Having a profile is one thing, but LinkedIn is more that just a place to hang your resume. It is a powerful search and networking tool that top advisors are tapping into to strategically prospect and establish themselves as thought leaders.

Take a look below at some of the techniques in which you can use this platform to grow your business and professional network. Remember: the same rules apply to online networking as they do offline. Be polite, personable, professional but not too salesy. Good etiquette goes a long way.

1. Finding a needle in a haystack

LinkedIn can be overwhelming with the number of user profiles out there, but the different search features make it easy to quickly focus your search. Looking for people who attended The Ohio State University from 1970-1974 that now live in Denver and work in engineering? You can find them!  By using advanced search filters you can make sure you have a precise target market to connect with.

2. Warm introductions

The saying goes, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” Use your existing connections to open the doors to new relationships. LinkedIn has 2^nd degree connections that are in your web of professional contacts but may not be linked directly to you. So not only is it “who you know,” but with LinkedIn it’s “who you know, and who they know.”

Next time you have an appointment with a client or a prospect look them up on LinkedIn and see who they are connected with that may be a good referral.  After your meeting mention those people by name and ask for the introduction.  Watch your referrals double!

3. Group talk

LinkedIn groups are one of the most underutilized features for financial advisors on LinkedIn. With tens of thousands of groups, there’s a group for everyone and a hotbed of discussions taking place. Dive in and join the conversation! “Linked to Denver,” one of my favorite groups, has over 10,000 members in the local area including several small business owners who need your help. Want to be more strategic? “Denver Attorneys” group has over 600 members in the local area who may be a great referral source for you.

4. Get connected

How often do you return from a networking event with a stack of business cards that you are never able to follow up with? Or maybe you call them once but the timing isn’t right and 6 months later they are a distant memory. Get connected! After meeting someone reach out and connect with LinkedIn. Even if they may not be a qualified prospect now, by connecting with them you will be top of mind when those money in motion events occur. Utilize tools like LinkedIn’s CardMunch app to snap a photo of business cards and instantly connect on LinkedIn.

5. Follow Companies

Financial advisors on LinkedIn can strategically search for companies in their local area by size, industry or the amount of connections in common. We all know that when employees leave a company there is often an opportunity for 401k rollovers. Did you know that you can follow companies and be sent an email anytime an employee leaves, joins, or gets promoted? What a great opportunity to reach out!

Overall, LinkedIn can be a great business tool if you use it correctly. LinkedIn will do you no good if you have all kinds of meaningless connections, but it can be very valuable if your contacts are strategic and genuine. Now take these simple guidelines and go explore, you’ll never know whom you may run into or who might become your next big lead!

Part of a financial advisors’ job is to stay on top of the constant changes within the industry and continue to learn in order to do the best job possible handling your clients’ money. When it comes down to it, to be good at your job you need to know what’s going on in the financial industry all the time. Taking advantage of these free resources is an easy way to stay up to date in your field. You can bet your competition is doing it. And why not? It’s free! We’ve pinpointed a few ideas that you should take advantage of in order to stay on top.

1. Free whitepapers and case studies

Many service-related company’s within the financial industry have hopped on the education bandwagon and are producing tons of valuable content for their target markets. Here at Advisor Websites, we spend a lot of time and effort coming up with content that focuses largely on technology guides for financial professionals. For instance, just last week we launched this free ebook: The Financial Advisors’ Ultimate Guide to Maximizing Your Websites’ Potential. You can download it here.

Taking advantage of these free offers are a no-brainer. You can bet that your competition is doing it. Collecting knowledge and information in your field is essential to staying ahead.

2. Free webinars

Take a breather from your busy day of meetings and get ready to take some notes in the classroom. Webinars are all the rage right now when it comes to free learning. The best part about attending webinars is that you can watch from anywhere (office, kitchen table, or couch) and they’re much more entertaining than reading 50 pages of cold hard print. Most of the time webinars are recorded so if you’re unable to attend the live presentation you can get the link emailed to you and watch it later on your own time.

