In a time where it's important than ever to maintain and build existing customer relationships, financial professionals like loan officers, insurance agents, and financial advisors should look to LinkedIn as a primary means of communication and an essential part of everyday communication.

Today, meeting customers where they are means being active on social media. Aptly named "the professional network", LinkedIn is prime territory for boosting thought leadership, crafting an online presence, and creating authentic, lasting relationships that will stand the test of time (and economic ups and downs).

Whether you're just getting started on social media for financial professionals, or you're a seasoned LinkedIn veteran looking to make the most of the network, it's time for financial institutions to take LinkedIn seriously in 2024.

LinkedIn Can Help Build Trust & Credibility

It seems simple to say, but trust hinges on authentic relationships. Today’s customers want to work with real people who connect with them on a human level. That’s why it’s so important to be yourself when using social networks like LinkedIn. Put some of your personality into their social  posts, talk about things that are important to you, or ask your networks questions. (If this keeps you up at night from a risk perspective, know that approval tools like Denim Social can help ensure compliance.)

When people interact with you through LinkedIn, they’ll see how much reliable value you provide to their lives and will be more likely to trust your brand with their livelihoods. Authenticity is even more crucial when it comes to attracting prospects at the top of the funnel who haven’t gotten the chance to meet (and befriend) you yet.

While the current economic climate poses many potential challenges, remember that gaining and keeping customers’ trust is the key to acquiring and retaining clients (even in tough times). Lean on social media networks like LinkedIn to tell the your brand’s story, build thought leadership online, and gain more followers who convert into new clients. Let them get to know your institution and you, and they’ll want to work (and stay) with you for years to come.

LinkedIn Is A Winning Choice

It's hard to hear, but if you aren't on LinkedIn already, you're already behind. In fact, 9 out of 10 financial advisors are using LinkedIn for their business, and other industries see similar usage numbers. The same way that email and text messaging have become routine modes of communication, so will social media like LinkedIn.

You can bet that your audience will be there, too. Over 16% of LinkedIn users log on every single day, and this number continues to grow as the networks becomes more and more popular among the groups that financial professionals target most frequently, like young professionals and business leaders.

Being active and sustaining a regular presence can have some serious payoffs. For example, pages that post weekly instead of just monthly have almost 6 times as many followers.

The future is bright for those that use LinkedIn to their advantage. It's clear that there's no slowing down its momentum as a primary social network!

LinkedIn Can Help You Educate

Are there certain points you are always trying to get across with your customers, or questions you are routinely asked? Look no further than LinkedIn. Use this powerful network to create and share posts that will position you as one of the top expert in your field and in your community.

There are currently over 27 million people that look to LinkedIn as an educational tool. When someone comes looking for an answer to their question, you want to be the go-to source of truth for them.

With LinkedIn, you can share graphics, videos, documents, photos, and more. It's easy to diversify your content to make your profile a wealth of knowledge for your customers and prospects. If you are looking for more ideas on how to make the most of LinkedIn, check out Denim's Social's Best Practices For LinkedIn.

In sum, LinkedIn is basically your new business card. Use it well! Don't let your opportunities on LinkedIn pass you by. Start prepping now to get your strategy in order so you find success on LinkedIn in 2024. Interested in other social networks, too? Try downloading our Social Selling Playbook for Financial Institutions. Happy posting!

Where Are the Biggest Opportunities to Use Social Media in Financial Services?

Denim Social's Guide To Social Selling For Financial Services shows that most financial professionals — 83% of those surveyed — have a social media presence. It’s a great place to start, but having a profile is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what benefits financial institutions can enjoy from social media. Smart financial marketers and their teams should be optimizing their social selling efforts on every network to get the most out of what social media has to offer.

Customers are active in many other places online, so why not meet them there? After all, 79% of people look to social media for financial advice. By meeting customers where they are on the main 4 networks, financial institutions can stay top of mind and grow real, authentic connections. Let’s dive into what Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook have to offer and how financial services marketers can best use each platform.

1. Instagram

As far as major social media platforms in financial services go, Instagram tops the list. While many financial professionals might not at first think of the photographic and visual network as prime business territory, its popularity makes it an excellent place to strengthen real relationships. 

