• About
  • Events
  • News
  • Newsletter
Adviser Home
  • CPD Centre
  • Development Solutions
    • AXA Investment Managers
    • Seneca Investment Managers
    • Tacit Investment Management
    • Downing Fund Managers
    • Aegon Corporate Protection
    • Tax Planning Support
    • Outsourced Investments
    • Orbis Invest Differently
    • FundsNetwork
    • Brooks Macdonald
    • T. Rowe Price - Where Better Decisions Begin
    • Centralised Retirement Propositions
    • Aegon - Supporting financial advice
    • Tax Planning Investments
  • Resources
    • Technical
      • BPR due diligence video
      • Pension and Investment Planning Tools
    • Regulation
      • How will regulatory changes impact ESG?
      • What the US election result could mean for markets
      • The Money Marketing Podcast: US Election Special
      • A guide to ESG and responsible investing
      • Is ESG for the money or the morals?
      • Inducements - what's in and what's out?
      • Investment scams booklet
      • The role of stewardship in ESG
      • The performance review: We put 10 ESG UK equity funds under the microscope
      • Are DFMs meeting the ESG challenge?
      • Increases to the state pension and lifetime allowance
      • Pensions & ESG – the DWP strikes back
      • FCA focus on ‘sustainable finance’ set to increase
      • An asset class growing in popularity: What advisers need to know about peer-to-peer lending
      • A practical guide to Pension Transfers from defined benefit to defined contribution
      • How to manage your CPD
      • What do high UK government debt levels mean?
      • Next state pension age review must assess Covid-19 factor
    • Marketing
      • Successful Strategies to Win New Business
      • How to build a digital adviser. Part 1: your website
      • How to build a digital adviser. Part 2: emails
      • How to build a digital adviser Part 4: social media
      • Your Guide to Business Development in the New Normal
      • Creating a successful digital advice model
      • A simple guide to Metadata
      • Blogging Checklist
      • Marketing Checklist
      • SEO checklist
      • Website checklist
      • Case Studies
      • Investment Guides
      • ABI Making Retirement Options Clear
      • Equity Release - Not For Me
      • PMI - New Market Opportunities
      • Social Media Training
      • Adviser PR
      • Web Review Service
      • Communication Reviews
      • Corporate Design
      • Tailored Web Development
      • E Mail Marketing and Communications
      • Unconscious beliefs ‘key’ to sticking to advice plan
      • Advisers must embrace digital tech, just like their clients
      • The Insiders’ Guide on How To Grow Your Business During Lockdown
      • Trends 2021: Selective innovation and getting personal
    • Team Development
      • ISO 22222 - Increase your professional standards
      • SOLLA - Later Life Adviser Accreditation
    • Technology
      • Increase client face to face time
    • Proposition
      • Why 2021 could be the year of the Ssas
      • The New Protection Challenge
      • The best and worst performing funds of 2020
      • FTSE soars 3.1% on first trading day of 2021
      • Demand for advice set to 'grow exponentially' this year
      • Handling vulnerable clients who want equity release
      • Preparing your clients for a K shaped recovery
      • Shift in retirement journeys set to reshape the market
      • Managing risk in volatile markets
      • State pension now a whole lot more important for planners’ clients
      • Govt boosts support for self-employed during lockdown
      • Covid-19 job cuts cause over 55s to re-think retirement plans
      • Covid has changed advice needs
      • ESG for income and growth
      • Savings surge is an adviser opportunity
      • Four in five UK adults say they don’t have a ‘pension will’
      • Combining pensions and property
      • Why transfers in drawdown will be a key theme for advisers
      • Clever Adviser Technology Ltd
      • The Value of Advice - an insiders guide
      • The Value of Advice
      • Adviser Home Guide to Innovation
      • Designing your service proposition
      • Effective Cash Management
      • A managed sale, move and funding service for your retired clients
      • Private Medical Insurance
      • Portfolio Comparison
      • Cashflow Modelling App
      • Defaqto Engage Core
      • Protection advice made simple
      • Client Reports and Online Paraplanning
      • Technical Support
      • Guide to the changing face of protection cover
      • Advising on income protection
      • Business Protection
      • The future of cashflow modelling
      • Equity available in UK homes soars to £600bn
      • Battling the pension scammers
      • Billy Burrows: The way we advise clients will change
      • Why advice finally feels relevant
      • South West: Bonds we can depend on
      • Pandemic forcing a widespread rethink of retirement plans
      • Guide To Post-Covid-19 Retirement Planning
      • Global Investor Behaviours and Attitudes: A Cross Generational Overview
      • Rohan Sivajoti: The one page business plan
      • Protection conversations increasingly common for advisers
      • Generate new business with tax-efficient investments
      • Fixed income in the new normal
      • The risks that investors should prepare for in 2021
      • FTSE sinks 3% amid Covid chaos
      • Longevity: The hub of retirement planning
      • Are investors adjusting to the new normal?
      • Women urged to check pensions for underpayment
      • How to manage pitfalls of giving wealth to next generation
    • Adviser Business In Testing Times
  • Sustainable Investments
    • Sustainable Investing - Rathbone
    • Sustainable Investing - M&G
    • Sustainable Investing - Schroders
    • Sustainable Investing - Hermes
    • Sustainable Investments - Pictet
  • About
  • Events
  • News
  • Newsletter

Does Social Media really work?