Oftentimes, webinars are info-packed and industry-specific so it’s a pretty good bargain for anyone looking to learn something new in your field. From client training to educational presentations, we offer many different kinds of webinars here at Advisor Websites. Looking for tips on how to improve you online presence? Join us for “How to Succeed Online,” a one-hour learning session designed specifically for financial advisors. RSVP here.

3. Free Apps

If you’ve got a smart phone or tablet (and 85% of us do) there are many apps that are designed to simplify and add ease to your life. Bloomberg Mobile updates users with real-time financial market data, allows access to company descriptions and users get the latest market news and stock quotes. You can personalize the app to target the specific information you use everyday.

The Nest Egg Estimator is one of the most popular apps on Android devices. This app projects future finances showing income taxes, assets and debt. You can plan for the future with your thumb!

Branch out with social media apps like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to reach your clients and prospects. It’s an easy way to find and be found online.

4. Free blogs/online publications

You may subscribe to a blog or two (what’s that? You want to subscribe to this one? Go right ahead!) and that’s a great start. But keep in mind that bloggers are thought leaders in any given industry and provide readers with the most cutting-edge and up-to-date news and information than you will find anywhere else.

Red Zone Marketing Blog is chalk-full of branding and marketing suggestions and advice. The blogs primary author, Red Zone Marketing Found and CEO, Maribeth Kuzmeski, often pushes readers to take a step back and consider a though-provoking circumstance and then provides meaningful solutions to a problem.

FP Pad is financial-tech guru, Bill Winterburg’s, personal landing page. Winterburg keeps readers up to date with the newest tech gadgets around and how to implement them with your practice.

The Financial Social Media Blog does everything that it’s name implies: Keeps advisors updated with new social media technologies and how to keep them FINRA compliant.

What you can do to improve your social media presence, download our FREE SOCIAL MEDIA QUICK GUIDE FOR FINANCIAL ADVISORS!

When I first launched Financial Social Media in 2010, there was a dark cloud of skepticism hovering around social media—especially in the financial services industry. At that time, many advisors and financial professionals I spoke with struggled to see the value in social technologies like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

3 years later, I am ecstatic to see how the financial industry has grown to integrate social media into their marketing budgets and find real value in its use. In addition to acquiring more leads and developing thought-leadership, advisors are using social media to retain clients and rebuild an eroding trust with GenD investors.

GenD: an emerging US investor population coined Generation D (Gen D), where the D stands for Digital. This heterogeneous group—which spans multiple demographics and represents more than 75 million people with $27 trillion in assets—is differentiated by their broad adoption of technology, particularly in their deeply ingrained use of digital and social channels in almost every aspect of their lives.

Accenture, a consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, recently conducted a study with 400 financial advisors to examine the existing relationship between GenD investors and financial advisors. Check out the two graphs below that illustrate the existing relationship-perception gap between advisors and GenD investors.

 Wow! Who is alarmed right now?

Luckily, the study found that the gap between GenD’s and advisors can be minimized or at best remedied through social technologies. Here are some important stats about how social media has helped advisors re-build trust with investors:

• More than half of advisors acknowledge their clients want, or even demand, digital interaction.
• While most FA’s acknowledged a number of benefits to using social media channels, the top reasons cited included: Getting answers to clients quickly and easily (59%), Increasing their touch points with referral sources (58%), and keeping up to date on industry news (58%).
• 77% of participants affirm that digital interaction helps with client retention.
• 74% agree that it helps them increase assets under management.
• 73% say it has led to an overall increase in client interactions.
• 40% say they have gotten new clients through Facebook.
• 25% say they have gotten new clients through LinkedIn.
• 21% say they have gotten new clients through Twitter.
• 60% of advisors surveyed who were active on social media had client portfolios over $20 million.

