How to effectively leverage social media

Social media offers a powerhouse of opportunity, but financial advisors worldwide can make mistakes that prevent them from unleashing its true potential.

It can be difficult to know what to share and say online, specifically on LinkedIn. There are 90 million senior-level influencers and 63 million decision-makers who use LinkedIn, so you don’t want to miss out on the many opportunities available on this platform.

Try these four effective social media tips to increase your thought leadership presence on LinkedIn.

1. Set goals to track ROI

To generate business results, you need to be clear with the result that needs to be accomplished. The first and most crucial step is to define what a “win” is on LinkedIn. Determine what you want to get out of being on LinkedIn so that you can leverage this tool properly.

2. Plan — How to prepare

Once you define what your goal is for being active on LinkedIn, map out how you’re going to get there by answering these questions:

• What specifically does your audience want to know from you?
• How often will you deliver that content?

3. Content — What to share

Now that you know what success looks like on LinkedIn for your firm and why you want to be active on it, let’s talk about the types of content that your audience will want to engage with.

Below are topics you can share when you don’t have much time to construct a plan from scratch:

• Reshared content from trusted sources
• Your entrepreneurial journey
• Charitable activities and community impact
• Events you are attending or sponsoring
• Business or entrepreneurship tips
• Highlights about your team
• Industry news

A study conducted by Hearsay Systems revealed that clients prefer lifestyle content from financial advisors on social media. “Lifestyle content is suggested the least by corporate marketing teams (23%) but has the highest engagement rates from advisors’ followers (48%).”

4. Engage — Stay top of mind

Aim to post three to five times a week, and like and comment on your networks’ content daily. You can add a layer of engagement with video. Studies show that social media posts with video have 48% more views.

To save time and use LinkedIn efficiently, set goals, create a content plan, share information that adds value, and include incorporate video to tell your business story to your clients, contacts and colleagues.

Tara Clark is a social media architect, entrepreneur, mentor and experienced speaker. The founder and CEO of Vancouver-based social media agency Social T, Clark’s mission is to enable brands to engage with existing customers and tap into new audiences using their social media networks.

This post was excerpted from Clark’s 2020 MDRT Annual Meeting and Global Conference Virtual Event presentation, “How to effectively leverage social media.” (MDRT member-exclusive content and available in six languages.)

For more ideas about how to effectively use social media:

• Read the “MDRT social media guide”
• Watch “Digital leadership and innovation” (MDRT member-exclusive content)
• Watch “Expanding your target market with TikTok: Build your brand and engage the TikTok community” (MDRT member-exclusive content)