According to Google, 74 percent of all affluent baby boomers
will use their search engine to research a company or service provider before
responding to an advertisement or promotion.
There is no question that technology has changed the way
society communicates. Social networking
has unbelievably enriched our lives.
With every wonderful evolution we are able to access more people and
more information faster, yet with each step towards getting answers faster, it
takes longer to establish a true relationship.
How do you, as business professionals who are dependent on
face-to-face meetings, establish credibility and trust in a society that
develops first encounters online? What can advisors who haven’t embraced the
digital era do to start making the web work for them?
You need to understand and embrace social marketing, develop
a strategy and integrate it with your other marketing tactics.
Online social networking is a form of social media used for
interacting with other individuals or groups with common interests. These interests can be dating, sports,
education, professional networking or entertainment. Today, word of mouth
marketing takes place on social networks and is called social media
marketing. The object of social media
marketing is to get people to recommend you to friends, family and co-workers.
That said, once you are ready to embrace social marketing,
you need to develop a strategy and be engaged. You can’t simply set up Google+,
LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter profiles and expect people to come to you. It’s
crucial to be an active participant. In order to create awareness, you must
reach out and ask people to connect with you. You also need to have a
consistent voice. Content is king. It’s
important to post, comment and interact consistently.
The more active you are on social media, the more you will
establish that you are a credible person who has a personality, is a thought
leader and a subject matter expert.
As a financial advisors, having an active and up-to-date
presence on the web is CRITICAL to generating new leads now and in the future.