Alex Pugliucci, global managing director of Accenture wealth management services, states “Firms will have to recruit and train advisors on the basis of their ability with social media if they are going to survive the generational change when millennials will become increasingly important as both advisors and investors.” Given the growth of social technology, I couldn’t agree more.

Don’t want to lose trust with investors?

Learn how YOU can use social media as a trust-building tool!

Your advisor blog can be interesting and informative. How do I know this? Because I’ve seen them. In fact, one of my favorite financial advisor blogs is written by Alex Bentley of Baldwin Partners, LLC. Alex does a great job of telling an intriguing story and making a point. You can check out Alex’s blog right here.

There’s always room to grow in terms of becoming a great blogger. While I think I’ve got years of improvements ahead of me, here are some components of what I think makes a perfect post. What do YOU think makes a great blog post?

Irresistible Title

I’ll be honest: this is something I’m still working on. I’ve heard the saying that those who write for an online audience should spend 10% of their time writing the body of an article and 90% of their time creating the perfect, irresistible title. While I don’t necessarily agree with that theory (if the title is that good, surely your audience will be disappointed with the actual writing, right?), it does get the point across: the title is important.

A few tips for creating an irresistible title:

• Use action words
• Explain what the article is about
• Know your audience

Create Quality Content

Quality content is 100% based around your audience. Write with your audience in mind. Get into the mind of your readers: what are their problems, what do they do for fun, what’s interesting to them, and mostly, how can you help?

As an advisor, use your blog to share your knowledge and expertise. The internet provides a world of opportunity to present yourself as a thought leader in the financial planning community. Use this to your benefit by explaining current events or news stories. If you’re having trouble coming up with quality content ideas, try answering questions from your clients. For instance, take a question you get asked frequently, create a well-crafted response and post on your blog. Simple.

Talk to Your Audience

Encourage engagement within your posts. Ask your audience what they think about your ideas and how they feel about a given situation. When readers comment on your posts, reply to them as quickly as you can! Ask questions and interact. Think of your blog as a community and get people engaged.

Be Real

Online readers generally appreciate not being sold to. Be real, speak from the heart and don’t be afraid to show flaws. Another tip? Instead of talking about your audience, talk to them. The easiest way to do this is to use words like “you, we, and me”. If you treat your writing more like a conversation than a text book, readers will appreciate it. And actually read it.

Share on Social

In order for people to read your post, make sure they know it exists. Blast your social media streams a couple of times a day and share the link to your newest posts. Don’t be shy about spreading the word – especially if your blog is new. By using a tool like Hootsuite, you can streamline your social media efforts.Hootsuite offers a free service that allows advisors to create and schedule social media posts in advance.

If you are interested in what you can do to improve your social media presence, download our FREE SOCIAL MEDIA QUICK GUIDE FOR FINANCIAL ADVISORS!

You’re probably thinking, “My clients aren’t on twitter and it’s all pointless information being tweeted.” FALSE. People listen to what’s broadcasted on twitter. Last year, two armed men forced a victim into the trunk of his car. The hijackers weren’t aware that the victim still had his cell phone on him and the man sent a text message alerting his girlfriend. Once she received the text, she tweeted

“Be on the look for DSS041GP, My boyfriend has just been hijacked and is in the boot please RT. “

People began to circulate the message, which was seen by the user @PigSpotter, who has a following of more than 100,000 followers. @PigSpotter updated followers on the story as it progressed. In less than two hours, the hijackers hit a roadblock and abandoned the car and its owner.

Do you still believe people don’t listen on twitter?? In this week’s blog I invite you to sit back, relax and learn that when twitter speaks, the people, the market, and the world listens.

#1 The Associated Press twitter hack

Could 140 characters be all it takes to turn the economy on its head? As most of us know, last week The Associated Press’ twitter account got hacked sending out a tweet that suggested a fake bombing. This tweet caused The Dow to drop 143 points and although the market quickly rebounded after the Associated Press announced the account had been hacked and the tweet was false, it was a wake up call for investors.

