Social media marketing plans for financial advisors are a great way for these professionals to position themselves as experts in their fields and attract new clients. Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter have tens of millions of users at any one time, offering financial advisers an unparalleled opportunity to market themselves to potential clients that they would not have with traditional promotion methods. In addition, social media also allow you to build client loyalty by interacting with them online in a more personal way than sending emails. If done incorrectly, however, social media marketing can backfire, leaving a financial adviser with a bad reputation that can quickly spread through the various social media sites.
The main thing to remember when drawing up social media marketing plans for financial advisors is that this type of marketing is about creating relationships rather than selling. So you have to remove the mindset that you are selling yourself to potential clients. Instead, you have to make connections with them in which you will build your online reputation as a skilled financial advisor coach, and then let potential leads approach you.
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How do you build relationships online in social media sites? Use your expertise to give value to your Facebook friends or Twitter followers. For example, you can post quality investment advice on your Facebook wall or send financial planning advice through Twitter. At the same time, you can gently encourage people to see you so you can act as their custom financial adviser and deal with their specific financial situation. But, be warned: the one thing that the online community resists is self-serving behavior, so do not use social media sites to hard sell yourself and your services. Remember: building relationships is the key.
Online marketing plans for financial advisors should also include provision to build a strong online presence. One important thing you should do is to claim your Google profile. A Google profile is created when you set up an account with a Google service, such as Gmail. You can make these profile pages viewable online when someone makes a Google search for your name. These profiles can be customized to control what people see when they view your page and give you a positive online presence. These profiles also appear on the first page of Google search pages. And you can create a custom vanity URL that includes not just your name but also any keywords you want to add to make it easier for people to find you.
You can create a custom Google profile by signing up for a new Gmail account and then going to the Create Profile page. When filling in your last name, you can add any keywords that you would like attached to your URL. For example, if you are John Smith, you can type in Smith|financial planning advice in the Last Name field. Then, add a short bio. At the profile URL, you can type in your desired vanity URL, i.e. johnsmith.financialplanningadvice. Claiming your Google profile is an essential part of marketing plans for financial advisors.