With an average age around 57 years old, many advisors may have lagged behind the web and social media booms of the past two decades.

A recent report suggests that they're catching up.

According to the Boston-based Putnam Investments 2015 Social Advisor Study, 81 percent of advisors currently use social media for business, up from 75 percent last year.

“We are seeing a clear, powerful trend emerging where social media is becoming an almost indispensable communications tool for financial advisors in their day-to-day interaction with their clients, investment providers and the broader marketplace,” says Robert Reynolds, Putnam Investments president and CEO. “This is a dynamic that is likely to endure, providing tremendous opportunity for advisors to establish and build relationships.”   

Not only are more advisors using social media, they’re using more of it. This year, 40 percent of the survey’s respondents said they use four or more social media networks for their business, up from 25 percent last year.

Putnam notes that the increasing use of social media is yielding results, as 79 percent of advisors this year report acquiring new clients through social media, versus 66 percent last year.

The study, which surveyed more than 800 financial advisors nationwide in July 2015, also found:

• Sixty-nine percent of advisors say social media has a significant role in their marketing, up from 56 percent last year.

• The median increase in assets gained through social media activity is $1.9 million, up from $1.2 million in 2014.

• While LinkedIn continues to be the dominant network for business use by advisors, business usage of other networks is growing more rapidly.