While the UK financial services industry is increasingly taking social media seriously and cautiously entering the ‘social’ fray, some advisers already have several years of social media trial-and-error experience under their belts, although their approaches to social media vary dramatically.
Advisers seem to be split into prolific social media darlings – notably the same advisers comfortable being media spokespeople – and the advisers who are sceptical about the perceived benefits and reticent to risk the potential wrath of the regulator. Some prefer to use it as an inbound information channel and open-source peer community, where they can pose business queries, source fresh perspectives on client conundrums and receive industry-specific breaking news.
David Gibson, director of Gibson Financial Planning (Twitter handle @DavidGibsonCFP), isn’t alone in reserving social media for peer-to-peer networking, although customer review sites such as VouchedFor.co.uk “definitely helps” inform the ‘customer journey’ of a new potential client, he says.
Mr Gibson adds: “I don’t use social media for client contact at all. I’m open to it, but of my, say, 1,000 Twitter followers maybe two are clients. I think other advisers would probably say the same thing: that [social media] tends to be for interacting with their peers and keeping abreast of trends and changes to legislation.”
While social media is ostensibly about two-way communication, Mr Gibson touched on a further benefit: social media accounts, review websites and business directories all contribute to search engine optimisation (SEO) – getting your brand or name listed higher in online search results.
Depending on which surveys you look at, 60-90 per cent of Britons undertake internet research before making a purchase decision.
“Very few people would ever just happen to stop by the office just because they’ve made a spur-of-the-moment decision. It’s usually after a fair bit of internet research on different advisory firms,” Mr Gibson adds.
Fewer advisers seem confident using social media to communicate directly with clients or as a means of reaching potential clients, although those that do claim a higher return on their (resource) investment.
Martin Bamford, managing director of Informed Choice (@MartinBamford), does use social media to source new clients and says “using social media has made a direct contribution to our bottom line, introducing us to some of our most valuable clients over the past five years”.
He continues: “It quickly became an important part of our marketing mix. Roughly a third of our new clients come directly from the internet and various forms of social media, but nearly all of them have at least checked out our website or social media profiles before getting in touch for the first time.”
The biggest pitfall advisers suffer, Mr Bamford says, is having an unclear message, being inconsistent in their social media use and failing to create original content of value to their audience.
He explains: “Simply sharing messages and news from others does little to build your reputation as an expert. I try to share a range of content. Each day I try to write at least two original blog [posts]. As a keen photographer I also share photographs and more recently video content. Finally, I like to share links to news stories or online discussions that I think might be of interest to my followers.”
