Social Media Marketing Tips for Financial Advisors to Grow Their Business

With millions of people using social media daily in the U.S., not leveraging these platforms for your advisory business could mean missing out on valuable growth opportunities. Social media allows financial advisors to engage with prospects and clients on a scale that traditional marketing can’t match. A well-crafted social media strategy can help you build your brand, establish credibility and stand out in a competitive industry. If you’re ready to enhance your marketing efforts and grow your business, here’s how to get started.

Are you looking to expand the marketing of your financial advisor practice? Try SmartAsset AMP, a holistic client prospecting and marketing automation platform.

Social Media Marketing Tips for Financial Advisors

If you’re not using social media yet, or you are but not to its full potential, it’s not too late to rethink your marketing plan.

For Robert Gilliland, Managing Director and Senior Wealth Advisor at Concenture Wealth Management, one of his three approaches to marketing is social media.

“There was a study that came out, that showed that affluent people want to find their trusted advisors via social media. So on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, we’re posting videos, posting our intellectual capital. And those types of things, everyone has access to. So it’s easy, it doesn’t cost a lot, other than time,” Gilliland said of their social media marketing strategy.

To make the most of social media as a tool for your business. here are some marketing tips that can help.

1. Know Your Audience

Social media is such a vast landscape, and new platforms are being created all the time. You could take a scattershot approach and try to target all of them. However, focusing on just one or two channels can be a more effective use of your time and resources.

That’s where knowing your audience comes in. Try asking these questions if you’re not sure which social media platforms you should be using:

• Who is my target audience, demographically speaking?
• What financial problems do they need help with?
• Which social media channels do they use most often?
• Are they primarily consuming written or video content?

Asking these kinds of questions can help you determine which social media platforms to use. They can also help you figure out what kind of content you should be creating to get prospects’ attention.

2. Engage With Clients and Prospects

Client engagement is a focal point of any advisory business. If your clients feel a disconnect, they may decide to move on to a different advisor.

Social media is an excellent way to boost engagement in simple ways. For example, you might post a poll or survey about a specific topic or issue. And you might ask your followers to respond. Or you may simply pose an open-ended question to facilitate a discussion. Replying to comments shows that you’re paying attention, not just posting for posting’s sake.

3. Include a Call to Action

Social media can help you gain a sizable following. But that following may not be worth much if new followers aren’t converting to new clients. You can change that by including a clear call to action (CTA) in your social media posts. For example, say you’re sharing thoughts on a recent study. You can direct followers to read more about the topic on your blog.

Or let’s say you’re interested in expanding your email marketing. You might try a different approach, and include a CTA for followers to sign up for your email list. Or you might use social media to promote a freebie you’re offering on your website, such as a free webinar.

Giving your social media followers an actionable “next step” to take can lead to more opportunities for you to familiarize them with your services.

4. Be Consistent

Consistency is one of the secrets of social media marketing for financial advisors (and other businesses). When you follow a set posting schedule, you can get your followers in the habit of anticipating new updates from you. One way to make this easier is to create a social media calendar.

That applies to email marketing and content marketing, as well. If your social media posts (or email newsletters or blog posts) regularly provide valuable tips or information, your readers are more likely to look forward to them.

5. Create Shareable Content

While your social media content doesn’t necessarily have to go viral to get attention, it does have to be something your current followers are willing to share. When content gets shared on social media, that’s effectively free advertising that can help you to build a larger audience.

What constitutes shareable content? There’s no magic formula but generally, it’s content that’s designed to spark emotion, discussion or debate. In simple terms, it has to be so good that someone reading it just has to share it with friends, family or their own followers on social media.

6. Follow the Rules

Compliance is a necessary aspect of social media marketing for financial advisors. Regulations from the SEC, FINRA and other governing bodies require advisors to avoid false or misleading claims and maintain proper record-keeping of their online activities. Familiarize yourself with platform-specific advertising guidelines, as well. Consulting with your compliance team or legal counsel can help you navigate these requirements while maintaining an engaging presence.

Following these tips can help you build a social presence and eventually gain more clients, but it can take time. If you’re looking for another way to generate leads and market your business, consider SmartAsset’s Advisor Marketing Platform (AMP). This end-to-end marketing solution gives financial advisors the ability to automate their marketing and outreach efforts, as well as access a lead generation pipeline that can deliver up to 540 referrals per year. Learn more about SmartAsset AMP today.

Do Financial Advisors Need Social Media?

