Speaking at the SMSF Association National Conference, the founder of My Money Buddy and the Savings Squad podcast said social media has played an instrumental in helping people access financial advice and make informed decisions.
“You can help a whole lot of people at once. We all know that to sit down with someone one-on-one is expensive, you have to do a statement of advice, it’s long, and so this influencing helped to allow more people to access advice,” Adele Martin said.
Although the benefits of social media are abundant, there are also downsides that need to be considered.
According to Ms Martin, the impact of a mistake made on social media can be amplified and affect a larger audience, as opposed to a mistake made with just one client. As a result, many licensees have been cautious and hesitant about the use of social media to provide financial advice.
Acknowledging that many of the people offering financial advice through social media, particularly during the pandemic, were unlicensed, Ms Martin noted that the corporate regulator’s actions in 2022 marked a pivot in the space.
“ASIC brought all the finfluencers together, about 30 of them in the room, and started to enforce some of the laws that already existed.
“Last year wasn’t the end of influencers, it was a pivot and there are now three different ways that you can work with an influencer,” she noted.
Ms Martin explained that there are three ways to adopt the influencer trend – by becoming an influence, collaborating with an influencer, or hiring an influencer.
Becoming an influencer, she added, doesn’t need to be time-consuming but does require consistency.
“If you want a consistent lead flow of your ideal clients, you need to be consistent with your marketing. With the posting frequency, that means two or three posts per week,” she said.
Regarding what to post, Ms Martin suggested advisers get less technical and feature more in their social media posts, which can include everything from success stories to Q&A style posts that address frequently asked questions from potential clients.
“People want to see more of you,” she said.
Ms Martin also suggested that advisers master one platform before moving on to the next.
“Start by picking one platform where your ideal clients hang out,” she noted.
Embracing technology is also key, she added, especially new tools such as ChatGPT which can help advisers turn their meetings into quotes appropriate for social media.
“I can say to ChatGPT, I want you to explain what superannuation is using an analogy, and it does that,” she said.
Ms Martin suggested that financial advisers who lack confidence in their social media skills could consider collaborating with an influencer. Such a partnership could involve guest speaking on an influencer’s podcast, participating in their webinar or event, or potentially being featured on their website.
According to her, a key advantage of partnering with an influencer is the ability to leverage the trust they have already built with the consumers.
“It’s quicker, you can leverage the trust that they’ve already spent time and effort building,” she said. However, Ms Martin cautioned advisers to carefully consider the target audience of the influencer they choose to partner with.
Lastly, employing or contracting an influencer has its advantages because unlike in the previous scenario, where advisers are boosting the influencer’s brand, in this scenario, they’re utilising their own brand.
“This way, if they’re writing for you or helping you, they’re building your brand,” Ms Martin said.
“They can create social posts, they can write blogs, they can email, that community engagement piece such as replying to comments on your pieces, and they can help you run workshops.”
This approach, however, can be expensive, Ms Martin cautioned.
As for how transparent advisers engaging influencers need to be with their licensees, Ms Martin advised that checking with the licensee before engaging this type of help may be necessary.
“I would say you need to check with your licensee to make sure they’re comfortable with it,” she said.
Ultimately, Ms Martin noted, social media is not only about attracting new clients, it’s about attracting the right type of clients.
“It’s all about scale, it’s all about getting you in front of your ideal clients and saving you time.”
Now the associations are endorsing giving unlicensed advice, I’m sure nothing could go wrong.
Where is the evidence that clients want to find an adviser via Tik Tok? Playing in the mass market advertising is not the solution and a sure way to burn out.