Our team seeks to help alleviate unnecessary stressors wherever we can, so we're going to break down the four most common Facebook marketing concerns we hear:
Facebook Presence: "Do I even need a Facebook account?"
Even if you're not very active on social media, there is still a benefit to having a Facebook account and posting to it. One reason why is simply legitimacy: 76% of consumers are checking businesses out online before visiting them, so being in more than one place online is helpful to consumers checking you out: The greater the online presence, the greater the confidence that this business is legitimate and operational.
Think of your website and social media accounts as online business cards and real-time opportunities for prospects to check you out. Your Facebook account is also a place where clients can leave testimonials and contact you. If you're not on Facebook often, you can ensure email notification settings will alert you to anything you need to act on.
Posting Content: "What should I post on Facebook?"
Sharing content on your social accounts doesn't need to be complex. Unless you're getting a lot of clients through digital marketing efforts, you don't need to spend a lot of time on your social media account content creation. Posting even once a week with a tip or story will certainly do the trick. If your goal is simply to have an online presence, posting generic content should not scare you (something is better than nothing). Automations are a great way to spend none of your valuable time while still posting on social accounts to look active. If you're just looking for easy content but don’t have access to automations, there are always financial statistics or inspirational quotes you can lean on.
Personal content is also nice to share because it lets your clients “get to know you” and your firm and helps build trust. Here are a few simple and personable ideas you can write about:
- Support a local business by sharing that you visited that week
- Talk about a recent or relatable moment from a client or prospect meeting
- Praise another Advisor or Key Support member from your office
- Thank your clients & reveal a recent testimonial you received
- Give a financial tip or something you wish you'd learned earlier
- Post a picture of your own "why," explaining why you are a financial advisor
- Pick a page on your website and talk about the content you have on there - then link it as a "read more" invitation
Compliance Restrictions: "I don't know what I'm allowed to talk about."
Social media is subject to compliance post-review and therefore needs to be archived in some way. Your firm likely has some form of archiving technology you complete on social media account setup that does this automatically. This means that whatever you post, your compliance department has access to see what's been said, archive it, and reserves the right to ask you to take it down. You should of course use your best judgement and avoid promissory language, client information, and inappropriate posts. But compliance will let you know if a change is necessary, so don't be afraid of posting! Be sure to connect with your firm’s compliance team to get set up and hear the rules they may have in place in case they differ from this.
Advertising (paid promotions/posts) on social media is different, and qualifies as needing pre-review, so if you are doing a paid ad or post, your compliance team will probably want/need to review it in advance of your promotion's start date.
Advertising: "Should I be doing ads on Facebook?"
Digital marketing for financial advisors is tricky because this industry is relationship-centric and requires building trust. Social media ads can certainly generate business, but if you've got regular introductions happening or prospecting events that work well for you now, you shouldn't feel pressure to do digital marketing in the form of social ads.
If you are inclined to do Facebook ads, here are a few steps to follow:
- Define audience: Facebook has built-in audience filters you can utilize for narrowing the demographic of the viewer, but you can also leverage existing client data to target either specific audiences (e.g. past seminar attendees) or "lookalike audiences" that have similar qualities or characteristics as a file you upload.
- Determine message: Consider what you are offering or marketing (event, consult, review), how you want to display it (text, graphic, video), and what action you want them to take (attend event, visit website, schedule meeting). Then hone your message to be understandable to someone that doesn't work in financial services and hopefully easy enough that consumers are willing to take the action. Split test a few different options.
- Retarget: Follow the audience that interacts with your ads and make sure to reach out to them again, perhaps with a different (lower barrier) call to action, like downloading a guide or signing up for a newsletter list.
- Track your results: Because at some point, you'll want to know if the work you put in was worth it or if the funds should be directed elsewhere. You should track your budget and results for all your marketing efforts!
Parting Thoughts
Ultimately, how you choose to spend marketing dollars and concentrate efforts is up to you as the business owner. But our marketing support team wants you to know that Facebook does not need to be a stressful digital marketing experience! Having a profile on Facebook is generally helpful for validating your business and providing a place for connection to clients and prospects. If you have an account, you can post a wide variety of things, personal or professional, for spreading financial education and sharing about yourself and your firm. If you decide to get or stay active on Facebook, we wish you happy posting!
