Financial Professionals and the Future of
Thought Leadership and Social Media

Today’s Presenters
Julie Littlechild
Founder
AbsoluteEngagement.com
@jlittlechild
Loic Jeanjean
Director, Sales and Marketing
Advisor Websites
@jjloic
Tim Maurer
Director, Personal Finance
BAM Alliance
@TimMaurer
Join the conversation on Twitter
#FAsocial | @LinkedInMktg | @fpassociation
#FAsocial

We Talked To
1,041
Investors
1,242
Advisers
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

High growth advisers are embracing
thought leadership strategies,
supported by social media.
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

They Do This Because The Strategy
• Drives deeper client engagement
• Reflects behaviors of the prospects who are looking for advice
• Supports growth
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

CREATE
VALUE
SHARE
VALUE
CREATE CONNECTION
CREATE CONNECTION
Adviser
Prospect
Client
Thought
Leadership
Social Media
Social Media
Social Media
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

Where are we today?
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

78% of advisers are addressing how
they will build their
online presence.
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

LinkedIn Dominates for Financial Advisers
76%
43%
23%
9%
11%
15%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
LinkedIn Facebook Twitter
Percentageofrespondents
Use Today Will Use
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

Today, our reasons for using social media are somewhat passive
• Build brand/credibility
• Listen and learn
• Deepen client relationships
• Find new clients
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

Tomorrow, We’ll Be More Active
57% 57%
52%
35%
0%
20%
40%
60%
Build brand and
credibility
Maintain/deepen
existing relationships
Find new relationships Listen and learn from
others
Q: Thinkingaboutyourplanstousesocialnetworks/socialmediagoingforward,how
will theimportanceofeachobjectivechangerelativetotoday?
35% of advisers say
‘listening and learning’
will be a more important
going forward.
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

However, we use Different Networks to
Meet Different Objectives
Objective LinkedIn Facebook Twitter
Find new relationships
48% 14% 9%
Build brand/credibility 28% 25% 25%
Maintain/deepen
existing relationships
12% 48% 8%
Listen and learn from
others
9% 7% 45%
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

Client engagement is supported by meaningful
education and connection.
Thought leadership and social media are helping
advisers take action.
#1
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

Engaged clients are more satisfied,
more loyal and provide 100% of your
referrals.
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

Education = Engagement
34%
23%
44%
70%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
All respondents Engaged clients
Somewhat Agree Completely Agree
Q: To whatextentdoyouagreeordisagreewiththefollowingstatement?Myadviserprovides
me witheducationrelatedtothemarket,investmentsorotherfinancialtopics.
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

The Personal Connection Wins
Q: How wouldyouratethevalueofdifferentsourcesofinformationprovidedbyyouradviser?
39% 38% 44%
55%
52%
41% 37%
32%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
In person workshops Adviser Blog Online workshops Relevant articles
Somewhat valuable Very valuable
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

Focus on high growth advisers for clues
High growth advisers added more than twice the number of new
clients last year as low growth advisers
Low Growth:
High Growth:
9 new
clients
18 new
clients
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

High Growth Advisers Emphasize Three Strategies
Q: Whichofthefollowingdoyouuseasa partofyouroverallcommunicationsstrategyforboth
prospectsandexistingclients?
34% 34%
18%
48% 47%
29%
0%
20%
40%
60%
Educational events Leveraging my professional
network on LinkedIn
Thought leadership/content
Low Growth High Growth
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

The Impact of Thought Leadership according
to High Growth Advisers
Q: Whatimpactdoyoubelievethatsharingand/orauthoringrelevantcontenthasonyour
business,clientsorprospects?Showstopthree.
• Builds credibility 90%
• Raises awareness of my business 84%
• Deepens relationships with existing clients 76%
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

Create Real Connections Using Social Media
Q: Whichofthefollowingspecificactivitiesdoyoudoonsocialnetworksforbusinesspurposes?
35%
38%
45% 47%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Follow clients Connect/engage with clients
Low Growth Advisers High Growth Advisers
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

Consumer expectations and behaviors are changing the
way in which we engage with prospective clients.
#2
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

60% of prospective clients actively sought input to help vet their
adviser prior to starting to work together.
For three quarters of clients, that input was in the form of a
referral, however……
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

It’s Different For the Young and Sometimes for the Not So Young
Q: Which,ifany,ofthefollowingdidyoudotolearnmoreaboutyouradviserpriortocontacting
ormeetingwiththem?n=thosewhosoughtinputfromanysource
58%
49%
34%
26%
74%
26%
15%
6%
74%
26%
10%
4%
75%
19%
7%
2%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Spoke with existing client Online search Checked professional
network
Check social network
<44 45-54 55-64 65+
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

