You may have noticed that there are no shortage of social media posts on any platform you can think of.
A natural response to that from #financialadvisors looking to grow their business is that you either (a) have to do it like everyone else sharing the same crap, or, (b) might as well not try.
I am happy to share with you that neither are correct.
You need to ‘flip the script’
If you must share all the packaged compliance approved social media posts please know that they don’t move the needle except backwards when it comes to trust. I absolutely love seeing posts about IRA’s (not really) and insurance products with the generic photos and bland language…not to mention the disclosures…where can I as a consumer read some more disclosures?!?
One day a few weeks ago, I saw the same exact post from at least 4 different financial professionals from 4 different organizations…
You do need to have enough frequency on social media to be able to compete for attention from the lemmings. Most of that activity needs to be organic and authentic.
Instead of pitching your services (all the time), how about trying to promote others and look to connect with ‘people of peace’.
I think most bad behavior online comes from not understanding what a complete #marketing plan looks like and how essential being able to predict results is. When you have no idea how to get appointments organically, you are vulnerable to the influence of the direct marketers that will have you alienating 100’s of potential clients through your incessant DM’s in pursuit of a few potential ones.
Instead of fear spamming as a sales strategy, I recommend looking to create relationships with the most active participants on social: other sales professionals.
Think about it…the people posting the most are the ones like you that want to find and close clients. They are the ones that are most reachable and they are the ones that, if approached from within a reciprocal and strategic referral system, will potentially change the game for you in growing your business.
Who are the professionals that are sitting on dozens of relationships with your ideal client prospects and that are not the usual CPA and Attorney COI’s?
Chances are that they are on LinkedIn just like you.
This is where having a good real world game augments and accelerates your online game. I would encourage you to look at your local relationships that work with your ideal prospects (hint: commercial realtors and high end salons) and spend some time asking them how they are growing their business and what they are looking for from strategic partners.
Your next step, depending upon your geographic footprint for client acquisition (hint: you can have a far larger footprint now than ever before), is to start using social media for one of its greatest uses: research. Combine LinkedIn and a really good Pro version of an AI product (I love Perplexity.ai) and you have a serious time saver and sales accelerant.
Once you have your list of people that you think might be potential people of peace (Centers of Influence that will actually use their influence for you), spend some time seeing what they are doing online and where. One of my favorite ways to develop relationships is to find content that I find valuable being produced by a potential referral partner and then comment to amplify.
Commenting to amplify is making sure that you are commenting on the post in a way that will promote the author instead of yourself. This is where research can make a difference. If you have seen enough of their posts you should be able to decipher who they are looking to sell to and craft your comments accordingly.
If they respond favorably, I always recommend sending a customized connection request. Don’t ask for a meeting right away, but don’t be surprised if they ask for one first. Instead, after a few give and takes on their content (and if they respond on yours) go ahead and ask if they would like to have a call or zoom to learn more about the types of clients you are both interested in serving.
This has produced over 100k in business annually for me. My articles like this are intended to support client and potential referral partner research on me…not sell to individual clients.
Stay tuned for next week’s issue where we go continue to develop your integration of social media and referrals.
Questions, comments and/or haterade? Let me know below or contact me directly.
All the best and tight lines,
Mike