#2 Netflix CEO and The SEC
Last summer, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings posted on Facebook that Netflix customers were viewing more than 1 billion hours of video content a month. The posting was widely reported and Netflix stock rose 13% the day of the posting.As a result, Netflix was hit with a Wells Notice, which meant it could face action from the SEC. After examining Hasting’s decision to announce a corporate milestone on his personal Facebook page last year, the SEC advised that it’s only fair to share important information through social media if a company has told investors where to look for it.

#3 Doug Kass and Apple

Hedge fund manager Doug Kass affected Apple’s stock when he sent a tweet one day before the company’s shareholder meeting stating that Apple might announce a stock split.

Quickly following the tweet, Apple shares rose 1.2 percent to $448.04.

Kass later tweeted that he was selling off some of his “outsized position” as the “rumor seems to be baseless.”

#4 Chipotle

Jeffrey Gundlach, a professional investor and founder and CEO of Doubleline Capital does not like Chipotle. “Gourmet burrito is an oxymoron,” he shared at a luncheon he hosted in New York City.
The restaurant’s stock dipped more than 2% after Gundlach’s comments.

#5 Muddy Waters and Audience

Audience, a mobile-audio and voice-processing company, saw a big drop in its stock price after a false report surfaced on Twitter that the company was being investigated for fraud. Its stock price went down from 12 to 8.87 in about two minutes before Muddy Waters later sent a real tweet: “There is NO report. This is a hoax. MW does not know this company.” Helping the stock price quickly recover.

So what is the moral of all of these stories? When people tweet, not only does the world listen, but the world reacts, and that world includes investors. The Twitter-sphere is no longer home to simple, “pointless” information. It can become the biggest impetus behind what your clients do with their money. There is often talk about the power of words, and when it comes to the financial world, 140 characters maybe the strongest weapon you have.

A little over a decade has passed and it’s incredible to see the advancement in communication. News travels instantaneously. Like many, I first heard about the Boston Marathon bombing through social media. Instead of turning on the TV as I would have in the past I immediately turned to Twitter. A constant stream of pictures and conversations were quickly unfolding in real time. No one was alone as millions of voices flooded the internet and strangers formed a community for support and answers.

Horrific events that shock and captivate entire nations are thankfully rare. While the Boston bombing pales in comparison to the devastation of 9/11 the constant connectivity provided by social networking sites has intensified the public’s focus on these national crises and their aftermaths. As news breaks, people look for value reassurances and statements of support from sources they follow on social media—sources that include thought leaders and their favorite brands.

So what should you do when disaster strikes? Below are 4 social media guidelines to follow to when crises occur:

#1 Do Use Hashtags

When disaster hits, hashtags quickly emerge tying together conversations on a particular topic. #PrayforBoston and #OneBoston allowed people to connect and share their voices and opinions. Additionally, the hashtag #CommunityAlert was quickly recognized and continued to be useful to victims, officials and the media. Use hashtags to follow the conversation and share your support for the victims and their families.

# 2. Don’t Trust One News Source for the Truth

The Dow Jones plunged more than 130 points on Tuesday when a rogue tweet was sent out from the Associated Press falsely reporting explosions in the White House.

The @AP Twitter account had been hacked and the market quickly rebounded after AP confirmed the false information. Before you panic, be sure to check multiple sources. If the news sources aren’t in agreement about the credibility of a story then the best thing is to wait until the story has been confirmed before sharing with your social media audience.

#3. Do Be Sensitive

When the Boston tragedy took place I saw a number of brands and companies I follow on social media announce they’d be taking a moment of silence for the remainder of the day out of respect for the victims of the horrific events that occurred. Scott Monty, Ford Motor Company’s social media marketer tweeted this:

Be sensitive to the situation. Unlike the commercials on television, you can control the timing of social media messages going out on behalf of your company. Take time to review anything you may have prescheduled and consider postponing them for a more appropriate time.

