By Mike Byrnes
Last week’s TD Ameritrade National Conference in Orlando, Fla., had its largest turnout ever and the advisors in attendance were not let down. One thing that stood out from the same conference a year ago was the vast amount of resources dedicated to social media.
“Social media is an important tool as advisors look for new ways to grow their businesses and connect with the next generation of investors. In our latest Advisor Sentiment survey ... 78% of advisors believe that increasing their marketing efforts will be the top opportunity for growth in 2012. Advisors are looking to social media as a growth driver for their business and we are committed to providing advisors with the tools to be successful,” said Paul Zettl, managing director of marketing, TD Ameritrade Institutional.
Here are nine key takeaways on the next generation of wealth, LinkedIn, Twitter, compliance, archiving and videos:
Next Generations
While some advisors thought their clients were not fully adopting social media, most thought the next generations have and will continue to frequently use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.
Tom Bradley, president of TD Ameritrade Institutional, shared a prediction that assets managed by Gen X and Y will increase by 1,300% by the year 2020.
Because of the multigeneration potential, David Kudla, CEO at Mainstay Capital Management, believes that “Ideally you work with three generations of wealth.”
If trends hold true, advisors wanting to grow over the next decade will want to make these market segments a focus, which means incorporating social media into their businesses.
LinkedIn Profiles
Jennifer Grazel, head of category development for financial services at LinkedIn, said that business-focused LinkedIn has 135 million users, which represents 40% growth. Of that growth, she said, “Advisors are the fastest growing segment.”
Grazel advised attendees to improve their brand identity by adding a photo and a robust profile—meaning more than just business card information. One idea she provided was to include uploading an application like Slideshare. “It is not a resume. It is personification of you,” she said.
Grazel’s best quote of the conference might have been around the value of LinkedIn. “LinkedIn is really about your identity," she said. "Your LinkedIn profile is becoming your identity in the cloud.”
LinkedIn Potential
According to Grazel, 1.2 million members recently changed companies. She figures that is $40 billion in 401(k) accounts. By connecting with others, advisors can see triggers. Grazel said, “There are 16 million affluent users that have $1 million in assets,” she said. By being active on LinkedIn, advisors can stay engaged with their clients and other high-net-worth investors.
She also made it clear that business executives are using LinkedIn, stating, “LinkedIn has 3.4 million [corporate executives] and VPs and 71% of members are college graduates or post grads.” Even with this potential, Grazel cautioned, “Carefully select and accept who you are connected to.”
Joining groups was also a recommendation. “See and expose yourself to people in those groups,” Grazel said.
LinkedIn Answers might also be a place where advisors can demonstrate their expertise, by answering members’ questions that are related to this industry, she said.
LinkedIn can also allow for improved client service, as advisors can get a sense of what their clients are sharing in their profile changes, network updates and group discussions.
“LinkedIn impacts your search rankings,” she said. She showed how a profile can come up in an online search, which provides advisors another way to be found.
Twitter News And Information
“Twitter can be a customized news source. Think of it as personalizing a newspaper,” said Jimmy Perryman, an advisor with Perryman Financial Advisory. He explained to his peers that he plays the role of filterer of information to his clients using this tool. Additionally, on his Web site, they have downloaded a widget from Twitter that shows the last four tweets.
Twitter Hashtags
Blane Warrene, CEO of Arkovi, one of the leading social media archiving companies, believes that this social network is a blend of news, sharing and branding. “Twitter has become a very powerful search tool. People can search a hashtag ... and they can get the chatter behind the scenes,” he said.
Warrene continued, “Lists are where I start to see the amplification, which makes them a very important component.” Twitter lists allows users to segment their groups of connections. Lists also allow one to keep tabs on others without having to follow them. Another cool feature of lists is that one can follow an existing list without having to create their own.
Archiving
“Regulators have looked and watched,” Warrene said, adding that they are now becoming more involved with social media. With extra scrutiny, advisors should be able to easily provide documentation on social media activity, if ever audited.
The problem with the old model of capturing marketing is that the velocity of social media is so much faster. “We didn’t run hundreds of ads in a day,” Warrene said of the times before the rise of social media. The faster paced communications have made the old manual process for archiving obsolete. Technology simplifies these requirements, he said.
Videos
Beverly Flaxington, co-founder of The Collaborative, said to keep a Web site fresh by providing new information, which will result in search engine benefits. She said videos are an engaging way to provide information—So much so, that it can help complimentary written material become alive.
When she asked if attendees were using YouTube, one of the biggest search engines, very few hands were raised. What that means is that most advisors are missing out on opportunities to be found through this social network, she said.
“Video provides a deeper experience, which allows for a personal connection. It carries a lot of power,” Warrene said.
Mike Byrnes founded Byrnes Consulting to provide consulting services to help advisors become even more successful. His expertise is in business planning, marketing strategy, business development, client service and management effectiveness, along with several other areas. Read more at www.byrnesconsulting.com.
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