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You post what you think is a genius article to your LinkedIn page and what do you get? Two likes, and one of them is from your mother. Not the target audience you wanted. Here’s a zero-cost solution, including an example of how I recently landed a new client with it.
Step one: Pay attention to who likes and shares
Social media is a goldmine for those who take it as a way to socialize online. But most people don’t. They post monologues, pontificating about a subject without really interacting.
I’m not saying a soliloquy isn’t a good way to market yourself. If you’re looking for more views on your content, though, you need to find your audience. For most financial advisors with a small (less than 5k) following this means getting exposure on the social media pages of another person who is followed by the audience you want.
I’ll give you an example. As I regularly write about financial-advisor marketing topics, I wrote a blog that was tweeted on Twitter. I noticed that a particular company was retweeting, so I thanked them on Twitter. They liked my tweet.
But here’s where I took it a step further. I took the time to actually pay attention to what the company does. Turns out, they are not financial advisors but instead a software company who targets financial advisors as their clients. Their social media person was liking my article because he felt that my content was relevant for his audience, the people he had following him on Twitter.
I saw an opportunity ripe for the taking.
Step two: Take it offline
It is commonly misbelieved that you can close deals through social media.
But nobody sees a Tweet and then tweets back that they want to be your client.
Getting attention on social media is the first step in the process. You have to get the person to agree to socialize with you in the real world not just online.
Step three: Use multiple media sites
Realizing I needed to go from online to offline, I tweeted to them and asked them to email me to set up a time to talk.
No response.
Unwilling to be blown off, I then went to LinkedIn and sent an in-mail to the CEO of the company who retweeted me. The CEO did in fact respond. It turns out he wasn’t the one who in in charge of Twitter, but he put me in touch with the person who is – he had fired a third-party marketing consultant and that was the person who had been retweeting my posts.
Step four: When you collaborate, pay it forward and offer your audience first
We arranged a Skype call. The marketing coordinator was a little hesitant to talk at first. After all, we are in the same industry offering the same services, and I had contacted his client directly. I can understand that.
To take the edge off, I started off by thanking him for all attention online and asking him how I can help him develop his client’s business using my social media following. So my attitude was one of cooperation right away. I then suggested that I interview him and feature his client company in a blog on my website and social media. This is the “collaboration blog.” Since we have the same audience, he was glad to accept.
Now that things warmed up a bit, we got talking about our businesses. As the conversation went on further, he discovered that in fact I would be a great candidate for him to write a blog about.
Worked out well for me – I’m going to get exposure to an entirely new audience.
But what was even better was that he said that he is short on time and needs someone to help him write articles on financial advice. Bingo. Now this has gone past just a guest blog and I have potentially created an ongoing engagement.
Things don’t work out this well every single time I do this, but there have been several times that I volunteer to write about someone I meet online, and it has led to business coming my way. The best thing is that this costs nothing to do.
Sara’s summary
Social media is about connecting with other people, and there are so many ways you can do it.
A collaboration blog is a form of networking. You get to know and understand someone, which they appreciate. Getting featured on your social media is something they probably won’t disagree with, either.
Advisors can use this to develop relationships with centers-of-influence such as accountants, attorneys, etc. with whom they want to partner. If you want to try this out but aren’t sure how, send me an email or message me through APViewpoint.
Sara Grillo, CFA, is a top financial writer with a focus on marketing and branding for investment management, financial planning, and RIA firms. Prior to launching her own firm, she was a financial advisor and worked at Lehman Brothers. Sara graduated from Harvard with a degree in English literature and has an MBA from NYU Stern in Quantitative Finance.
Read more articles by Sara Grillo
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
