The Best Social Media Platforms for Financial Advisors

Social media marketing has become a reliable tool for any business or advisor trying to reach a target audience. With an estimated 4.9 billion social media users across the world, it’s no shock financial advisors are casting their nets into the social media ocean. The issue is finding the best platform and strategies to ensure advisors effectively and efficiently use social media. For example, it’s easy for any advisor to simply pick up their phone and create a profile for their advisory. But that does not mean they will succeed. They need to consider what platforms will be best geared towards their audience. Then figure out the strategy that works for them.

For that reason, there’s a lot to take into consideration when an advisor decides to dive head-first into a social media platform. We’ll be going over why advisors should use social media. Showcasing what strategies might work for an advisor. Naming some of the most prevalent platforms and then highlighting their pros and cons so you can decide which platform is the best for your advisory.

Why Advisors Should Use Social Media

To begin with, almost everyone is using social media from giant megacorps to the little ma and pop shop down the road. This is done to engage with clients, attract prospects, and interact with those in the community. While following everyone else’s lead isn’t always the right solution, in this case, it’s the way to go. In fact, social media ads make up around 28.8% of all digital marketing spending. This means over 1/4 of digital marketing is done on social media. Take into account that in 2024, the expected social media ad spending is said to reach 291.8 billion dollars. With such gargantuan statistics and a humungous user base, it’s easy to see why advisors should use social media.

The main goal of social media has always been to provide a space where people can engage and network. Where fun and business can mingle and create a space in which anyone can participate. What’s important is that when advisors use social media, they’re there to engage. Not to just shove a product or service down your throat, but to interact with people and build a network. Advisors should be using social media not to grow their business directly but to create a space where their business will grow organically. That’s the beauty of social media, it’s massive and provides so much opportunity for its users; that’s why advisors should use it.

What Makes a Strategy Work on Social Media

Advertising yourself is a game of strategy, you have to look at the board from all sides and see what the best move to make is. Especially if you’re trying to successfully use social media to increase your network and engage with your audience. It’s not as simple as making a few posts and replying to a couple of comments. You have to plan your moves and ensure that whatever you’re doing next will have the most effective outcome.

What makes a strategy work on social media is the impact it has on your audience or those in the industry. If it can get people to interact and engage with your page then it’s a successful strategy. Remember, depending on what part of the industry you’re in, your strategies will vary.

Simple Strategies That Work

When it comes to social media. different strategies work for different advisors. But there are a few that are sure to help you succeed no matter what part of the financial industry you’re in. They are as follows:

• Commit to a schedule; post consistently but do not overpost
• Engage with your audience through comments and direct messages
• Interact with others in the industry by commenting on their posts and creating discussions
• Vary your content, if you just share walls of text, you’re not going to get anywhere
• Have fun, it’s social media, it’s meant to be engaging and exciting, not boring and drab

There are just basic strategies or ways to handle yourself on social media to start you on the path to success. It’s important to understand that while you are a business trying to bring in more clients, you’re using social media. Which is inherently a place for people to engage and interact with each other, discuss things they love, and just have fun.

Social Media Platforms to Explore

Next, we have to take a look at the social media platforms that advisors can explore. Each one has its own set of pros and cons, along with a different audience base who uses it. None of them are one size fits all because of the unique differences each one has. The most popular social media out there are Facebook, LinkedIn, X/Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. We will briefly explore each platform to see the positives and negatives, along with some statistics that will help you decide the best ones to use for your advisory.

Facebook

Facebook is a giant in the social media sphere, hosting around 3.05 billion active users monthly. Making it one of the most used social media apps around the world. While its popularity has been declining among the youth demographic, it still sees great success with those of an older age.

Pros

• Great place to build brand awareness and increase your business presence
• Easy to engage with your audience by sharing posts or commenting
• Targeted advertising allows you to select advertising based on things such as age, location, gender, and interests
• The built-in insights tab allows you to monitor your analytics on-site

Cons

• While organic marketing is possible, a good amount of advertising will be paid
• Setting up a Facebook page can be a time investment
• The decline in youth popularity means that if your audience is on the younger side, you won’t have as much success

LinkedIn

Next, we have LinkedIn, a popular social media known for its professional and business aspects. With a whopping 1 billion users around the world, LinkedIn is nothing to scoff at. LinkedIn is known for its job postings and more professional interaction between users, It’s used as a place to network, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be used to reach your audience and increase your following.

