Social media should be a focus for financial advisors, and TD Ameritrade Institutional understands that. At its recent national conference in Orlando, the company had several dedicated experts speak to attendees to impart the best practices needed to help them Here are five tips worth considering:

1. Listen


Be an active listener and survey the content put out by your peers, industry consultants and publications. As an active listener, you can start to see what type of content resonates with your target audience, identify best practices and know what to avoid.  This will increase your chances of hitting the mark once you are ready to actively engage.


–– Vanessa Oligino, senior program manager at TD Ameritrade Institutional

2. Focus


Concentrate your efforts on just a few social media platforms. A strong presence on two or three sites will yield greater results than a mediocre presence on six or seven. Actively participate in those sites where you would most likely find your ideal prospects and limit the time you spend on the other social media platforms.


–– Kristen Luke, president and CEO of Wealth Management Marketing Inc.

3. Be Authentic


When you incorporate social media into your business, it's important to focus on your strengths. How do you communicate with clients and prospects? Are you a thought leader driving the narrative on a topic, or do you educate on life goals? Bring that natural voice and expertise to what you share socially. Don't be a persona, be yourself.  Authenticity matters.


–– Blane Warrene, co-founder of QuonWarrene

4. Close The Loop Between Social Media And Websites


Add social links to your website to make it easy for people to follow you. Those links should be visible on every page of your website. According to Hubspot, U.S. Internet users spend three times more time on blogs and social networks than on email. Add social sharing buttons to your blog. These handy buttons make it extremely easy for your visitors (clients and prospects) to share your content on their favorite social networks. Blog posts that are shared on Twitter and Facebook get twice as many inbound links than those not shared on social media at all.


–– Loic Jeanjean, Director Sales & Marketing at AdvisorWebsites.com

5. Be Educational


Advisors should have ‘evergreen’ content that’s already written and pre-approved by their compliance department about general market trends. Such content can be tweeted or posted quickly when there are market events. Another important consideration: tweets or posts should always link back to the advisor’s website. The content of tweets and posts should always be educational, and never commercial or sales-y. Social media shouldn’t be used as this generation’s ‘cold calling.’


–– George Tamer, managing director of strategic relationships at TD Ameritrade Institutional

Bonus Tip: Know Who Your Clients Know


I helped out as a social media and client acquisition expert in the consulting lounge, and also led a roundtable discussion on the same types of topics.

Most advisors are not using social networks to know who their clients know. They grow their business on client referrals, but do not bother to connect with their clients and see who they know. 

I often ask attendees, ‘Ten years ago, how much would you have paid for a service to know almost everyone that your clients know?’  Advisors probably would have paid thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars. Well, guess what? Social networks allow this information to be gathered for free! 

It is time advisors start waking up to the full potential of social networks!

Mike Byrnes is a national speaker and owner of Byrnes Consulting, LLC. His firm provides consulting services to help advisors become even more successful. Need help with business planning, marketing strategy, business development, client service and management effectiveness? Read more at ByrnesConsulting.com and follow @ByrnesConsultin.