3 social-media myths debunked

Social media is a great marketing tool for financial advisors.

The challenge is in knowing what to believe and what not to believe. With that in mind, here are three of the biggest social-media myths debunked:

1.     There are too many compliance issues. Yes, financial advisors have a unique set of challenges when it comes to social media, but the benefits are tremendous.

Talk to your compliance officer or broker/dealer to learn the finer points of what you are permitted to do. Meanwhile, here are some good first steps:

• Create a social-media policy.
• Understand the differences between static and interactive content (which have different approval processes).
• Archive.
• Don’t say anything that you wouldn’t say in public to an audience of potential clients.

Also, there are several different types and sources of content which allow for effective, compliant social-media posting, such as:

• Generic quotes/statistics
• PR exposure
• Third-party content
• Your own (pre-approved) content
• Office and staff photos/cartoons

2.    My clients aren’t on social media. According to Finect, a social-media network for financial advisors, more than half of investors want to connect with financial advisors via social media but don’t know where to find them.

Once they do connect, investors engage and interact in ways they might not do in person. Social media is a great way to stay top-of-mind with such clients.