In today’s environment, clients want a financial advisor who is well informed and can steer a great course, especially through the minefield of alternative investments. But neither advisors nor their clients understand in depth the complexity and issues associated with these new investable securities. So how do we build better more well-informed advisors? Through a learning culture of information and mentoring powered by social media.
The total population of America’s 330,000 FAs is expected to grow by 36 percent over the next five to seven years, but the most rapid growth will be among the digital generation or the 25-35 age group. These younger advisors learn differently than previous generations, and are unlikely to have a one-to-one mentor, a model that existed in the branches of the big brand platforms that dominated the industry over the past several decades. Social media can bring the mentor experience back, build learning communities based on intellectual capital and foster communication among advisors.
Independent advisors are on the rise but most lack any formal infrastructure except the technology to run the operations of their businesses. Social media can fuel communities and daily communication among these advisors -- the equivalent of walking down the hallway and having a conversation with a senior team member of your team regardless of where that hallway leads. Equally important, social media and interactive learning can actually prepare these advisors for the “wall of new products” coming their way by tapping into the expertise of their peers and having access to experts on the subject matter through forums, blogs, webinars or direct access through a real time conversation capability
So how can advisors leverage social media to build their businesses? A lot has been written about the value that social media can add to the client acquisition phase of building a business. However, it can be useful through the entire life cycle of a client. A new advisor may not use social media for initial product knowledge, but may engage using social media to find like-minded advisors who they can share information on their business. They may also use social media to collaborate with colleagues and clients. Other advisors may leverage social media to see what is trending on the minds of industry contacts and clients using blogs, online forums, curated twitter and other online exchanges of intellectual capital. The key is to leverage a range of activities including traditional media and print, web-based information, events and activities and social media throughout all stages of the advisor’s career. The line between having an impact and not is getting the balance right. Each of these activities will make an advisor more valuable to the client.
Some of the most effective uses of social media to make advisors better informed and more connected with both colleagues and clients include:
1. Aggregate images and information to share with colleagues and clients that cut across traditional products or strategy sets. Tag information that you think might be of value to a client who has an interest in agricultural investing for example. Your firm may not have that product but the client will remember you gave it to them.
2. Gather and share interesting or engaging data collected with mobile devices during or after client meetings or while attending conferences.
3. Be a guest blogger. This will have a broad impact and develop an immediate association with the topic.
4. Use Twitter to contribute to what is trending on the minds of your client and other advisors each week. It can be a critical and immediate feeback loop from the market.
5. Seek out like-minded colleagues around intellectual capital such as strategies, products, discussions with clients using a curated social media tool.