Taking Social Media Seriously Q1-15 Update Jonathan Bentley – Chief Content Officer The Parents have Joined the Party With social media continuing to gain traction among key investor demographics, we periodically revisit the trends to underline the significance of the change these ecosystems represent for financial services sales and marketing. In terms of message placement and distribution, this growth of social media represents the most radical shift in how a firm needs to allocate attention and resources. It is no longer just a curiosity. The leading social media platforms, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter have become core messaging and advertising options. However, unlike the more traditional analog platforms that they are replacing, social media has a more organic quality where reputations need to be grown, and permission to solicit must be sought. All of this is moot of course if the demographics aren’t right so in this posting, we will update you specifically on the usage statistics relevant to financial services marketing. In terms of the social platforms in general, the usage by those under 50 is close to 85% and among the boomers, it is now 65%, and for those over 65 it is nearly half at 49%. In terms of income, there is a 78% usage rate by those with an income of $75,000 a year and higher. [1] Clearly, these figures show that those with whom you want to do business are now using these platforms. In Your Face One of the primary reasons cited by firms in our industry for being slow to adopt Facebook use has been the perception that teens and younger adults dominate it. Since these groups do not have enough assets to reasonably qualify as prospective clients, the thought is to disregard Facebook. While those were the kind of users around when the platform first started out, the growth of business use has been changing at a very rapid pace. According to Facebook’s most recent user stats, there were over 30 million active business pages on the platform.[2] These listings are not just for the restaurants, gadgets and hipster clothing interests of younger users; these listings cover a range of financial services too. There are business listings for wealth managers, investment advisors, hedge funds and investment bankers. It was started for the kids, mom and grandparents followed, now all of main-street has shown up. Tweeting for the Discreet
Discreet is defined as having or showing discernment or good judgment in speech. For a platform known for how to stir up publicity in 140 characters or less, thinking about using Twitter with discretion may seem odd. However, if you think about it in terms as a way to efficiently time shift keeping in touch with a large base of clients and prospects discretion seem like just the right word. In Twitter’s early days, people would often question, “What can you say in 140 characters that is meaningful?” InvestCloud has learned that beyond witty quips, used for a headline, a link can be a very efficiently way to bring to the attention of your clients and prospects quite useful and in depth information. In terms of the recent statistics, Twitter now has over 288 million monthly active users that are generating more than 500 million tweets a day.[3] As far as the FINRA guidelines go, a tweet is considered “interactive” communications so it generally does not require advanced approval. With that said, record keeping and suitability rules do still apply.[4] The LinkedIn Spin As we have discussed in the past, the most important social media platform for business development is LinkedIn. According to the Pew Research Center, LinkedIn is the only social media platform with a higher adoption rate among 5064 year olds than those 18-29.[5] That is our industry’s primary age demographic for asset growth. While the 107 million US users is the big deal, it is equally important that there are now 3 million business pages on the platform as well.[6] This is not just the nation’s rolodex anymore, it has also become the largest ecosystem for inter-linked business information. Some key demographic statistics for financial services marketing include: 41% of millionaires use LinkedIn, 3.9 of the 9.6 million total [7] and 90% of LinkedIn users make household buying decisions.[8] In terms of evaluation how your competitors are using the platform, consider the following LinkedIn company listing numbers. LinkedIn Financial Services Listings · 34,094 Financial Planning Firms · 19,965 Wealth Managers · 16,702 Private Equity Firms · 11,288 Investment Banking Firms · 1,453 Money Managers · 1,327 Mutual Funds These numbers signify that LinkedIn is well out of the early adopter phase and into mainstream use. A cursory review of the a number of these financial company sites show that many if not most have not really learned to exploit the platform. What they have is really just a digital version of last generation’s
Yellow Page’s ad. In other words we are still early in the game, and there is plenty of room to open up a competitive advantage. If you would learn more about InvestCloud compliant content services and how we can help your firm develop its social media presence, visit us at www.investcloud.com or click here to request a demo. Jonathan Bentley leads InvestCloud’s content development and management division. From helping advisors better craft and deliver their stories to curating customized advisor RSS site feeds, Jonathan’s team is critical to InvestCloud’s bespoke design and site management services. Jonathan was previously founder and CEO of LightPort Inc, which merged with InvestCloud in 2013. Previously a practicing RIA, while at LightPort, Jonathan was involved in developing web portals for more than 500 advisors and money managers.
[1] "Social Networking Fact Sheet." Pew Research Centers Internet American Life Project RSS. N.p., 27 Dec. 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2015. <http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/socialnetworking-fact-sheet/>. [2] Noyes, Dan. "Top 20 Facebook Statistics." Zephoria Inc. Zephoria Inc., 10 Feb. 2015. Web. 16 Apr. 2015. <https://zephoria.com/social-media/top-15-valuable-facebook-statistics/>. [3] "Learn Twitter." Learn Twitter with Twitter for Business 101. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2015. <https://business.twitter.com/basics/learn-twitter>. [4] "FINRA Alert: New Rules for Social Media and Personal Device Use for Business Purposes." Soloman Exam Prep. N.p., 25 Aug. 2011. Web. 16 Apr. 2015. <https://solomonexamprep.com/news/finra/finra-alert-new-rules-for-social-media-and-personaldevice-use-for-business-purposes/>. [5] Smith, Aaron, and Maeve Duggan. "Demographics of Key Social Networking Platforms." Pew Research Centers. Pew Research Centers, 30 Dec. 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2015. <http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/12/30/demographics-of-key-social-networking-platforms/>. [6] Smith, Craig. "120+ Amazing LinkedIn Statistics & Facts (February 2015)." DMR. DMR, 4 Apr. 2015. Web. 1 Apr. 2015. <http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/by-the-numbers-a-fewimportant-linkedin-stats/>. [7] Hamilton, Walter. "Number of Millionaires in U.S. Reaches a New High." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 2015. <http://articles.latimes.com/2014/mar/13/business/la-fi-mo-number-of-millionaires-in-usreaches-a-new-high-20140313>. [8] Smith, Craig. "120+ Amazing LinkedIn Statistics & Facts (February 2015)." DMR. DMR, 4 Apr. 2015. Web. 1 Apr. 2015. <http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/by-the-numbers-a-fewimportant-linkedin-stats/>.