“Amid the coronavirus pandemic, financial advisors are flocking to social media in order to maintain contact with clients and prospects and to stay abreast of developments in their industry,” according to research released by Greenwich Associates. The research examined the growing role of social media as an influencer of/for financial advisors.
In Q2 2020, Greenwich Associates conducted online interviews with 1,124 financial advisors across the world. Respondents were asked a series of questions about their consumption of different media sources, the operations of their financial advisory business, and differentiators in the decision-making process. The research study was commissioned by LinkedIn.
A summary of the research results:
| ● | More than half the financial advisors participating in the study reported that they had increased their activity on LinkedIn and/or Twitter in the past year. |
| ● | 38% of study respondents said they expected their usage of LinkedIn to increase further over the next year. |
| ● | 32% said the same about their usage of Twitter, while 12% expected their use of the platform to slow. |
| ● | Since the start of the pandemic, two in three financial advisors in the study said they had spent more time in virtual meetings with clients. |
| ● | About half of participants said they were now using social media to research and learn more about investment products and services. |
| ● | One notable finding of the research was that a quarter of advisors did not know how to use social media platforms effectively. |
According to Dan Connell, head of the market structure and technology at Greenwich Associates, social media provides an opportunity for financial advisors to keep up the interaction and engagement that drive referrals.
This year, with the pandemic playing a huge part in most of people’s lives, social media is more significant than ever. Now is the time to share your personality with your clients or future clients, so they get a better feel for who they’re trusting with their finances.
Click here to read the Greenwich research article.
