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As a finance expert, your understanding of financial planning and analysis can help a lot of people achieve their financial goals. But drawing in the right people and gaining their trust is not always easy.
A sound social media marketing strategy can help. Astute use of social media can help you reach a larger audience and have a greater impact.
In this article, we'll explore applications of social media for finance experts, and consider which social platforms are best suited for which uses.
Best Uses of Social Media for Finance Leaders
Social media is a powerful outreach tool for every industry, including finance. It can be part of your strategy for establishing yourself as a finance leader in your niche. Your online reputation is a big part of your professional identity in this internet-first world.
Some ways to engage with social media include educating your audience, using targeted advertising, networking, and offering personalized advice.
Education
Social media platforms are perfect for educating your audience in bits and pieces. We know people have short attention spans, especially in the face of potentially intimidating topics like money and finance. But they love to scroll through their social feeds. So you can drop little bits of knowledge to grab their attention and help them make better financial decisions.
- Offer content like videos, articles, and infographics that answer common questions.
- Share your thoughts on financial news and events, and explain how they may impact your audience.
- Offer actionable tips — what can someone do about a particular financial situation or predicament?
You’ll share your own content, of course, but you can also liven up your account, make connections, and start conversations by sharing resources created by others.
Advertising
Paid social ads can help you attract the right prospects and clients. Social platforms offer very precise targeting options, so you can find and attract the people who are most likely to need or want your services. You can choose demographics, interests, job titles, and geographical areas.
When using social media advertising, it’s important to:
- Provide a clear CTA (call-to-action). It should be a simple action you want them to take, like visiting a website or downloading a resource.
- Monitor your results and adjust your ads, targeting options, and CTAs to see what gets the best results.
- Comply with regulations. There are compliance standards for financial advertising; make sure you follow them to avoid legal difficulties.
Networking
Engaging in conversation with other leaders can help you build a strong network. Some strategies for making connections include:
- Join finance groups or follow finance topics
- Create professional profiles that showcase you as an expert
- Participate in discussions on topics that relate to your work
- Attend virtual events
- Share content created by other experts
Personalized advice
Offering personalized advice can help build a loyal following. Encourage your audience to ask questions and provide feedback. Respond to comments and messages. Host an AMA (“ask me anything”) session. When people post questions in your area of expertise, and you can answer, respond.
The most distinct quality of social media is, after all, the “social,” interactive aspect. You can engage with people rather than just pushing out information. Those people are likely to come to you when they need the services you provide.
Which Social Platforms Are Best Suited for Financial Content?
Not all social networks are equally appropriate for finance outreach. With so many platforms available, from Twitter to Quora to LinkedIn, how can you choose where to focus your efforts?
The key to using social media to educate and potentially unearth clients is doing research on: 1) social platform demographics — where so your targets already spend time online? and 2) what the strengths and qualities of each platform are. Then you can tailor your social strategy appropriately.
Let’s consider a few options:
LinkedIn is the social network most dedicated to professional topics and connections. With a global reach of 740 million users, LinkedIn is at the center of the business world and has plenty of engaged users.
To make the most of LinkedIn, first create a professional profile that showcases your experience, skills, and achievements. Then join groups related to your specialties and interests, Follow other experts who cover topics of interest, and engage in conversations with them.
Twitter has been under the microscope since Elon Musk purchased the platform and made some controversial changes, but it's still a huge epicenter of social media, with hundreds of million of users. It's a handy place to drop short snippets of wisdom and collect followers.
Use the power of finance hashtags to find and join ongoing discussions about topics of interest.
With over 430 million monthly active users, Reddit is an active platform that can help you reach a larger audience. Users can vote posts up or down, so it’s important to engage thoughtfully and offer good comments and questions.
With the power of subreddits, you can engage in more inclusive conversations about topics ranging from personal finance to macroeconomics. Finance subreddits to check out include:
- r/Finance
- r/Financial Planning
- r/Personal Finance (formerly r/Finance Advice)
- r/Investing
Quora
Quora is a question-and-answer website, and thus a golden opportunity for experts with good information. Over 300 million users monthly use Quora, looking for answers to their questions about anything and everything. As with Reddit, you can choose the topics you’d like to follow and engage with. Finance-related Quora topics include:
- Finance
- Personal Finance
- Stocks
- Investing
YouTube
Youtube is THE place for video content.
This media giant with 2.1 billion (yes, billion) global users has everything, including finance. YouTube is great for sharing educational, long-form videos as well as quick snippets, making complex topics like finance easier to understand and consume.
Another mega-platform, Facebook has over 2 billion monthly active users, and is an excellent platform for financial leaders to connect with potential clients and share educational content. You can create a business page and share valuable information about financial planning and analysis, investing, and budgeting.
While Instagram may not seem like an obvious choice for financial leaders, it's an excellent platform for reaching younger clients. You can use Instagram to share educational content in a visually appealing format, such as infographics and short videos.
Get Started on Social Media
Although social media is often thought of as the bailiwick of teens, influencers, and celebrities, it can be a useful tool for finance experts and other professionals as well. Social platforms are places for personal branding, educating your audience, advertising, networking, and offering personalized advice.
If you’re a CFO, fin-tech executive, CPA, accountant, financial advisors, insurance broker, or CEO of a finance business interested in increasing your reach and visibility, find out more about Kiplinger Advisor Collective. From publishing opportunities to members-only group discussions, we’re an excellent resource for finance experts who want to make an impact.