Most Prospects Who Look to Networks Do So PRIOR to the Meeting
Q: Whendidyouseek outinformationonyouradviserusingprofessionalorsocialnetworks?
51%
39%
10%
46% 46%
8%
50%
38%
8%
29%
41%
29%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Prior to making contact After contact prior to meeting After meeting prior to decision
<44 45-54 55-64 65+
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

The Past Is No Indicator of the Future. Things Will Look Very Different
Q: Ifyouwerelookingfora newfinancialadvisertoday,howimportantwouldaccess to
informationviasocial/professionalnetworksbeinresearchingaprospectiveadviser?
42%
14%
8%
5%
43%
28%
20% 21%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
<44 45-54 55-64 65+
Used to find current advisor Important/critical if looking going forward
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

These Strategies Drive Growth
#3
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

53% of advisers added new clients as a result of using social
media.
That number increased to 67% among high growth advisers.
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

Supporting New Business Development
• 7x more High Growth Advisers say using social media is
about supporting business development than leading
directly to new clients.
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

Leverage Social Media to Drive Referrals
Q: To whatextentdoyouthinkyourbusinessdevelopmentactivitywas positivelyimpactedbysocial
networking?Showspercentagerating‘some’or‘significant’impact.
29% 29%
22%
42%
40%
34%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Client referrals Other prospecting COI referrals
Low Growth Advisers High Growth Advisers
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

We Need to Pay Attention
Because this strategy
• Drives deeper client engagement
• Reflects behaviors of the prospect who are looking for advice
• Supports growth
#FAsocial@jlittlechild

Your action plan for
client engagement and
a digital presence
#FAsocial

Social and Mobile Web is Still Growing
According to a survey presented earlier, 51% of consumers learnt about their new
advisers through digital. That’s no surprise.
In the United States
• 158 million people use Facebook
• 122 million use LinkedIn
• 75% of Americans use their smartphones to research information
Do you know anyone who isn’t on Facebook?
Who doesn’t have a smartphone?
Bottom line: investors aren’t just visiting social networking sites to passively consume
information
#FAsocial@jjloic

What Investors/Consumers Want and Expect
• They want to consume information when and where they want
• They want to be engaged
• They expect full transparency
• They want better customer service
• They expect fast responses/turn-around
• They do not want to be sold to
#FAsocial@jjloic

Digital Marketing Business Objectives
Before starting/changing anything, please identify your goals and KPIs
• Create awareness (social media & branded traffic)
• Generate leads (capture leads on website)
• Educate clients (Increase client satisfaction / NPS / # of resources downloaded
/ returning visitors)
• Engage community (# webinar registrants / # referrals)
• Etc…
#FAsocial@jjloic

How to Attract New Clients & Engage Existing Clients
1. Link your social media profiles to professional websites
2. Generate valuable and if possible actionable content
3. Be authentic
4. Be specific
5. Be convincing, but not forceful
6. Deliver on your promises
[optional] send visitors to landing pages
#FAsocial@jjloic

Success – What to Track
Simple:
• Ask prospects how they found you
• Use Google Analytics (it’s free) to see
where new clients/referral form
submissions come from (social vs. web
vs. mobile)
Advanced:
• Conversion Rate
• Amplification Rate (AmR)
#FAsocial@jjloic

Backing into Social Media and
“Thought Leadership”
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2006
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#FAsocial@TimMaurer

#FAsocial
1. Find your voice and choose your medium: What do you have to say and where do you want to say it?
Writer, thinker, talker, speaker, curator?
2. Use your voice: Choose to put yourself out there and embrace your label of choice as a blogger, podcaster,
speaker, curator or other.
3. Upgrade your company website: Most advisers appear to be using the same three website templates. Make
yours unique and exceptional.
4. Create your personal website: Get www.[YourName].com and use it to express your message personally.
Connect it to your company website.
5. Get on LinkedIn: It’s the new and improved business card and the intersection of professional and social.
Connect, learn, share & repeat.
6. Choose one other social platform to concentrate on: I quit Facebook and learned to optimize Twitter.
7. Set a regular content creation schedule and keep it: Use your voice to create something weekly or monthly,
centralized on your website. Share on social media.
@TimMaurer
7 Steps of Effective Social Media Engagement

Questions?
#FAsocial