#4 Do Share Links to Relevant Information

If you are sharing information during a crisis situation be mindful of how the information that you share may affect your followers. Rather that sharing the negative, look for ways to support the community by linking to helpful websites such as the Red Cross and Salvation Army. Through the aide of social network sharing, organizations such as One Fund Boston were able to raise over $23 million dollars to help the people most affected by the tragic events that occurred in Boston on April 15, 2013.

These are some basic guidelines for brands to follow when responding to tragedy via social media communication. We’d love to hear your feedback and suggestions for other best practices!

1. Include social media icons on your website

Including social media icons on your website not only encourages visitors to connect with you on social media, but also helps them to know which social media accounts are authentically yours. If a fraudster sets up a social media account with name similar to yours, there is less likely to be confusion of which account is authentic. Also remember to archive all your social media activity as evidence of what you have, or have not been posting.

2. Keep your passwords up to par

Strong passwords are one of the best tools you have against identity thieves. Use a combination of numbers, letters, upper and lower case. Also use different passwords for email, social media, and financial sites so that if one password is hacked, your other sites are not compromised. To keep track of your passwords, consider downloading them onto a password protected and keyword encrypted thumb drive and put it somewhere safe. You may also want to look into sites that can randomly generate and fill in passwords for you such as 1Password. This goes without saying, but never write your passwords down on a sticky note or anyplace easily accessible to others!

3. Keep personal information personal

Sharing personal information on social media may seem safe, after all, your network is made up of your close friends, family, and professional contacts. However, anytime you post your personal information on the internet you are taking a risk. Even something as simple as your birthdate, pet’s name, and city of residence can potentially be used against you, especially if you commonly use this information in your passwords. A good rule of thumb is when in doubt, don’t share.

Also, don’t assume that certain social networks are more secure than others. People often assume that it’s safe to share their information on Linkedin because they’re mainly connected to working professionals. But suprisingly, Linkedin has the highest identity-fraud rate of any social networking site at 10%. Review the privacy settings on all your social media sites so you know exactly what people can see on your profile.

4. Logout of social media accounts when not in use

This one is a no-brainer, but still worth mentioning. The easiest way for someone to access your accounts is through you! It only takes a second for someone to slip onto your computer/smartphone/tablet and gain access to your information. When you’re done using your account, take a quick second to logout.  Also be sure to delete any social media accounts that you no longer use, as they could contain personal information.

5. Protect your Smartphone

Your smartphone is essentially a mini computer, so the same rules apply. You should password protect your homescreen as the first and most basic level of protection. Be sure to have software on your phone that allows you to remotely wipe the device if it is lost or stolen. Only download apps from trusted sources (i.e. apps in the Apple Store and Google Play), and install security/antivirus software. Also be sure to logout of your social media accounts on your phone when not in use.

What was so compelling and irresistible about HubSpot’s offers? Were they laced with glitter or promises of fame and fortune? Not really. In fact, one of the many elements of their success was their calls-to-action.

Definition: Words that urge the reader, listener, or viewer of a sales promotion message to take an immediate action.

Here are a few things I learned about creating strong and unavoidable calls-to-action.