Pros

• LinkedIn is great for networking and creating connections with other professionals
• Many professional branding options allow advisors to show off their advisory’s brand voice
• Recommendations and endorsements allow users to encourage each other and show off their expertise
• Events and webinar listings make it easy for advisors to market their events

Cons

• Personalization features can be quite limited
• Due to its professional nature, some may feel limited in the type of content they can post compared to other social media sites
• Many people just use it for job searching, so while its users may be high, not all use it like other social media platforms

X/Twitter

X, formerly known as Twitter is our next social media platform. Seeing about 250 million daily visitors, X is quite a popular platform. Where people go to share 280-character texts, images, videos, links, and more. X/Twitter is known to be a controversial platform with some loving it, some hating it, and many just enjoying the posts they see shared on it.

Pros

• X/Twitter makes it easy to create posts and share your ideas/content
• Hashtags make it possible to target audiences easily with subjects or topics that they might be interested in
• With only 280 characters, writing out a post is fast as you only have so many words you can fit in

Cons

• 280 characters can also be quite limiting if you have a lot to talk about, luckily you can break your post into multiple replies (but that can be a hassle)
• It can be quite addictive
• There are plenty of spammers and bots, which can make it hard for users to distinguish between content and spam
• X/Twitter has been known to be controversial and its users are sometimes seen as a little mean and over the top

Instagram

Instagram is the photo and video-sharing giant with over 2 billion active monthly users. While not quite as big as Facebook, they hold an active user base that makes them the 3rd most used social media app. Along with users to share images and videos with the swipe of a finger, Instagram has become THE place to share graphic-based content. Whether it’s with video or images, Instagram is the go-to place for it.

Pros

• Sharing video and photo content is as easy as a few swipes of the finger, almost anyone can do it
• Instagram has a great user interface which makes navigation easy for users and creators
• Marketing has seen an increase in the app as businesses have found new and creative ways to promote their products and services
• Like any other social media, Instagram is great for building contacts

Cons

• Instagram is only photo and video meaning that the only way to have text is under your video and image content
• Many of the ads on the app are known to have misinformation or be disingenuous, so users might be more skeptical
• Content stealing is a potential worry as taking images is quite easy

YouTube

Next up we have YouTube, which is THE social media platform. YouTube is the 2nd most visited site on the internet with over 106 billion annual visits. It also ranks as the most popular social media platform beating Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. If you want to share a video, YouTube is the platform for you as it is a social media that is built off the posting of video content. Whether it is long form, short form, or somewhere in between. If you create video content for your advisory, YouTube is a must for you.

Pros

• YouTube is one of the social platforms that pay you directly for your content based on how many views it gets, so if you can go viral you can earn some extra money and get your name out at the same time
• It is extremely easy to use, just upload your video, add a title and description and you’re ready to post
• YouTube generates backlinks which can help boost your SEO
• It’s massive, so you’re sure to find people to watch your videos, no matter the niche

Cons

• There are many rules you must follow, if not your videos can be deleted, your channel may be suspended, and your account could even be terminated
• Any advertiser can put ads on your video, even if they’re unrelated to your content
• If you’re looking for a place to get popular fast, YouTube may not be for you. Even with its large audience, you shouldn’t expect to blow up unless you’re ready to put in the time and effort

TikTok

TikTok is a relatively new video-focused social media platform (compared to the others mentioned) that has blown up in popularity. Boasting an astounding 1 billion active monthly users, it’s no surprise to see that it has caught up with the likes of Facebook, Instagram, and even YouTube. Mostly known for its short video format, TikTok has grabbed the attention of a younger audience with its fun video skits, relatable content, and much more.

Pros

• TikTok is a creative person’s paradise  as it allows you to create any type of video content you can imagine; from skits, sketches, duets, dances, and much more
• Like every other platform, TikTok is great for interacting with other users and their duet system allows you to further that engagement and increase your networking
• Anyone can create TikTok content, all you need is a phone, an internet connection, and a want to share

Cons

• While TikTok does have its fair share of adult users, the user base contains many young adults and children. If you’re an advisor, they are most likely not your target audience
• Most TikTok content is short videos, so unless you can get your point out in a fast and attention-grabbing manner, you might not have much luck on this platform

Wrap Up

As you can see, social media has many popular platforms to choose from, each with its own set of pros and cons. Not every platform is for every advisor, it’s down to you to see which one works best for you. Whether you have an older audience you use Facebook, you want to create video content so you use YouTube, or you want to share images and use Instagram. There’s a social media platform out there for every advisor, all you have to do is find the one that works for you.

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