Implementing social media as a business strategy has rapidly increased in the past several years and it is expected that the number will continue to rise.
Like any other brand, you want to appear trustworthy and professional, especially as a financial planner. Apart from your approach to your customers, you will want to work with individuals related to a certain niche, depending on your expertise.
If you want to learn more about how you can successfully create your presence on social media and benefit your brand, here are some key points to think about.
Why do you need social media for your brand?
You might believe being present on social media will make you look unprofessional. However, these days it is not only desirable but a necessity to have some sort of social media presence. It has become one of the best ways to connect with current and prospective customers.
Your social media presence blurs the distance between you and your customers since you can communicate with them in real time. This will make your brand feel more approachable and customers are more likely to trust your brand, which is a big plus.
Not only it is easier to communicate with your returning customers, but it is also easier to attract new ones. With effective marketing, you will increase your brand’s awareness and show your products and services in the best way possible.
Your social analytics and the direct feedback you get from your customers give you a lot of insight into what they prefer and what they would like to see from a company like yours. You can use that feedback to improve your business strategy and customer relations.
If you are not sure where to start, you can always consult with a social media company. Let’s say your company is located in New Jersey – there are many companies specializing in social media marketing in New Jersey that you can choose to work with.
Also read: 10 Reasons Why You Need Online Branding
Define your target audience
One of the best ways to figure out which social media you would need the most is to define your age group. Think about who will contact you for the service you are giving as a financial planner.
Generally speaking, if the focus is placed on younger generations, Facebook is not really the best place to find people in that age group. Most young adults and teenagers are mostly active on social media platforms like Instagram or TikTok.
Some social media platforms are built for a specific purpose. For example, LinkedIn was created to serve as a B2B (business-to-business) platform. If your focus is working with other companies and having them as your clients, you would want to be active on this platform.
Learn who your competitors are
Do thorough research on who your competitors are. You can learn a lot from their presence on social media, like what content they post and keywords that boost SEO. You can also check their comment section to see what kind of feedback they get – then use those tips to improve your approach as well.
Not only will you be able to compare your strategy with other companies like yours, but you’ll also learn what they may lack – and where you can offer better service or stand out more. Highlighting those things that make you unique will also benefit your brand awareness.
Educate your followers
Promoting can be done in other ways. Rather than blindly telling your followers to pay for your services, you can use your knowledge to educate them and tell a story.
The trick is to tell them enough to invite them to learn more. Your followers could easily become your clients when they see how professional you are and trust you more when you educate them.
The worst mistake you can do is to post content without any value to your followers, just for the sake of posting. You don’t want to post once a week either, but remember the golden rule: quality over quantity.
What you need to do is create a “content pillar.” It is a story with a specific topic that is relevant to your business and showcases your values and goals as a brand.
The content pillar can usually be split into different sections: blog posts, videos, original photos, infographics, etc. They can also come in the form of feel-good image posts or funny captions that are relatable to the industry.
To further connect to your audiences, you can post an FAQ post where you can engage with them or make a poll where they can vote on topics that are relatable to your business. Knowing your target audience for each platform is especially helpful here, as the financial tips you provide your followers are likely to vary by demographic.
By breaking one topic into small sections, you can create relevant content for all of those channels. This way you will always have something to post about without spending too much time inventing topics every day. Plus, it will boost your SEO and help you interlink your other channels.
Also read: How Organizations Build Trust Through Social Media Followers?
Learn the best times to post on social media
When you think about it, some TV commercials appear at specific times of the day, depending on what they’re promoting. The same goes for social media posts.
Overall, it is hard to pinpoint the exact time when it’s the best time to have your content reach the most people online. Some say that Tuesdays and Thursdays are the best days to post on social media, while Sundays are the worst.
The best time for your posts will depend on who your target audience is as well as the industry you are working in and the social platforms you’re using.
For example, Facebook users get the best reach during the working days, between 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. or 3:00 p.m. The worst day to post on Facebook is Saturdays, but there is still a small window on this day too – from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m.
LinkedIn posts get the biggest reach during the noon, while most people are at work. The worst days to post your content are Saturday and Sunday since people rarely spend their time in the office during weekends. Ideally, the best days to post on LinkedIn are Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Twitter users usually check their posts early in the morning, so the best times to post on this platform are from Monday to Sunday at 9:00 a.m.
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