Embracing Social Media
Like any other industry, the financial industry has embraced social media, using it to build trust in their target audience. However, just sharing the link of your website on Facebook or LinkedIn is not enough nowadays. Original content is essential, even in an industry that can be very technical. It is not unknown for finance-related topics to spark great discussions online – one only has to look at CNN Money or The Wall Street Journal for proof.
But how can you be effective on this medium? Connecting with a target audience is every industry’s main aim, and the financial industry is no different. A recent LinkedIn study shows that 87 per cent of people with assets between $100,000 and $1 million are active on social media.
Therefore, contrary to common belief, you are not intruding on your target audience when you share content about your firm or services on social media. Remember, people are not on Facebook or LinkedIn only to share photos of the social events they attend. There is an eagerness to learn more about the financial industry, and who can tame this fervour better than financial experts working in financial services firms?
Finance is not like selling furniture. The content must be written in a prudent manner and comply with all the necessary regulations, especially when subjects include taxation, audit and other sensitive subjects. This does not mean that you have to be over-formal when sharing updates on social media. The “A I D A” principle works in finance as it does in other industries.
When writing content, you must remember to keep your audience in mind and first aim to raise Attention. Then think of raising Interest and Desire in the reader to gain more knowledge about a particular theme. Finally, there must be a call to Action in every update shared on social media. And there is no better action-motivator than sharing a link which leads your target audience directly to your website.
People who click on your links are usually interested in going further with your services – hence, social media serves as a great introducer to your website.
While nothing replaces the importance of great content, constant paid campaigns on social media, especially on LinkedIn (in the case of financial services firms) are vital, especially if a firm is just starting off, or when a new service has just been launched. Remember, these campaigns are cheap when compared with other more expensive forms of promotion.
If there is a social media platform you cannot afford to miss in the financial services world, it is LinkedIn. This professional network can give a strong boost to your firm, especially if you have a large international client base. By joining business groups on this platform and sharing your most important updates on these groups, you have a bigger chance of reaching your target audience. LinkedIn overpowers Facebook when it comes to followers of a professional background, who are almost all intent on expanding their business connections.
It is important to monitor your results through the analytics of each social media medium. This serves as an important tool to see whether your strategy is working out or not.
This article was published on The Times of Malta on 9th June 2014.
About the author: Luca Caruana
Luca Caruana is the Owner and SEO Copywriter of Power Your Words, a marketing consultancy firm which provides several marketing services to a diverse range of clients. Luca is a qualified Copywriter and has provided his services to several magazines, newspapers and corporate firms on a freelance basis. He is also the Marketing Manager of a Maltese tax firm.
Join Luca’s SEO Malta and Writing Blog here
Join me on poweryourwords.com