Instagram is one of the best ways to get in front of younger audiences, which is a worthwhile goal, considering that many Millennial customers will likely be on the search for new financial services providers as Baby Boomers pass their wealth on to the next generations. What's more, 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business account and 80% use the platform to discover new products.

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Even better, getting started on Instagram is a breeze. Instagram ads also allow hyperlinks, so you can lead readers right from their feeds to your website with specific calls to action to learn more. Lead them to a personalized and well-designed landing page on your site, for instance, and you'll be drawing each follower who clicks through one big step closer to conversion.

2. LinkedIn

The majority of financial services providers already use LinkedIn, and there are many ways to make it perhaps the most successful social selling platform out of all the networks. Employees at institutions of all sizes and financial industries can use this professional network to cultivate thought leadership and educate their customers.

For financial services marketers, a brand profile is a necessary starting point. Getting the most out of the platform, however, requires activating your employees in a social selling strategy. They can share relevant content, such as videos and published articles from trusted media outlets, as well as engage with customers and prospects one-on-one via direct messaging to establish themselves as experts and build trusting relationships. People want to engage with other people, not with general brand pages. It’s no wonder that employees on social media can garner 10x the engagement of brand pages alone.

3. Twitter

Like LinkedIn, Twitter is also a great place for agents, loan officers, and advisors to share their expertise. Understandably, financial services marketers might be intimidated by the fast-paced nature of the platform and fear they don’t have enough resources to keep up. However, with the proper social media management tools, maintaining compliant engagement on Twitter is totally possible — and worth it.

One of the greatest benefits of social media marketing for financial services is the ability to provide more value to customers. Twitter makes this incredibly easy to do. Marketers can follow all relevant news media outlets and keep an eye out for any articles that might benefit their clients or prospects. For example, an explainer piece on recent changes in tax legislation may be helpful come tax season. Retweeting such helpful resources educates followers on financial topics and builds trust in the brand and its employees.

There’s no single best social media platform for marketing. Each one has a unique opportunity to reach and engage current and future customers. If you’re already on social media, it’s time to level up your social media marketing strategy by diving into Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook in more depth. No matter the size of your financial institution, extending your social media strategy to encompass these platforms can help grow your audience, build trust, and maintain solid customer relationships.

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Whether you love or loathe social media's infiltration into every element of our personal and professional lives, there's no denying that this powerful medium is never going away. Social networks are growing bigger and stronger by the day. Forward-thinking achievers in every industry understand this and have responded by leaning all the way into social selling.

For the unaware, social selling is using social media to sell a product or service by showcasing authenticity, strengthening relationships with clients and prospects, and building thought leadership. In social selling, advisors use their own social pages to promote content about their brand and services, but with a personal spin.

Everyone from dog groomers to financial advisors are utilizing multiple social networks to build a following and bolster their personal brands, and those who fully embrace social media's ubiquity outperform their competitors and win more business. It's as simple as that.

The key, though, is finding a way to stand out from the competition online. There's a big difference between "doing social media" and doing it well.

‍The difficulty with differentiation

As we all know, the internet is more than likely the first place individuals go to get advice these days — financial, familial, and absolutely everything in between. So when people go online to search for guidance on money matters, they won't find you if you aren't there, actively promoting your expertise and services.

There's no stronger business case for social media (and social selling) than that: It's where your potential customers are. Meet them there and give them what they need. If you don't, someone else will.

To set yourself apart as a financial advisor, you need to be able to sell yourself — not just your firm. Sure, many financial advisors are intermediated and you likely don't have free rein to post everything you might want to on social channels, but that shouldn't be a deal-breaker. There's still plenty to say without risking any backlash or drawing the ire of regulators.

Put your fears aside

Though some in the financial industry might feel wary or daunted by interacting directly with clients or prospects, online exchanges matter in today’s market. Brands that use a more generic social-media strategy can end up sounding too promotional, focused more on boosting the brand to a broad audience instead of forging real connections. Rather than creating original content that speaks to their particular audience, financial institutions treat these social channels as glorified billboards instead of networking opportunities for each individual advisor.

That’s too bad because there’s real power behind social selling today. When comparing the social media potential of brands vs. individuals, one study found that employees have 10 times the reach and double the engagement of the brands they speak for. The best sellers in large companies, meanwhile, were the ones who regularly used technology to foster connections with new prospects or existing clients. Building genuine relationships pays off for both advisors and brands.

