4 more social-media myths debunked

May 24, 2014 at 12:00 AM
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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 four more of the biggest social-media myths debunked:

        1.     More followers, more sales. A handful of highly targeted and engaged followers is more beneficial than 100 random, disengaged followers. In fact, a survey by financial advisor network Finect found that social-media users are less interested in the number of followers an advisor has than in the relevancy of his content.

        2.     It's best to ignore or delete negative feedback. When you have a social-media presence, there is always a chance someone is going to say something negative. The worst thing you can do is ignore negative comments. The beauty of social media is that you can show that you listen to and care about your customers. Always reply publicly in a heartfelt, non-confrontational tone. Invite folks to contact you to discuss the matter privately, if necessary.

        3.     There's no need to be strategic. Social-media marketing may sound like fun and games, but it's a key component of any good marketing strategy. As such, advisors should create not only a social-media policy but also a social-media strategy. Think through goals, track new contacts, monitor their comments/actions and calculate the value of activity to improve future results.

        4.     Social-media ROI is impossible to gauge. Direct leads from social media can be difficult to measure. Prospects rarely look you up on Facebook for the first time and decide "Yes, I want to be his client. I will call him right now." However, you can still look to various traffic indicators to track and gauge the return on your marketing investment. All the major social-media platforms have tools to help you track your analytics.

Here are a few key performance indicators to look at within those tools:

  • Reach
  • Engagement (number of active followers, shares, re-tweets, comments, mentions, etc.)
  • Website traffic (through Google Analytics)

Social media occupies a prominent place in the marketing landscape—one you can't ignore. With a few carefully crafted policies, social media can elevate your business to a new level.

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