Why
the Financial Services Industry
Should
Adopt a “Social Mindset”
While the Financial Services Industry has come a long way in adapting
to modern marketing techniques – embracing digital marketing, employing
multi-channel campaigns, developing marketing analytics and overcoming many of
the compliance hurdles to using social media, there’s still a lot of room for
improvement, especially when it comes to the “social mindset.”
Think about how our personal lives have fundamentally changed over the past
10 years:
-
How we communicate with our friends and family
via text, Skype, Facebook, and so on
-
How we take care of our personal business –
online shopping, mobile banking, paying for our Starbucks with our phone
But it’s not only the “vehicles” for communications and transacting
business that have changed. There is a strong psychological shift to what, how
and why we want to communicate.
The principle behind social media is about creating a virtual community
– a community that shares something in common – whether that is common
interests, historical connection, geographical proximity, professional
affinities, etc. These communities coalesce by sharing and interacting – sharing
news, ideas, values and images that represent the individual’s personal brand.
So in some ways individuals have become more like businesses
– establishing and maintaining a brand, marketing themselves and engaging with
their audience.But businesses now should take a cue from how individuals engage in the
digital world and adopt a similar “social mindset.”
The first rule of social media is to acquire “Friends” or “Followers.” After
all, if you don’t have many people to interact with, it’s not very social. As a Financial Services company, think about how to convert all your
prospects to “Followers” – whether they are individual investors, Financial
Advisors or Institutions. While it would be nice to have each and every one of
them follow you on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, you should view this term more
broadly and let it guide how you approach your audience – i.e., your Followers.
The important distinction between prospects and Followers can be thought of as
cold vs. warm leads. A prospect is someone you need to work to get his or her
attention. A Follower is someone who has already implicitly consented to
hearing what you have to say. That’s why you need Followers – so when you have
something to say or share, they are ready to receive your message.
If you think about why you follow an individual or a company that you
don’t already have a personal relationship with, it’s often one of 3 reasons:
-
They have an interesting profile
-
Other people you respect follow them
-
They said something interesting or relevant to
you
If we think about how we as companies gain followers, the same
principles apply:
Your profile – this is your
value proposition and your brand
How do you want to be known – as the company that has the Best Market Insights?
Innovative Thinkers? Most Advisor Friendly?
Other people follow you –
these are your influencers
Everyone wants to know what the “Smart Money” is doing. Cultivating key
relationships with a few influential advisors, a large pension plan, members of
the media or bloggers, or even a local celebrity, can help you grow your
follower base exponentially.
Say something interesting and
relevant – know your audience and tailor your message to them
The days of mass communication to all are over. Capturing business
intelligence and using that to target your message is the most powerful way to
not only gain and keep your Followers, but they will also become your
influencers.
So how does all this apply beyond the realm of social media?
So how does all this apply beyond the realm of social media?
Think about if your wholesalers viewed all their Financial Advisors as
Followers. They would feel an obligation to:
Stay in front of them regularly
This doesn’t have to be face-to-face. There are countless
ways to stay in touch, whether it’s an email, phone call, social media post,
you want to be sure that you stay top of mind.
Give them something meaningful, relevant
and interesting
It’s important to
understand what is important to your audience, what kind of products they would
be most interested in hearing about, and what topics are most relevant. It’s
even a good idea to add a more personal element to your communication – let
them see your personality and if they like you, they’ll be more likely to want
to receive your message.
Not “junking up their newsfeed”
(in the figurative sense)
If you
over-communicate or provide too much content that is not relevant to them, they
not only can tune you out, but essentially “un-follow” you. Once someone
“un-follows” you, it is highly unlikely they will ever come back.
The good news is there are many new technologies that allow you to
efficiently spread your message, stay in contact and personalize your
communications. Now, we just need to adopt the “Social Mindset” to create the
right discipline in getting the most out of these tools.