So, how does someone improve their social-selling efforts? How can financial advisors use the power of their individuality to differentiate themselves from their peers? Here are five tips to help you better accomplish social selling on your personal pages:

1. Ask an expert

Even if you’re on board with tapping into the potential of authentic relationship-building through social selling, you still need the right tools and training for the job. After all, your area of expertise is in the valuable services you provide to your clients, not online marketing.

An excellent move for advisors is to seek advice from your firms’s marketing or branding team. Not only can they help you develop an effective social-selling strategy, but they can also provide you with the resources and tools you need to more effectively and efficiently create, plan, and schedule your posts. Compliance experts can also educate you on the rules that govern social media in the financial services industry. Ideally, your firm provides continuous training and tools to ensure you stay on the right side of regulations.

2. Be real

The type of posts that most people see on their social-media feeds are at least partially determined by an algorithm. These algorithms are generally designed to serve up content that users are most likely to engage with in one way or another. This can be a huge advantage, but it also means that you can’t expect to stay on people’s minds if you deliver bland, uninteresting content that isn't relevant to your audience.

That doesn’t mean you should go posting clickbait or try to shock people (there’s definitely such a thing as bad engagement). Instead, the best way to get and keep people’s attention is to be your real self. Post about what matters to you and do it in your own voice, not just copying/pasting brand posts. Post about local happenings that people in your area might care about. Speak to the challenges you hear clients ask about most. In social selling, authenticity is the fastest way to start building deeper and more lasting relationships.

3. Consistency is key

How much engagement your posts garner will often depend on when and how often you post. Not only does each channel (like Facebook or LinkedIn) tend to have different times when engagement is at its peak, but your specific audience may also have their own preferences. A little research here can go a long way.

Build a sustainable cadence and stay the course. Consistency is crucial. If you post more than once a day, make sure that each has a few hours to shine on its own. And if a post is getting a particularly high response rate, wait a while before potentially drowning it out with something new. Remember: Algorithms are looking for engagement, not frequency.

4. Mix it up

Another way to ensure better engagement (and a better response from the algorithm!) is to mix up the type of content you share. Your online presence should be a healthy medley of brand, industry, and personal and community content.

You will need to figure out what the right balance for your own audience is. Think about what they care about, the questions they ask when you work together, or specific local concerns. The bottom line in every case is to make sure you’re maintaining a variety of relevant content in your social selling strategy.

5. Give and take

Approach social media as a conversation, not a bullhorn. Social selling is about more than just getting engagement — it’s also about engaging with your audience in return. This give and take is how relationships are made and strengthened, whether they be prospects or clients you know and love.

Don’t just be reactive by responding only to comments or likes on your posts. Take time to respond to others’ posts as well, whether they’re customers or other thought leaders in the industry. This doesn’t always have to be through comments, either; a simple like can let people know you’re paying attention to what they have to say.

Social selling is a powerful tool that can help financial advisors bring in new prospects and keep old clients coming back for more advice through the power of relationship and trust building. However, in order to rise above the noise, you can’t lean on your — or your firm’s — reputation. Instead, you need to establish an authentic presence for yourself that showcases exactly what makes you the right person for the job.

Learn more by downloading our Social Selling Guidebook for Financial Institutions.

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Digital transformation means that social media has become an integral part of everyday life.  It has changed the way we communicate and connect with others, and it has also transformed the way financial professionals operate. Loan officers, insurance agents, and financial advisors will find that social media networks like LinkedIn have immense potential in terms of building connections, establishing thought leadership in the industry, and supporting their business. 

LinkedIn has quickly become a need for financial professionals: in fact, 9 out of 10 financial advisors are currently using LinkedIn for their business, and other industries can show similar numbers, too. To leverage the full potential of LinkedIn, intermediaries should create a strong social media content and post strategy. Here’s how to get started:

Define Your Target Audience

Before creating any content or posting anything on LinkedIn, it is essential to define the right target audience. By knowing this audience, it’s easier and more effective to craft content that resonates with them, and to also tailor any message to their needs and preferences. For the financial services industry, understanding clients and prospective clients is crucial to growing connections on social media.