• Create Urgency: You don’t want your prospects to take action tomorrow or next week, you want them to take action NOW! You can do this by emphasizing deadlines, seasonality, or words like “now” and “today”. Ex. Download Your Free E-Book TODAY!
• Use colors that POP: Strong, contrasting colors capture the reader’s eye. If your call-to-action blends with the color scheme of your webpage, people will overlook it like a face in a huge crowd. Ex. Join 1,500 Other Members!
• Use verbs: According to a HubSpot study, verbs get the most re-tweets on Twitter.
• Steer Clear of Adverbs: Reversely, adverbs got the least re-tweets on Twitter. For those of you that ditched 6^th grade English class, a verb is a word that insinuates action, like “run, jump, or click.” Adverbs tell when, where, why, or under what conditions something happens or happened, like “she ran quickly.”
• Make the CTA Clickable: You wouldn’t believe how many calls-to-action I see that look like this “Call 1-800-555-5555 for a Financial Consultation.” While that seems perfectly logical, people rarely pick up the phone and call. Instead, give them a free offer they can click to access now.
• Use Questions: At presentations, your ears probably pop when the speaker asks the audience a question, right? Questions cause mental engagement and participation. Use them in your CTA’s to generate interest. Ex. “Looking to do a 401k Rollover? Learn how you can make it happen today!”
• Use Numbers: On the web, people search for specificity and quick, empirical data. Using numbers, statistics, and percentages eliminates ambiguity and creates a clearer picture of the value/effectiveness of your offer.  Ex. “Download our 25-Page Social Media Quick Guide!”
• Above the fold: This means your viewers can see it without having to scroll down the page. Believe it or not, this is a simple and powerful way to increase your conversion rate. Our client, Brad Johnson, does a great job of this on his website. Check it out.
• Be specific in the action you want them to take: As a teenager, did you listen to your mom when she said, “be home soon?” To your mom, “soon” might’ve meant “now.” But for you, it could’ve meant next week or next month. Yikes! Specificity is important when it comes to CTA’s too. Aim to be very specific in what you want your readers to do.

• Use High Quality Offers: Part of what got me addicted to HubSpot was the quality of their offers. I mean, who can turn down things like “How to Master Facebook Marketing in 10 Days” or “The Secret to Creating Irresistible Marketing Offers?” Create value and indispensability with your offers.

Now that you have a few tricks in your pocket for creating irresistible calls-to-action, it’s time to start overhauling your existing ones! Need some advice for improving your CTA’s?

Contact us today for a FREE CONSULTATION!

Finally ending the investigation surrounding Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and his use of Facebook to announce disclosed corporate information, the SEC decided not to pursue civil charges against Hastings. Even bigger, the commission ruled that it appreciates the use of social media sites as a new form of market communication. Furthermore, the SEC ruled that as long as companies are clear to investors about their plans for social media, it supports those seeking new ways to communicate with shareholders.

This announcement is a huge leap for the financial services industry – and perhaps more so for the financial advisor incorporating social media into their practices, as well as a push for those reluctant to jump aboard the bandwagon. In a previous 2008 ruling, the SEC said only corporate home pages could be used for sensitive information announcements. Now, as long as they follow compliance protocol and reveal no information that would give one group of investors an unfair advantage, social media stands as a sufficient method of communication between advisors and clients.

So, what can we expect for the financial services industry now that the SEC has given its blessing for social media?

According to a FTI/LinkedIn study, seven in ten financial advisors are already using social networks for business purposes. At the time of the study, adoption rates were expected to significantly grow since more than half of advisors expected social media to play a significant role in their 2013 marketing efforts. This represented an 80% increase year-over-year. That fact alone was huge but now, with the social media doors officially opened by the SEC, how will this statistic change? Will those advisors concerned with social media compliance risks finally take the chance and include contemporary marketing communications into their practices?

So now comes the time when financial advisors need to make the big decisions. For those already active online, will you broaden your reach and build a stronger social media presence? And, for those who have yet to embrace social, what is your excuse for avoiding a communication channel that 5 million affluent investors are using to research their final decisions?

You may have heard the phrase “What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?” Advisors need to ask themselves that question. With the new SEC ruling and the existence of archiving solutions that ensure social media compliance, the time to act is now. So I challenge you to not be afraid – take a deep breath, do your research and take the social media plunge.

Remember the key steps to get your social media initiatives started:

• Establish a social media policy.

• Leverage a record-keeping platform to archive your activities.

• Get the proper training and best practices covering compliance and the day to day use of social media in business.

For the most recent SEC commentary on social media, see their April 2 and March 15, 2013 releases at:

• April 2 – SEC Says Social Media OK for Company Announcements if Investors are Alerted.

