According to one of the largest surveys of financial advisors on the use of social media, 85% of advisors are actively using social media in their day-to-day work. The Putnam Investments Social Advisor Study also found that advisors continue to become more sophisticated in their use of multiple social networking platforms for business.
The percentage of advisors gaining new clients via social media has grown from 49% in 2013 to 80% in 2016, according to the study. Further, 85% of advisors agree that social media has shortened the time to close a sale, compared with traditional approaches.
The research also indicates that a broad swath of advisors are actively combining their professional and personal presence on multiple platforms to develop and strengthen their client relationships.
Use of Facebook for business among advisors has risen from 36% in 2014 to 54% today, while use of LinkedIn for business has grown from 64% in 2014 to 73% this year.
Other critical findings
The study yielded other notable insights for advisors using social media for business, including:
- The median asset gain attributed to social media is $1.9M, with the average gain at $4.9M
- 80% of advisors using social media say it helped them gain new clients
- 56% of advisors report that social media has improved their efficiency a great deal
- Among advisors with AUM of $100M or more, 35% report that social media plays a very significant role in their marketing efforts, and 82% have used social media to gain clients, with a median gain of $4.7M and an average gain of $8.3M
About the survey
The research, conducted online in conjunction with Brightwork Partners LLC, included 1,018 financial advisors nationally who have been advising retail clients for at least two years. The study was conducted in July 2016. See the full results of the survey and download the report at putnam.com/advisorsAREsocial.
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Putnam Retail Management.