Develop a Content Strategy

Once the target audience is identified, the next step is to develop a content strategy that aligns with business objectives. The content strategy should focus on creating value for the audience and positioning oneself as an expert in the financial industry, be it insurance, mortgage, banking, or wealth. It’s always helpful to create a mix of content, including articles, blog posts, infographics, videos, and podcasts, depending on current events and what the target audience would prefer.

Some themes to consider using in the content strategy are:

• Industry news and trends
• Tips and advice for financial planning and investments
• Case studies and success stories
• How-to guides and tutorials
• Thought leadership pieces on industry-specific topics

Optimize The LinkedIn Profile

A LinkedIn profile is the first thing that potential connections will see. Therefore, it is essential to optimize the profile to make a good impression and establish credibility. Some tips for making a LinkedIn profile stand out are:

• Use a professional headshot
• Write a compelling headline that reflects expertise
• Craft a well-written summary that highlights skills and experience
• Add relevant keywords to the profile to make it easier for people to find in search results
• Include media such as videos, infographics, and presentations to showcase work

Engage With Connections

LinkedIn is a social media platform, and like any other social network, engagement is key. Engaging with connections demonstrates real interest in building important relationships and sharing valuable insights. Some meaningful ways to engage with connections might include:

• React to and comment on posts
• Share posts with existing network
• Send personalized messages to build rapport and establish connections
• Participate in LinkedIn groups relevant to industry

Measure and Refine Your Strategy

Finally, it is crucial to measure any LinkedIn strategy's effectiveness and refine it over time. Using social media analytics is a smart way to track an audience's engagement with posted content, such as views, likes, shares, and comments. Based on this data, it’s simple to refine an existing strategy, identify what works and what doesn't, and adjust the tactics accordingly.

In conclusion, creating a social media content and post strategy for LinkedIn can help financial professionals build connections, establish thought leadership, and support their business. By defining the right target audience, developing a content strategy, optimizing the profile, engaging with connections, and measuring and refining the approach, anyone can leverage the full potential of LinkedIn and make social media a priority.

Ready to start building your social selling game plan? Check out this Social Selling Playbook for Financial Institutions.

When people need financial advice nowadays, where do they turn? For better or worse, the answer increasingly is social media — which is exactly why financial advisors need to build a presence on social media platforms and become part of the conversation, especially during times of market volatility.

In our digital-first world, social media has rapidly become a central hub for discussing financial markets and financial investments, by experts and novices alike. Everyone who chimes in seems to have a strong opinion. Conversations and debates surrounding everything from deflationary pressures to rising interest rates can be quite spirited, to say the least.

This provides an exceptional opportunity for financial advisors to dive in and share their well-informed knowledge with people who value it. Given the fact that around 50% of investors say social media has a dramatic impact on who they hire as a financial professional, it is essential that you take advantage of this opportunity to share your knowledge and increase your following.

Keep in mind that when it comes to discussing market volatility online, you must remain mindful of the delicate information you share and how it could affect others in the market. To build trust and promote transparency, it is important that you share solid information and join in these discussions.

Become the voice of reason

Social media an excellent tool for building relationships, but many people turn to others on social media networks for financial advice. It's common for anxious people to seek guidance and reassurance in a time of economic uncertainties. However, social media is full of influencers who have zero credibility but are still racking up views and likes by sharing unfounded financial advice with others.

This is exactly why it’s such a great idea to join these conversations as a reputable player in the financial industry. More knowledgeable resources are in high demand. It's good business for your practice, too -- as of 2022, financial advisors could expect to convert 41% of social media leads to clients, an increase from 34% in 2019. Around 57% of advisors with a defined marketing strategy were able to successfully convert social media leads into new clients, compared to 36% of advisors without sound marketing strategies.

Many advisors see the potential in social media to build their personal brands, and social selling is a powerful strategy for creating trust. Financial conversations constantly happen online. You're either part of the discussion or you're leaving opportunity behind.

Discussing market volatility on social media

So you're ready to join the social conversation, but should you talk about market volatility? When financial advisors are transparent with their clients about market volatility and the potential risks and rewards associated with investing, it builds that much-needed trust and confidence. Advisors who avoid discussing market volatility or downplay its significance, on the other hand, may find that their clients lose faith in them and their ability to navigate the markets. The same logic applies on social media.

