According to the industry publication Financial Advisor, LinkedIn has been the preferred social media channel for advisors since 2017, with over half of those surveyed saying they connected with clients there in 2021. [1]
It’s true that many employed professionals and business owners in the U.S. have LinkedIn accounts; according to studies, 36% of American adults from age 30-49 years old use it. The 50 to 64-year-old age group follows, with 33%. But unless they are looking for a new job or are working in a sales position, they may spend only slightly more than seven minutes per day on the site. [2]
You can “connect” with clients on LinkedIn using your personal LinkedIn account, but then what? How often they see anything you post may be minimal because they don’t spend much time there. And if you send direct messages, keep them to a minimum and keep them very relevant. You don’t want to give clients the impression that you are a pesky salesperson rather than a trusted advisor. (Anyone on LinkedIn knows the amount of annoying spam sales messages they receive and ignore.)
The same applies to allied professionals you may seek referrals from, like attorneys or accountants that you may want to network with. And remember, if you are targeting CEOs, physicians, dentists or another similar vertical, although it’s easy to find them on LinkedIn because of its robust search tool, these clients may have the least time to spend on social media.
How Facebook Compares
If your primary target audience is pre-retirees and retirees, you may want to focus more effort on Facebook, because over 70% of people aged 56 or older have Facebook accounts, [3] and they spend an average of 33 minutes per day on the site. [4]
But again, remember this is social media. Constantly posting sales messages on your personal Facebook account is not “social,” it is annoying. Social media allows people to get to know the real you, which can build more trust than sales messages. Do you have a dog or cat? There are a lot of dog and cat lovers on social media. Love to try new restaurants? A lot of foodies seeing great new places to try. Like to hike, ride bikes, or have another hobby? Post about what you are doing that people might be interested in.
Occasionally posting something about what you do as an advisor is a good idea, just as long as it’s not too often and the majority of your posts are personal.
Your Name and Your Company Name In Search Results
Something that many people don’t understand are that business fan pages on Facebook and company pages on LinkedIn are created, managed and administered by personal accounts, and they work much differently than personal accounts do.
For instance, your LinkedIn company page can’t “connect” with people, it can only be “followed”—and it’s the same for Facebook. You can’t message personal accounts at all from a Linked in company page and they can’t contact your company page either.
On Facebook, your business fan page can answer a private message if a personal Facebook account sends you a message first, but you can’t send outbound messages or even see the personal accounts that follow your page. (Although as an administrator for your business Facebook page, you can invite your Facebook friends to like your page.)
In terms of search results like Google, Quantum often recommends that you try to rank in as many positions as possible for your own name and your company/brand name—so we think you should have both types of accounts.
Your Personal LinkedIn Profile
As another recent article in Financial Advisor rightfully pointed out, because your LinkedIn personal profile will most likely rank in search for your name, you will want to make sure your profile reflects you accurately. [5]
Do you have a good, recent headshot that matches your website’s headshot? Do you have a background photo that matches your firm’s brand? Is your title and information up to date, and have you optimized your “About” section and other biographical wording to ensure that all the information about you across all digital platforms is the same?
Quantum helps our financial advisor partners with many different marketing strategies, including social media support. Give Quantum a call if you are interested in partnering with us: 800.440.1088.
Sources:
[1] https://financialadvisoriq.com/c/3707504/475474/most_advisors_favor_linkedin_among_social_media_sites [2] https://influencermarketinghub.com/linkedin-stats/ [3] https://www.statista.com/statistics/309166/boomer-senior-social-networks/ [4] https://www.statista.com/statistics/324267/us-adults-daily-facebook-minutes/ [5] https://financialadvisoriq.com/c/3748154/478294/linkedin_advisor_digital_business_card
Lita drives and manages both Quantum and advisor marketing projects, serving as our marketing liaison with key advisors. She enjoys sharing marketing strategies and tips, helping advisors grow their practices and enhance their brands. Learn More
