some really useful insights into how to leverage it for greater brand exposure, and lead generation.
Moz Beginner’s Guide To Social Media
We really like the content Moz publish on digital marketing, and this guide should help you ease yourself into the subject of social media for business if this is new territory for you.
Videos
TED Talks
We love the content published by TED. Check out this great playlist on social media marketing, and jot down any insights you might be able to apply to your financial marketing.
Lynda: Social Media Marketing
The Lynda educational series on social media is also a useful resource, especially if you’re willing and able to go into considerable depth with the subject.
Podcasts
We really love podcasts, particularly because you can crack on with other tasks whilst you listen to them in the background. Here are a few notable podcasts on social media marketing that you can meaningfully apply to your own financial marketing strategy:
Michael Stelzner (SME)
A notable representative from Social Media Examiner, Michael interviews a wide range of specialists in social media marketing in this great podcast.
Social Pros
This podcast is a regular, fascinating look into how different companies are successfully using social media to promote their brands, and generate new business. Check it out here.
Books
At MarketingAdviser, the majority of us still prefer books as a favourite way to learn. It is commonly claimed that if you read one book a week on a particular topic/area for 5 years, then you will hold an equivalent of a PhD on the subject.
We don’t know if that’s true or not, but certainly reading widely and regularly on financial marketing will not make you a worse marketer!
The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users
Written by the former Chief Evangelist of Apple, Guy Kawasaki. A great resource on social and content marketing, and many helpful insights can be gained from it for your own financial marketing online.
The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Advertising
A great book for showing you how to optimize your Facebook ads.
Likeable Social Media
People tend to recommend you when they like you. Social media posts often go viral because people find the content likeable, as well as the brand that published it. This is no less true for financial marketing. Dave Kerpen shares how to be likeable in this great book.
