Social media strategy? Listen and engage

The financial planners who get the best results from their social media strategies understand four essential rules, according to Claudio Pannunzio, president of US-based consultancy, i-Impact.

Firstly, quality is more important than quantity when it comes to social media and, therefore, advisers should choose one platform and master it rather than join many different websites.

Pannunzio’s advice was echoed by Cholena Orr, director of Profusion Group, at her seminar at the Financial Planning Association Congress on October 17. In her session, Orr recommended Facebook for advisers who were just starting to experiment with social media or who had limited time to devote to it. Other sites she suggested included LinkedIn and Twitter.

Secondly, Pannunzio said it was important for advice businesses to own their social media campaigns rather than outsource them to third parties. This would ensure practices retain control of their image and messages and are accurately represented.

He also said advisers had to become “more social” and interact with social networks. One tip he gave was to find common denominators which tied them to their audience.

Lastly, Pannunzio said advisers who were the most successful in generating leads, referrals and clients on social media were “actively engaged”. While advisers need to be selective about the content they post, he said they should aim to be active at least once a day.

He warned that inactivity on social media could be perceived by potential clients as a lack of interest in their issues and challenges or simply a lack of meaningful information to share.

“The secret to social media success is active and enduring engagement,” Pannunzio said.

“Study the audience to attain an intimate understanding of the financial issues they face and the type of information they seek. Create content suitable for the audience’s key interests in easy-to-understand language and appeal to their emotions.”

Pannunzio said advisers should position themselves as a trusted source and provider of high quality information, actionable ideas and tips rather than focus on less relevant metrics such as the number of followers and connections they have.