The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent guidance on social media confirmed just how influential this form of communication has become within financial services. Social media transcends traditional boundaries and allows both wider access and greater exposure to both the consumer and market insights which, harnessed by advisers in the right way, can bring endless benefits.
Continuous updates and activity feeds allow advisers to stay on top of live developments and breaking news in their area of expertise; engaging with debate and building a searchable footprint. Barriers are broken with on the go communication tools enabling immediacy of response and a sense that the adviser is ‘always available’ at a time when establishing trust and proving value for money is at the forefront of adviser-client relationships.
Social media also brings a global element to the world of advisers, enabling them to dip into relevant discussions across the world and using it to inform their own work, learning from best practice or change in other markets. These learnings can then be fed back to clients.
As a result, a genuine interest in social media from advisers has developed over the years, and it is now recognised as a valued channel to interact with clients, both for maintaining current relationships and driving prospects to engage with on-line resources – particularly those who do not initially require advice. When it comes to building relationships, advisers can use Facebook or Twitter to make these more ‘real’, using the opportunity to reinforce trust by promoting open dialogue.
There is clearly a client-side demand to have advisers using social media – our research has shown that 11% of advisers have seen an increase in clients using social media in the last year alone. On top of this, there is a growing prominence of high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) under 40, a group for whom technology is second nature and social media provides a means for advisers to reach this lucrative source of income.
Of this group, over a third (40.5%) have cited social media as one of the most important ways for them to access and assess information in this sector, whilst almost half (47.7%) now see mobile applications as an important method for conducting transactions.
In the U.S, studies show that 49% of wealth managers have acquired new clients through social media, and 65% of HNWs globally have said they would consider leaving their wealth management firm if they were not provided with an integrated experience. The fact is, if advisers do not embrace this, they risk alienating a large proportion of existing and potential clients.
On a purely practical level, Facebook and Twitter offer quick and easy automated tools to help find clients, simply through email matching. In addition, the major social platforms such as LinkedIn offer sophisticated advertising tools.
IRESS’ own platform, XPLAN, introduced social media capacity in 2011 and allows advisers to interact (post and read) through various social media sites, meaning they can deliver more personalised, and faster, responses to clients.
Advisers giving social media a central role will bring client engagement to a new level. It is a way to promote share of voice, influence your target audience, drive business and truly understand client needs. Those firms more hesitant to embrace it may find themselves falling behind.
