Social media is a very powerful tool to communicate to a large audience. It can be an amazing tool to share a point of view. However, just because one has the platform, it does not mean that it always needs to be used to share every opinion. Politics has become extremely divisive and polarizing.

In particular, politically charged comments can be detrimental to an advisor’s reputation and even business.

A Main Thing To Consider

Most clients and prospects of advisors are spread across the political spectrum when it comes to their beliefs and support. Even within a married couple, the two spouses might have significantly different points of view. That means that with every one-sided comment there is a risk of offending a significant portion of those that generate the revenue stream for the business.

Have A Policy

A general guide is that if you are representing the organization, an associate should abide by the social media policies in place to not only brand, but also protect the firm. This policy goes for owners too.

Everyone should be trained on a regular basis on how to best use social networks and those that are seen as a spokesperson should also go through media trainings. Even if they are not talking with the press, commenting online is very similar to being published. What is said via online comments can become a public record.

Best Practices To Consider

If one does need to comment on a politically controversial topic, here are some tips to consider:

1. Type the comment, then walk away from the device and revisit the message later. This can help eliminate knee-jerk reactions where emotions can take over and get the sender in trouble.

2. Ask for someone that disagrees with a viewpoint to review a message before hitting send.

3. Ask the question, “Is this going to potentially hurt the business?” If the answer is “yes,” it is probably best to delete it.

4. Make sure the message is professional in nature and does not include profanity.

5. Know that once a message goes viral, it really cannot be undone.

Varying Opinions From Financial Planning Association Members:

Authentic

"Social media is best used by showing our authentic self. If you are politically active and tweet about politics, you will attract followers who appreciate what you are saying and turn off the people who don't. That is a good thing.”
—Carolyn McClanahan, Life Planning Partners Inc.

Trolls

“Using social media to express your political opinions is the modern-era soap box. You'll get cheers and jeers. But in today's day and age, trolls are much more vicious than a tomato in your face.” —Jeffrey Edwards, Atlas Financial Planning

Thoughtfulness

“I remember when Facebook was not open to all and it was a pretty happy place. Now it is full of fake news and people communicating in ways that I don't think they do in real life (or at least I hope they don't). I believe we have a responsibility to each other to control our impulses and spread thoughtfulness, not just the most recent random thought.” —Tracey Ann Gordineer, Paramount Investment Advisors Inc.

Buckets

“I actually do this quite a bit. Some say you can lose business, and I guess there is some truth to that. By and large, however, it seems that most potential clients for a financial planner would be on the conservative side. This is another issue. When reading social media posts, a few things become evident. First, news and opinion have become one in the same so it is difficult to know what news is fact. The other issue is that due to the divisive nature of the media, people are now lumped into buckets. You are either conservative or liberal, and if you disagree with someone they automatically hate you. I feel like people are more complex than that and most are conservative in some ways and liberal in others.” —Allan Katz, Comprehensive Wealth Management Group LLC

Alienation

“One of the pros of sharing political opinions on social media is that you get to illuminate your friends or followers to information which they might have not been aware and thus, change their political stance on an issue you care about. One of the cons is that you risk alienating people including your friends. If your social media profile is public, you can also alienate present and possible future clients and employers.” —David Silversmith, Fulvio & Associates LLP

Trade-Off

“While there is a downside to sharing political opinions on social media as that might turn off prospective clients who do not agree with you, or even vehemently oppose your point of view, I am unabashed about sharing my political leanings on social media, as I much prefer to have clients who share my values. The trade-off is well worth it to me; potential lost income pales in comparison to the value of genuine relationships that go beyond a business transaction.” —Ajay Kaisth, KAI Advisors LLC

Enemies

“Social media is a great resource to show thoughts of any kind, however, be prepared for others lashing out and becoming argumentative if they do not agree. Social media has caused people to forget how to tolerate other peoples' opinions. I have seen friends become enemies over agreeing with or disagreeing with the current president of the United States! —Gary Lee Ulrich, Financial House

Juice

“While you could argue that publishing your political views may help you to develop a niche practice of like-minded clients, it's much too easy to alienate clients using this approach. Let's assume you like one of the two major political parties. Right out of the gate, you have alienated ~50 percent of the potential clients that you may be very qualified to serve. Now, let's assume that while you agree with most of them, you do not agree with every plank on that particular party's platform.

Potential prospective clients (even within your own party) are going to disagree with you as to which planks are more important to them specifically. Again, you have now made your prospective pool of clients that much smaller. Lastly, let's assume that people's opinions can change over time due to their personal situation, events that occurred in their lives, etc. Now, clients that once identified with you, have had a change of heart, again, reducing the pool of clients you resonate with. I'm not sure whether the question is could you do it or how would you do it, but is “the juice really worth the squeeze?” —Matthew Gaffey, Corbett Road Wealth Management 

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.