We asked our social media expert partner, Amanda Brown of Alterra to address the question, and here are her top ten reasons why social media should be part of your business life. We hope this helps you to consider the role of social media in your own business. If, however, you wish to go further and learn how to build and implement a social media strategy for your own business then either email amanda on [email protected] or book on her September course.
 
 
10 reasons for using Social Media for marketing your business
 
1. Social Proof
The first reason for being involved in social media is that customers and consumers are using social media platforms to endorse or complain about  the products and services they buy. It's very easy to post a positive or negative comment on Twitter for instance. The concept of social proof is demonstrated clearly on websites such as Amazon where customer reviews are placed right alongside the description of the book software or other product you are considering purchasing.
 
2. Brand personality
Given the widespread use of social media and the very personal nature of each platform, the people behind the brand become vitally important. Although most websites will have short profiles of each of key person in the business, there is usually very little personality evident. To use Ecademy's expression 'Know, Like and Trust', it is the people behind the company name or brand which is most important to new customers.
 
3. Building a sphere of influence
We are all very well aware that recommendations and testimonials play a big part in gaining new clients. It's important that your wider audience are aware of your expertise in your particular field. Companies can build a sphere of influence around them by directly connecting with key influencers on social media. For example, financial journalists use Twitter as a way of finding news items. If you have a newsworthy announcement to make obviously the traditional PR route is one way of publicising it, but you could use Twitter to flag up to the journalist that your press release is about to go live.
 
4. Keeping up with the competition
Before you embark on your social media strategy, we would advise that you take some time to look at the social media influence of your competitors. If your competitors are using social media to their advantage then you may well be missing out on internet exposure. Social media users, particularly those in the 20s and 30s, will have the expectation (rightly or wrongly) that all companies have a social media presence.
 
5. Your target audience is using it
Over half the UK population is involved in one or more social media platforms. Whereas 15 years ago not all professional service firms had a website, it is highly unlikely that any business does not have a website. If your target audience is on a particular platform then shouldn't you claim that piece of internet real estate?
 
6. Google measures social sharing when ranking
If you take a look at your Google analytics, not only can you see the traffic to your website from search referrals or as a result of someone putting your website address into their browser, but you can also see traffic from LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Facebook and Pinterest. Google are increasingly weighting social sharing when ranking your website.
 
7. The next generation of word-of-mouth marketing
This is somewhat akin to social proof. Social proof comes from the consumer themselves whereas we can use social media marketing to showcase our particular specialty. If this is then shared by others on social media our offering is validated, creating an online 'word-of-mouth endorsement.
 
8. Brand exposure
The greater level of social media activity more likely it is that your brand will be memorable. This is not just about promoting your own services but also providing valuable content to your potential audience. Social is where people go to be sociable. There are exceptions to this: LinkedIn is all about business but we don't want to see just ads wrapped up in posts. A rounded personality interested in wider business issues is much more attractive than somebody who is a self-publicist.
 
9. Opens up conversations
I don't know about you but I'm not a great fan of cold calling. Whilst we all have to do it some time in our careers, it's not the easiest of tasks. Many companies have efficient systems for fielding telephone calls which make it extremely difficult to, firstly, find the person you need to talk to and secondly, get through.
Starting a relationship online helps take the cold out of cold calling.
 
10. Improves customer service
The rise in the use of social media means that companies are open to complaints 24/7. Those companies who can handle complaints effectively will certainly mitigate the risks of bad comment.
Back

Our Sponsors & Partners

Schroders
Clear
Pictet Asset Manegement
Octopus Investments
Funds Network
Orbis
Aegon
Brooks Macdonald
Previous
Next

Contact Us

  • Partners
  • Contact Us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Data / GDPR
  • Privacy Statement

Social

Follow us to stay up to date with the latest industry news

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Newsletter Sign Up

Fancy getting all the latest news direct to your inbox?

Please do not fill in the above field to help us identify genuine requests.

Adviser Home

© 2021 Adviser Home

Website by Clear

Back To Top

Sign up to the Adviser Home newsletter

Please leave the above box empty.

After you register your details with us we will communicate with you by email as follows:

Each week you will receive an update bulletin “InfoMix”. You will also receive, normally weekly, a single email on a subject of relevance to your role as adviser or provider.

For providers we will also from time to time - normally 3 or four times a year, tell you about Adviser Home initiatives or opportunities for you to partner with us.

At any time you can elect to stop receiving emails by unsubscribing.

Your data will only be shared with a third party with your specific written agreement. Our full GDPR policy is found here

Please leave the above box empty.

Please leave the above box empty.