Twitter use can help provide valuable career advantages for financial advisors, but they should proceed with caution, advisors said.

Twitter feeds can easily start out as thoughtful discussions and spin out of control into virtual shouting matches, said Rick Kahler, a CFP and president of Kahler Financial Group in Rapid City, S.D.

Twitter, Facebook and other platforms can be leveraged in a way that can positively increase your social profile in the financial services industry, said Ross Gerber, CEO of Wealth Management and Investment Management at Gerber Kawasaki Wealth in Santa Monica, Calif.

Gerber, however, also cited the pitfalls of social media, noting a social media scrape himself recently that drew a heavy backlash from Trump supporters after a political tweet.

“I made a huge mistake," he said. "Because my reach had grown to a point where my following was so large, the alt-right attacked me.”

He called it a learning experience. “What we realized is that if we tweet about politics or retweet about politics, we need to do this in a very innocuous manner," Gerber said.

Other industry professionals have developed methods for keeping the peace on Twitter.

Avoiding specific topics has proved to be a useful tactic for some advisors. Winnie Sun, financial advisor and founder of The Sun Group Wealth Partners in Irvine, Calif., said she avoids political and religious discussion altogether. Avoiding these topics can keep you out of trouble, she explained.

Sun, who described the atmosphere on her Twitter as “one big love fest,” said Twitter can be instrumental in expanding a financial advisor’s social reach. Recently, The Sun Group was able to secure an additional $20 million in AUM after signing a 401(k) deal that came from a Twitter follower, she said.

Twitter creates a space where advisors can gain access to people they may not otherwise have access to, said Kahler.

For example, Sun, who has 321,000 Twitter followers, was asked to be a spokesperson for Intuit, the leading financial software company, as a result of her reach on social media, she said.

Sun, whose followers consist mainly of global and start-up entrepreneurs, connects directly with her followers via Tweetchat. The platform allows users to participate in real-time conversations with their followers. She receives 150 million impressions per Tweetchat and attributes that success on Twitter to years of carefully building an audience.

Sun said she is launching a social media course later this year designed specifically for financial advisors who would like to build their Twitter and social media following to add value to their career and businesses.

Along with the benefits of social media comes a new set of social responsibilities for advisors on Twitter, advisors said.

In most cases, conflict on social media can be resolved through a direct message, Kahler said.

The first rule advisors should remember when they're in a heated confrontation on social media is to never attack back, said Carolyn McClanahan, president of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Fla., who put that rule to use recently when she was deluged with criticisms from the fans of a prominent financial self-help guru after questioning his investment philosophy.

McClanahan said it's more constructive for advisors to concentrate on  doing things such as showcasing articles, engaging the media and being professional. She also stressed that advisors need to be "authentic."

Sun agreed with that assessment. “You have to understand who you are, and everything you do on social media needs to match that. You should view social media as a way to add value to your online community and not push an agenda," Sun said. "You have to earn that right, and it takes years to reach that point.” 

Clients value transparency and honesty from the professionals they choose to do business with, said Gerber, who has been vocal about his belief that some professionals are manipulating social media to falsely portray themselves. He believes many advisors are using “social growth hacks” to inflate their social media following and create what he calls, “a false impression of success”.

“They are all buying fake fans on social media. Why would you not buy fake fans for Twitter and Facebook when they’re so cheap? Everybody else is doing it. There’s no law saying your not supposed to do that. But it totally creates a fake impression of success for a few hundred bucks and you could have thousands and thousands of fans all day long. There’s a lot of financial advisors doing this,” he asserted.

Instead of trying to use Twitter to win clients, Gerber said he uses the platform to portray the values he has as an advisor.

“Referrals are still the largest way in which advisors receive new business," he said. "If you’re looking for clients on Twitter, you’re on the wrong platform. However, when potential clients receive the referral, your social media is what they will likely search and it's important you connect your values to that of your targeted audience.”