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A compliance officer sits on the other side of every single blog I write for a client. Here’s the one thing they don’t want you to know.
What the compliance officer is hush hush about
Compliance officers know the game when it comes to the typical stuff: approving brochures and websites, monitoring trades, etc. That’s old hat to them.
But most of them are severely lacking in knowledge about social media. And that is an understatement. Most compliance officers lack even a basic knowledge of how LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube work.
Example:
Here’s a posting that I recently put into a private group that I run for people who subscribe to my membership:
May videos are now live! Check out this month’s first video, which will help you create engaging social media thumbnails, LinkedIn profile images, etc.
If you send this to the compliance officer, here are the questions they may ask if they are anything short of a social media expert:
- This is posted to a group. Does that mean it also goes onto the news feed?
- How do I find the video she’s talking about?
- Can people comment on this post? If so, can I view these comments if I’m not a member of this group?
- Is this a posting or an advertisement?
- How do I access the video she’s talking about? Why is this link sending me to her website if she’s talking about videos?
The questions get more ignorant and ridiculous from there. It usually spirals out of control after this point.
When it comes to social media, it’s common for compliance officers to downright lack the necessary skills to be able to make the judgement calls that they do.
Why this problematic
The compliance officer has nothing to lose by shutting your social media down, because you are not the client: the firm is the one paying their salary.
It only takes one slip up for them to get embarrassed, fined, FINRA sanctioned and fired. I’d be a nervous wreck.
Now with this understanding, take a look at life from the compliance officer’s perspective. You’re earning $150,000 to $200,000, you’re a veteran, you’ve been in the industry for 20 years and “know the ropes.” You’ve been in the business when phones and fax machines were all they had. And then all of a sudden these millennials come along with their new gadgets and LinkedIn messages and YouTube videos – they’re even posting videos!
How dare they? What do I do?
I can’t ask for help or I’ll look like I don’t know what I’m doing (and they’ll replace me).
It’s overwhelming and downright terrifying. And what does someone do when he or she is overwhelmed? They say “no.” Trust me, it’s the quickest form of relief.
Here’s why I know that. I have four kids under five years old – and one of them is one-month old. You can imagine the looks I get walking down the street in New York City with a triple stroller. I face a constant barrage of:
“Mommy can you give me a piggy back ride?”
“No!”
“Mommy can I have an ice cream?”
“No.”
“Mommy can I-“
“No.”
“Mommy-”
“No!”
“Mom-“
“No!”
“M-“
“No!”
See, the requests get rejected quicker each time. Sometimes I just get into a pattern and say “no” to everything no matter what it is.
What to do about it
The angle to take is offering resources that can help the compliance officer protect the firm from risk. Trying to convince the compliance officer to do anything for your sake or for the sake of revenue production won’t resonate with them.
You’ll have more clout with compliance the higher a producer you are. It’s the rule of the street. If you’re a “top dog” they have more incentive to keep you happy.
Their biggest worry is “how can I monitor this?” While platforms like Hearsay Social are very good at tracking things that happen on the LinkedIn news feed, they fall short when it comes to watching over the comments that happen in discussion groups or over instant messenger.
For example, many compliance officer don’t know that you can disable comments on YouTube videos. If they knew that, far more firms would allow their advisors to post videos on YouTube. This is a huge advantage, as video marketing is the #1 opportunity for advisors in 2019 and for the foreseeable future.
The solution is information.
Offer the compliance officer educational resources: articles, videos, and even consultants you know. I would, and have on many occasions, spoken with the compliance officer at the firms where my clients work. I’d even give them a full webinar or workshop if I thought it would help my clients (and me) get our content approved faster and more easily.
What you will find is that it won’t happen overnight, but you can make yourself come across as that essential resource who makes their job easier. Just like you court prospects into clients, it’s a matter of developing a relationship.
Sara’s upshot
To know more about how advisors find new clients, I recently rolled out a YouTube playlist on this subject. I hope you’ll follow me there! And, by the way, feel free to send your compliance officer over to my YouTube as well.
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.
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