Twitter: A Powerful Social Media Tool Advisors Can’t Ignore

Facebook and LinkedIn have become powerful allies as more and more advisors take their businesses social, but as these numbers continue to rise it begs the question: What about Twitter?

Twitter is often included in conversations about the benefits of social networks for advisors, but it’s almost never the focus. When one advisor recently described it to me as the network non grata, I became intrigued.

With more than 288 million monthly users, why have advisors seemingly been turned off by Twitter as a sales channel in comparison to Facebook or LinkedIn?

After some probing, I heard loud and clear that Twitter is just too complicated for them to make it work in conjunction with other social efforts. Additionally, some corporate offices tend to worry more about compliance on Twitter. But, I would argue that it doesn’t have to be this way.

Facebook activity typically stays relatively true to the spirit of ‘social’ media, and LinkedIn has naturally evolved from a purely professional network of connections into an ecosystem where business-related information and articles are shared. But I view Twitter as just the right blend of both worlds, making it well worth an advisor’s consideration.

At the most basic level, simply listening on Twitter can increase one’s industry knowledge immensely. Approximately 40% of Twitter users just read tweets and do not send tweets on a regular basis. Those users recognize that Twitter is a valuable resource for obtaining industry knowledge from peers, community members, and especially thought leaders in the industry. This information leads me to two conclusions relevant to advisors:

1. Twitter is an outstanding place for advisors to turn to keep themselves informed on general industry trends as well as about the key issues their clients face.

2. Twitter serves up a large, engaged audience of people who are likely to see the content advisors ultimately post.

See the potential? When you’re ready to engage in the Twitter community and take listening to the next level, I would recommend the following:

• Start by searching and following thought leaders and industry publications: To do this, simply apply a search such as “insurance’ or “#lifeinsurance’ and find recent tweets on that topic. Also, apply a search to find publications relevant to the industry.

If you get stuck or a search isn’t providing ideal results, Twitter will lend a helping hand with this as well.