You can discuss market volatility effectively and nurture relationships with prospects and clients alike with a few dos and don'ts:

DO be a person, not a brand. Your digital reputation affects prospects' opinions. That's the reality now. As such, you must use digital platforms to build relationships online and demonstrate expertise, not just push out brand content from your bank or firm. Being you is how your online presence can lead to successful social selling.

DON'T be afraid to talk about market volatility. This is how you establish expertise. You must offer content that is valuable to others, especially during times of market turbulence. It's a good idea to remind your clients about the problems associated with making spontaneous investment decisions based on emotions during these periods of market disruption. A great way to boost engagement on your channels is to ask your followers questions and provide thoughtful answers.

DO show up on social media as you would in real life. Show your human side. Post about local involvement or connect followers and clients with community-involvement opportunities that you also support. Beyond that, be genuinely empathetic and caring. Avoid the distraction by short-term price fluctuations and stay focused on the clients' long-term goals. Sharing historical experience and knowledge about past market disruptions can be incredibly beneficial and reassuring. Continue to remind clients that market volatility is something that comes and goes; they'll appreciate your candor and expertise.

DON'T be promotional. Content should be authentic and provide value to followers, not your practice or your institution. Put the client at the center of your content and reinforce the importance of goals when investing. Use social media as an opportunity to educate clients and prospects about investing. Help them understand what market fluctuations mean and remind them about long-term implications.

DON'T forget compliance. The rules that govern financial institutions apply to what you post on social media, so make sure your understanding of any applicable rules and regulations is up to par. You must keep records of all social media posts and communications for three years, for example. Know the rules before you step on the field of play. But don't let compliance keep you on the social media sidelines. The right tools can make social media compliance a breeze.

Adapting to the current environment can be a bit intimidating to those who haven't leaned into social selling before, but it doesn't have to be. With the right tools and strategies in place, financial advisors can manage social media with confidence, creating content that resonates with their target audience and engaging followers in meaningful ways.

This article was originally published on Insurance NewsNet.

Workforce winds are changing on a dime. That’s making it harder than ever for banks to recruit and retain top talent.

Now competing with tech firms and fintechs firms, banks are no stranger to the pain of talent acquisition. In fact, attracting qualified talent was the top concern for U.S. bank executives in 2022, with 67 percent identifying it as a leading concern.

What’s more, in 2022, bank turnover at the non-officer level reached 23.4 percent, a big spike from the previous year’s 16.2 percent rate. And loan officer turnover can be as high as 80 percent for some lenders with many respondents citing lack of support.

Given continued economic uncertainty and lingering sentiments from The Great Resignation, banks benefit when they provide incentives that show potential employees why they should come—and stay.

Enter social media. Not only is social media a great way to find the best candidates (86 percent of job seekers use social media in their job search), but banks that demonstrate their social media tech chops to recruits are more likely to win the race for talent.

Here are three ways banks can use social media and digital tools to support their recruitment pitches:

1. Demonstrate your investment in your employees. To job seekers, having access to the best tools shows them that an institution is truly invested in its people and their ability to succeed if hired. That means banks benefit when they enable technologies that help employees thrive in an age of digital transformation. A great example is a platform that empowers loan officers, agents and advisors to post compliantly on their social media networks. They can use thought leadership and personalization to grow existing customer relationships and create new ones, all while driving real business results. This is known as social selling.

2. Allow producers to streamline their processes and focus on selling. Loan officers, agents and advisors who have more tools at their disposal will outperform those who don’t. Without the right systems in place, these employees can get bogged down in the details. Especially when creating a social media presence or a social selling program, guidance and the right tools are critical. Loan officers and financial advisors are not usually trained to be social media influencers, but with the right help, they can be. All while remaining focused on what they do best.

3. Leverage social selling to grow. The better a bank’s producers are at their jobs, the stronger the institution itself will be. Having access to technology and social media increases overall likelihood of success for organizations. This is particularly true for tools that enable social selling: Social sellers are 51 percent more likely to hit quota, have 65 percent larger volume of new customers, and are 78 percent more likely to outsell peers compared to those not engaging on social media. What leaders put into their employees will come back to them.

In an age of digital customer interactions and shifting employee loyalties, recruiting employees starts with demonstrating technological competency and support. With the right tools, recruits can see value in working for an institution that has the means to make them successful every step of the way.

*This article originally appeared in ABA Banking Journal.