Social media has become a popular marketing tool for adviser firms, with LinkedIn ranking the number one platform to promote their business, according to Intelliflo’s annual social media survey.
In a poll of over 200 users of Intelliflo’s Intelligent Office, 59% of respondents actively use LinkedIn, up from 57% last year, with twice as many advisers now using it compared to more traditional forms of marketing such as advertising, PR and email marketing.
However, Facebook saw the biggest spike in popularity, with 44% of advisers now using the site for business, compared to 37% in 2018. Twitter usage was also slightly up, with 42% of respondents using the platform versus 40% last year.
Attracting new clients was cited as the leading reason advisers use social media (62%), closely followed by a desire to be seen to keep up with modern communication (53%). Nearly half (47%) of advisers said social media helped with their search engine optimisation, while 38% said they could use it to communicate with exiting clients.
However, one in 10 admitted they used social media because they felt it was something they should be doing and 4% said they had no idea why they were active online.
The survey also found that nearly three-fifths (58%) of those using social media have formal written policies in place that all employees must follow and awareness of not having a written policy in place rose from 30% in 2018 to 36% in 2019.
However, nearly a third (31%) of advisers said they don’t currently engage in social media due to a lack of time, knowledge and understanding about how to use it to benefit the business. As many as 14% also expressed concern that it could negatively affect their business.
Nick Eatock, executive chairman, Intelliflo, commented: “It’s clear that many advisers are becoming far more tech savvy, using social media to not only get messages across about their businesses but also to help drive traffic to their websites via better visibility on search engine front pages.
“Governance is still an issue for a significant number though, although it’s good to see that awareness of whether or not their firm has a social media policy has increased. Hopefully this awareness will lead to action being taken to put policies in place soon.”
In terms of other marketing tools, sponsorship, events and email marketing were found to be the top three most popular choices. In contrast, podcasts and video remained the least popular option, with just 8% of respondents using those to market their business.