There’s no rule that says financial advisors need to use social media to market their businesses. Many financial advisors have become successful without utilizing the power of social media. However, as the overall client age gets younger, social media will continue to become a more vital part of a financial advisor’s marketing efforts. Right now advisors might be missing out on a tool that can help grow their business in the near term and in the future.

Benefits of Social Media Marketing

There’s some definite value to be had in social media as a marketing tool. Here are some of the ways social media can enhance your marketing efforts as an advisor.

• Expand Your reach. Social media makes it possible to get your branding and messaging in front of a wider audience. Globally, more than 4.65 billion people are active on social media platforms. Within that number is a sizable pool of prospects who may be looking for the kind of financial services you provide.
• Build trust. Trust is an important component of the client-advisor relationship. Clients want to know that you’re in their corner and that they can rely on you to do what you say you will. Social media gives you a platform for building trust around your business through your messaging.
• Define your brand. In a sea of competition, how you approach branding can be critical to making your advisory business stand out. Social media creates a path for doing just that. Branding encompasses everything from your business logos to the tone you use in your content. A consistent approach to branding across social media channels can help make your business ‘sticky’, in the sense that it becomes clearly recognizable to prospects and current clients.
• Gain insight. To serve clients effectively, you must first understand what they need. Social media can be an effective way to identify what their financial pain points are and what kind of solutions they might be looking for. You can also use social media to monitor industry trends, which can be invaluable in helping you shape your marketing strategy.
• Humanize your services. The financial services industry is built around people – without clients, your business would cease to exist. Being active on social media is an opportunity to remind your clients that you are, in fact, a person just like them. Social media can allow you to create an ongoing dialogue with your clients, which can help to strengthen your working relationship.

If you would like to find an easier way to get a consistent flow of leads, you might want to try a lead generation service. Add new clients and AUM at your desired pace with SmartAsset’s Advisor Marketing Platform. Sign up for a free demo today.

How Social Media Marketing Can Lead to New Clients

Social media isn’t just about getting your name out there and building a brand. Your marketing efforts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and beyond can directly lead to new clients. In fact, a Broadridge survey conducted in late 2023 found that four out of 10 advisors said they’ve added new clients from social media.

However, two platforms stand above the rest when it comes to financial advisor marketing: LinkedIn and Facebook. The same survey found that 68% of advisors use LinkedIn while around half use Facebook.

“LinkedIn and Facebook have the highest conversion rates. Since LinkedIn caters to a professional audience, it’s a valuable space for advisors to showcase their expertise,” the Broadridge study found. “On the other hand, Facebook’s more personal nature helps advisors to build rapport and trust with prospective clients.”

Bottom Line

Social media marketing for financial advisors isn’t that different from marketing other types of businesses, regarding what it takes to succeed. The better you know your audience, where they spend time online and what type of content they’re most interested in, the more effectively you can fine-tune your social media efforts to meet their needs.

Financial Advisor Marketing Tips

• Marketing can take up valuable time and the time spent must produce your desired return on investment. This might be doable on your own with all of your other responsibilities. SmartAsset AMP (Advisor Marketing Platform) is a holistic marketing service financial advisors can use for client lead generation and automated marketing. Sign up for a free demo to explore how SmartAsset AMP can help you expand your practice’s marketing operation. Get started today.
• More people are using internet searches to connect with financial advisors. If you’re not making a name for yourself online, via a website, blog or social media, you could be missing a chance to connect with people who can benefit from your services. As you work on expanding your digital presence, consider using a service that can help you connect with prospective clients directly.

Photo credit: ©iStock.com/izusek, ©iStock.com/Jacob Wackerhausen, ©iStock.com/Olga Serba

Testimonials appearing on this site are actually received via text, audio, or video submission. The testimonials are provided by financial advisors that have ongoing business relationships with SmartAsset. They are individual experiences, reflecting the real-life experiences of those who have used our products and/or services. The testimonials are not 100% representative of all of those who will use our products and/or services, and we make no admissions of such. The testimonials displayed (text, audio, and/or video) are given verbatim except for correction of grammatical or typing errors. In some cases, the testimonial has been shortened in length where it has not been possible to display the whole testimonial, and where we considered, acting reasonably, that some parts of the testimonial were not relevant to our site, products, or services. SmartAsset may extend free products, discounts, promotional support, or other indirect or direct financial incentives to these sources. These incentives may or may not influence the nature of the testimonial. In this case, compensation was provided.