By Mike Byrnes
Last week's TD Ameritrade National Conference in Orlando, Fla., had its largest turnout ever and the advisors in attendance were not let down. One thing that stood out from the same conference a year ago was the vast amount of resources dedicated to social media.
"Social media is an important tool as advisors look for new ways to grow their businesses and connect with the next generation of investors. In our latest Advisor Sentiment survey ... 78% of advisors believe that increasing their marketing efforts will be the top opportunity for growth in 2012. Advisors are looking to social media as a growth driver for their business and we are committed to providing advisors with the tools to be successful," said Paul Zettl, managing director of marketing, TD Ameritrade Institutional.
Here are nine key takeaways on the next generation of wealth, LinkedIn, Twitter, compliance, archiving and videos:
Next Generations
While some advisors thought their clients were not fully adopting social media, most thought the next generations have and will continue to frequently use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.
Tom Bradley, president of TD Ameritrade Institutional, shared a prediction that assets managed by Gen X and Y will increase by 1,300% by the year 2020.
Because of the multigeneration potential, David Kudla, CEO at Mainstay Capital Management, believes that "Ideally you work with three generations of wealth."
If trends hold true, advisors wanting to grow over the next decade will want to make these market segments a focus, which means incorporating social media into their businesses.
LinkedIn Profiles
Jennifer Grazel, head of category development for financial services at LinkedIn, said that business-focused LinkedIn has 135 million users, which represents 40% growth. Of that growth, she said, "Advisors are the fastest growing segment."
Grazel advised attendees to improve their brand identity by adding a photo and a robust profile-meaning more than just business card information. One idea she provided was to include uploading an application like Slideshare. "It is not a resume. It is personification of you," she said.
Grazel's best quote of the conference might have been around the value of LinkedIn. "LinkedIn is really about your identity," she said. "Your LinkedIn profile is becoming your identity in the cloud."