Twitter usage has increased significantly among financial advisors, according to American Century Investment's 2013 Social Media Adoption Study, with 34 percent of advisors having an account compared to 27 percent in last year's study.
"The increase in Twitter use is expected, given the fact that advisors' usage of social media is changing," said Jamie Needham, digital marketing strategist for American Century, a Kansas City, Mo.-based investment management firm. "Twitter can be a very efficient way to share nuggets of information that add value."
LinkedIn continued to be the most popular site for business use (75%), followed by Facebook (34%) and Twitter (16%). For personal use, Facebook led as the most popular social media site for 81 percent of respondents.
New to this year's study was Instagram, an online photo-sharing site that is used by 11 percent of advisors on a personal basis, the survey found.
Sixty-one percent of advisors report using social media multiple times each week––that’s up slightly from 58 percent in 2012, according to American Century. However, the number of advisors who use social media multiple times per day dropped to 10 percent from 16 percent last year.
Laptops and PCs declined slightly as vehicles to access social media, while smartphone and tablet usage increased.
"These particular statistics make sense, given the commonplace use of the newer devices," said Needham.
Sixty-nine percent of advisors reported working for a firm with a formal social media policy or guideline. This follows the rising trend from 60 percent in 2012 and 53 percent in 2011.
Commentary and market insight ranked tops with advisors (59 percent) regarding the information they most want to receive from asset manager firms via social media. That was followed by market news and educational content to share with clients (both at 58 percent).
The results of American Century's fourth annual Financial Professionals Social Media Adoption Study were drawn from an online survey of 301 financial professionals. Study participants averaged 15 years in the financial industry; roughly two-thirds were male, and the average age was 47. Meridian Marketing handled data collection and data weighting functions.