The increased use of social media and shift toward a digital lifestyle have played a key role in facilitating the flow of information influencing investor decisions. Social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram, among others, have created an investing environment that provides for a quicker, more efficient way to access a variety of online information sources.

Finance industry professionals today are increasingly using social media as a tool not only to communicate with their clients and prospects, but also to deepen their ongoing relationships with them. They are also finding that leveraging both the business and personal sides of social media enable them to more easily connect with current clients and attract and develop new business.

Social media is a powerful marketing tool as it allows one to reach their target market, generate leads and grow their business. But it’s important to use it correctly if these goals are to be achieved.

At the ADISA Spring Conference in San Diego last week, panelists were asked about how they incorporate social media platforms into their content, marketing and branding strategies.

“We primarily use LinkedIn. But the campaign goes far past LinkedIn. For us it’s a secondary strategy. We’re not really looking for someone to call us and invest. We use it as a complement [to our campaigns],” explained Raymond Davis, Chief Strategy Officer at Red Oak Capital Holdings.

Davis noted that “99%” of Red Oak’s content is about “risk,” helping to educate investors.

Even if your organization leans more traditional, social media is a necessary channel to reach clients. Building relationships is a key use of social media for finance industry professionals. When it comes to money, everyone wants to deal with someone they know and trust.

“The way to get to clients is to build that trust. We found that where there was a lot of engagement it led to client conversion,” noted Sylvia Kwan, PhD, Chief Investment Officer at Ellevest, an impact investor with $1.5 billion in assets under management.

“We use LinkedIn and Instagram, but it’s about meeting the audience where they are. We tried TikTok, trying to reach a younger audience, but we ultimately decided to pause because it didn’t achieve the type of returns we had hoped to get,” added Kwan.

Measuring the success rate of your social media engagements can prove beneficial as well. With relevant quantitative data, Google Analytics easily helps you identify which social media platforms drive the maximum, targeted traffic to your site and content. Also, it’s possible to find out how these social media users interact with your website.

“We use Google Analytics and other measures,” noted Kwan. Ellevest wants to know if they’re “getting the maximum amount of dollars” for what they spend.

But it’s important for financial professionals to use social media responsibly and ensure they are complying with all relevant regulations and guidelines. This is one of the most important elements of social media management in the financial sector. Social networks differ greatly from other media in that they’re dynamic and cannot be controlled.

“We never solicit dollars. What we deliver in our marketing campaigns is for general consumption,” said Davis. “We make sure there’s some value there that’s easily digestible.”

Despite an increasingly complex business environment, social media has become an integral driver of success when implemented and managed properly. There is every indication that social media and the marketing opportunities for the financial services industry will continue to grow. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many other social media channels have become the modern equivalent of word-of-mouth marketing.