For advisors, social media is saving grace during pandemic
Advisors are adapting and many will keep the changes they’ve made.
Nine out of 10 advisors say social media has changed the way they connect with clients during the pandemic, with 74% saying they were able to initiate a relationship or onboard a client since COVID-19 started spreading in February, according to Putnam Investments. Even before the pandemic, 89% of advisors said they had gained new clients as a result of their social media use.
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“When it no longer became feasible for advisors to hold in-person meetings due to stay-at-home and social distancing orders, many professionals turned to social media to help clients and prospects weather the financial and emotional impact of the crisis,” according to Mark McKenna, Head of Global Marketing at Putnam Investments.
These data were collected from over 1,000 advisors in November and December 2019, before “social distancing” entered the general public’s lexicon. On Thursday, Putnam released the results of a pulse survey of 252 advisors in June To see how COVID-19 affected advisors’ use of social media.
The pandemic has caused a bit of a reckoning for advisors. Putnam found 82% of advisors have reconsidered how they engage with clients, with some being able to adapt and see benefits, while others have struggled. Eighty-four percent of advisors say they will keep the changes they’ve made in place, and 78% say connecting with clients has been more efficient.
“It is encouraging that some of the changes advisors made to how they use social media in their practices during the pandemic will become foundational for their communications with clients on a go-forward basis,” explained McKenna. However, 60% of advisors say they’ve struggled to support clients virtually, and many hope, perhaps too optimistically, that things will return to normal soon. The survey found 72% of advisors expect to get back to face-to-face meetings “ASAP,” and 67% expect to start doing business the way they did last year by the end of 2020.
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“Advisors’ active use of social media during the pandemic has been critical to their success, not only in communicating with prospects and referrals, but also in advancing their ongoing relationships with clients,” added McKenna.
Other findings of note:
How they use social media. Advisors aren’t just using social media as a bullhorn. The vast majority are using the messaging capabilities within the platforms, and those who do are gaining assets.
What they use. Although LinkedIn is advisors’ preferred network, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (a Facebook product) appear to be more lucrative. Ninety-eight percent of advisors who used the messaging services within these platforms gained assets, compared to 92% who used LinkedIn Messaging or InMail.
Content source. One of the reasons advisors have been so successful with social media is because they have home offices backing them up, most particularly with timely content they can share on their platforms. Over half of advisors said they get content from the home office.
Most effective content. Economic commentary has been the most successful for advisors, Putnam found, but over half say their own professional content has received a lot of engagement from followers during the pandemic. Pandemic-related content was the third most engaging category, but still popular at 52%.
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