Advisors: Take center stage

Advisors: Take center stage

by Julie Cournoyer, Marketing Advisor

In the digital age, when every bit of information is accessible, it can be difficult to make your mark in the industry. The intense competition among advisors to stand out from the crowd can be intimidating for smaller players. As an advisor, you may not want to break your wallet to attract new clients when the results are not guaranteed. Take comfort in knowing you can increase your visibility without paying a fortune. The secret: Leveraging social media and the power of the web.

Join social networks

Social networks are free and easy to use and give you access to an unlimited pool of potential clients. Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, Pinterest, and others are popular social networks that connect a wide variety of individuals with different interests. Despite the abundance of choice, trying to be present on all these platforms is unnecessary and even unhelpful. Focus on the networks your typical clients are likely to use.

Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are favored by most companies. Instagram can be useful if you produce interesting, creative, and esthetic images. Easy enough for a clothing store or restaurant, but a bigger (although not insurmountable) challenge for an investment advisor. Your morning coffee, your vacation on a paradise island, the sunset after your jog, your culinary experiences, and happy customers leaving your office are all ideas to feed your Instagram account.

Count on content

Allow only for quality content, and prioritize topics that stand out. For example, you can publish informative content written by your firm about the industry, trends, or major issues of the year. You can also display your own products and services, but don’t overexpose them, because your subscribers may lose interest in the long run.

Videos and images are more likely to boost user curiosity. Have a bank with a variety of videos and images. Contests are also popular on social media. They encourage people to comment, share, or like your content, giving you greater visibility and the opportunity to acquire new subscribers.

Use hashtags

Hashtags are used by Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. They can help you reach an audience outside your circle of subscribers. Hashtags added to your contents are linked to searches by keyword or interest. They are written in lowercase, without spaces or hyphens, and are preferably short. To choose the right hashtags, search for those that generate the most search results, see what influencers in your field are doing, and make sure the hashtags speak to your content. In addition, try to vary your hashtags and avoid using too many in the same publication. The ideal number for Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter is one or two, while nine is the right number for Instagram.

Target your audience

Sponsored content is an effective way to expand the reach of your publications outside your existing network. Note that since 2018, Facebook prioritizes content published by friends and acquaintances over content from business pages. This strategy will also help to ensure that your publications will be seen by all of your subscribers.

Targeting based on interests, profession, age group, gender, behavior, and geolocation will help you reach your desired audience and optimize your advertising dollars, so you don’t pay for visibility that is not really profitable. In a similar vein, geofencing is a strategy well worth looking into. It allows you to target individuals in a defined geographical area to offer personalized content over a certain period of time. For example, you could target participants in a wealth management conference at the Palais des congrès de Montréal on a certain date, or people close to your office. In short, there are several options available for targeting, which are becoming more precise and effective.

Used well, social networks have a lot to offer, with nearly endless possibilities. Up for the challenge? To get started, create a content bank for the year, including hashtags; plan the visuals you’ll need; and don’t forget to focus on quantity rather than quality. Once you’re comfortable, take advantage of targeting strategies to help you expand your audience.

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