It’s hard to be a financial advisor on the internet. We get it, compliance is tough, your company has its own regulations, and keeping up a social media persona is grueling work, especially when the perception is your target audience still primarily consumes print media and is best won over with a game of golf and a strong handshake.
Know that this perception simply isn’t true anymore. Social media is a necessity for any financial advisor, despite red tape, regulations and compliance. Not only do you need social media, you need to be strategic and consistent with your social media, and you need to take advantage of the tools you have.
Why Do You Need Social Media?
Your audience relies on social media now more than ever. Among people with investable assets between $100,000 and $1,000,000, 90% use social media while 63% of those use social media for research on financial products and services before taking action. A Putnam survey revealed that 80% of financial advisors that use social media for business were able to directly leverage their social media usage to attract new clients. Additionally, 85% of the same demographic reported that social media usage shortened the selling cycle. 74% of investment advisors surveyed by Accenture advocated for social media as a useful tool.
Social Media simply isn’t optional. However, if you truly want to grow your business, you have to use it for what it is — a tool for growing assets and attracting clients. LinkedIn attracts more affluent investors than Facebook, Google +, and Twitter combined, we suggest you start there. If you can only manage one social media account, let it be on LinkedIn.
What is Sales Navigator?
At its most basic level, Sales Navigator is an upgrade to LinkedIn designed for those wanting to take their prospect search to the next level. Sales Navigator lets you search for leads more effectively, simplifies CRM Integration, lets you InMail message prospects who you haven’t connected with and offers lead suggestions. When searching leads with Sales Navigator, you can see up to 700 results, and filter your search by company names, job titles, location, keywords, activity level on LinkedIn and more.
Why Get Sales Navigator? How Do You Get It to Work For You?
Honestly, don’t upgrade to Sales Navigator if you aren’t willing to put the work in to generate leads smartly and then to capitalize on them. Sales Navigator gives you a leg up on audience research, lead generation, monitoring engagement, and all the other social media buzzwords but only if you have a plan and the dedication to see it through. Start by building your network, finding folks you already know and then reaching out to their connections. LinkedIn is an extension of the older ways of networking, and a personal touch will catch more prospects than an automated message. When searching for leads, keep a consumer profile in mind, Sales Navigator is fantastic at bringing you the exact person you’re looking for, but you need to know who you’re looking for.
Don’t feel overwhelmed by social media. Tools like Sales Navigator are there to enhance your personal marketing and to make you more money, but they deserve to be treated like serious tools for your business, not chores or something to be avoided because of regulations. In this case, the benefits far outweigh the hassle.
The hardest part of any business is organizing time in a day appropriately. The key to growing is the ability to allocate tasks to others. LinkedIn can be time consuming if it is done correctly. Every day you allow your presence to stay stagnant is another day a potential connection can see their first impression of you. Will it be one you approve of? If you don’t have the time to put your LinkedIn plans into action contact us we offer free linkedin assessments.
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