Ask yourself not WHY but HOW you can be social!
A version of this article was first published in the AFA Financial Adviser Magazine.
I’ve published many articles highlighting all the important and imperative reasons why you should consider investing in a digital marketing strategy for your financial advice business. There is no perfect way or formula to get started, particularly when using social media within your strategy.
“You have to start to be great” – Nicole Heales, Financial Adviser
What works for you isn’t going to work for the next person but it is important to launch yourself into the digital world. With 15,000,000 Aussies actively using Facebook monthly as a social arena but also as a knowledge source and a place of trust; if you aren’t where you community is then they will simply pass you by.
At the recent AFA National Adviser Conference, I had the opportunity to facilitate a panel session with three advisers that have all taken the leap of faith into utilising digital marketing as part of their overall business strategy for communication and engagement. Joining me were Sam Robinson from Pursue Wealth, Nicole Heales from Nicole Heales Financial and Glen James from Fortify Financial.
To set the scene, it’s important to understand your digital footprint: passive and active. Your passive digital footprint is created when data is collected without the owner knowing, anything from logging on to do your internet banking, to how your information is stored when accessing a website or registering for a newsletter. Whereas an active digital footprint is created when you deliberately share information about yourself by means of websites or social media. Passive digital footprints can be stored in many ways depending on the situation. In an online environment a footprint may be stored in an online data base as a “hit”. Active digital footprints can also be stored in many ways depending on the situation. In an online environment, a footprint can be stored by a user being logged into a site when making a post, changing details on your website or updating a social media profile.
The key ingredient in getting your active ‘digital footprint’ right is AUTHENTICITY! Here are some of the golden nuggets the panel shared.
How do you get authenticity right?
ALL: Be who you are. And tell your unique story.
Nicole: ‘Digital is the new rent’ and I utilise my profile to educate women to get more active with money by telling my own stories.
Glen: I have a strong social strategy to promote events. To do this you need to be real! Businesses offline and online need to ‘talk to one-another’ so learn how to use Facebook groups and create tribes.
Sam: Your online presence is the amplification of your brand, your business proposition; it takes a cold introduction to a warm one.
Invest in experts to help you!
Nicole: you can’t be a copywriter, IT person, graphic designer AND a financial adviser – these are all different skill sets so outsource to get the outcome you need.
Glen: if you don’t know how to do it, why would you do it yourself – do what you do best and let the experts do what they do best.
Sam: don’t be afraid of trial and error and ask other advisers how they have done it. It’s all about learning.
AND the final key points from our panel session!
- Communication is key and be present,
- Be consistent across all your touch points,
- Speak directly to your audience and have conversations that resonate,
- Use video to tell your story,
- Build your niche and provide content that is relevant. Perhaps podcasting is for you!
So there you have it! Great take outs from the panel on not why but how you can be social in a digital world. What’s the first step you will take to kickstart your profile? Let’s Chat!
#BeSocial
