One in Five Advisors Add New Clients With Social Media

Age plays a role in how advisors use social media as well as which platform they use. Gen X and Gen Y advisors are more comfortable with Facebook, and some advisors are starting to “tiptoe into Twitter.”

“They’re not as scared of it,” Anderson (left) said. Younger advisors are using Facebook for personal use and relationship building, whereas late-stage boomers use it as a tool for producing information like market updates, he added.

Those “personal” updates don’t have to be an advisor’s kids or favorite movies. Anderson recalled an advisor who told him he takes photos when he goes to conferences or events and shares them on his Facebook page. This shows clients that the advisor is working for them, even when he’s not seeing them, Anderson said.

Surprisingly, when asked what their biggest challenge or concern was regarding social media, compliance was not the top concern. More than a third of respondents said “Coming up with frequent and relevant content” was their biggest difficulty. Compliance-related issues aren’t completely out of the picture. Thirty percent of advisors’ “broker-dealer” concerns posed a problem, and 15% said they were worried about the “future regulatory environment.” 

“Advisors are saying, ‘We know we have to be a part of this, and our broker-dealer is allowing us,’ and they’re more accepting,” Anderson said. As advisors become more familiar with what regulators expect of them regarding social media, their new hurdle is what to say.

“That’s their next big crutch,” Anderson said. He adds that advisors who freeze up looking at a blank status update may be “thinking too big. Clients want to see what you do on a daily basis,” Anderson said. “They want to see what you’re reading. You’re not writing content, you’re providing links.”