• March 15 – SEC Issues Guidance Update on Social Media Filings by Investment Companies.

If you are interested in

what you can do to improve your social media presence, download our FREE SOCIAL MEDIA QUICK GUIDE FOR FINANCIAL ADVISORS!

Please Note: this article is for informational purposes only. We strongly encourage you to verify any content and information you use with your own compliance department or legal counsel.

Didn’t think social media was competitive among financial institutions? Think again! This week, The Financial Brand and Social Media Explorer released the top 100 Social Media Power Rankings for Banks and Credit Unions. The “Power 100” score, as they call it, measures Facebook “likes”, Facebook engagement rate, Twitter followers, tweets sent, YouTube views and YouTube subscribers.

Over 750 financial institutions, namely banks and credit unions, were considered for inclusion for the premier edition of the “Power 100”. 500 candidates made the cut. This competitive database will be updated every quarter, with the next public release scheduled in early July.

So which companies were strong enough to rank in the top 20 of the Power 100? How are they so successful? Let’s take a look!

How are the points calculated?

The innovators of this system strove to be subjective when creating scores.  The points are weighted to consider 3 factors: (1) the approximate value of each social channel, (2) the range and averages for the financial industry, and (3) the ease/difficulty of growing an audience in each channel. Here’s a snapshot of the point system:

• 1 point for every 1,500 Facebook ‘Likes’
• 1 point for [Facebook ‘Talking About’] x [Facebook Engagement Rate] ÷ 20
• 1 point for every 500 Twitter followers
• 1 point for every 1,000 tweets sent
• 1 point for every 15,000 YouTube video views
• 1 point for every 50 YouTube subscribers

What are some common practices of the top 5?

After taking a peek at the top 20 financial institutions, I developed a curiosity about what common (or unique) practices the top 5 institutions utilize on social media. I analyzed some of the top performers on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.  Here are some interesting themes and strategies I unearthed:

Chase: Out of all institutions, Chase has the strongest Facebook presence, with over 3.8 million “likes” and over 1,500 “talking about this.” Here’s a primary strategy they use:

• Community Oriented: Imagine if Chase’s Facebook page was called “Chase Bank” and contained posts about opening checking accounts and applying for auto loans? Boring. Everybody already knows why banks exist.

Their actual Facebook page, which is called “Chase Community Giving” is unique for its philanthropic focus, community orientedness, and overall effort to engage users with their posts. They don’t explicitly encourage users to join their bank; they facilitate community and exude their values. They do all of this while keeping a fun, lighthearted tone.

CaptialOne: CapitalOne has a dominant YouTube presence, with nearly 3,000 subscribers and well over 3,000,000 views.  As you may have guessed, they don’t simply post videos about banking. Ick.  Antithetically, their videos center around March Madness®.

• Celebrities and Major Sports Events: This is what is written in their “about” section: “Capital One is an Official Corporate Champion of the NCAA®. Catch up-close sports and entertainment action from the Final Four®, cheer your favorite team to the top of our #RallyCry leaderboard, and watch classic March Madness outtakes from Charles Barkley and Alec Baldwin.”

How fun is that? Many of their videos are about basketball, Charles Barkley, and Alec Baldwin. Here’s an example:

BofA: BofA is very established in the Twitter world, with several accounts with over 100k followers. Many financial institutions have one account that encompasses all realms of their business. On the contrary, BofA has a unique tone, message, and feel for multiple facets of the corporation.

• Multiple Twitter Accounts: The accounts BofA has are as follows: @BofA_news, @BofA_community, @BofA_careers, @BofA_tips, @BofA_help, and @BofA_speakers. All of these accounts contain unique posts that meet the needs of a wide variety of people. As a financial advisor, consider this strategy with Twitter handles. Not all prospects and customers need or want the same information on social media. How can you meet various needs with different Twitter themes and handles?

How can you transform your social media presence to attract followers and build community? Schedule a FREE CONSULTATION to learn what you can do today!