Relevance and timeliness are key for getting advisors the most mileage from their blogs and Twitter posts, according to a financial consulting firm.
BrightScope, which conducts research and rankings focused on the retirement and wealth management industries, analyzed the online presence of 1,000 professionals to compile a ranking of 100 advisors based on their success using social media.
Advisors who used both Twitter and blogs effectively floated to the top of the list, Kevin Fahey, BrightScope’s digital marketing specialist, said Tuesday.
Advisors that address the immediate collective interest of prospective clients have the most success with social media, he said.
“When the conversation is there, they are talking about it,” said Fahey, adding that an advisor’s blog can draw followers to his or her Twitter posts and vice versa.
The consultant recommended putting a Twitter handle in the blog to increase social media popularity instead of an e-mail address that could create an overflowing inbox.
The top 10 advisors on the list of 100 include:
No. 10
Jeff Rose, Good Financial Cents, @jjeffrose
No. 9
Cullen Roche, Pragmatic Capitalism, @cullenroche
No. 8
George Papadopoulos, George Papadopoulos on WSJ, @feeonlyplanner
No. 7
Charles Sizemore, Sizemore Insights, @CharlesSizemore
No. 6
Russ Thornton, Wealthcare for Women, @RussThornton
No. 5
Michael Kitces, Nerd’s Eye View, @MichaelKitces
No. 4
Jason Hull, Hull Financial Planning, @hull_j
No. 3
Roger Wohlner, The Chicago Financial Planner, @rwohlner
No. 2
Barry Ritholtz, The Big Picture, @ritholtz
No. 1
Josh Brown, The Reformed Broker, @ReformedBroker
IBrown, based in New York City, works for Ritholtz Wealth Management and has 75,300 followers. The 100th most popular, Andrew Comstock, owner of Castlebar Asset Management in Leawood, Kan., (Twitter handle: @CastlebarAM) had 52. To see the entire list, click here.