Six Reasons Social Marketing is at Risk

So, Facebook turned 10 this past February. Ten! That’s double digits, big boy age. Facebook can walk to the store to buy candy by itself now. Ten is a big milestone. For a lot less than 10 years, marketers have been working to figure out just how to use social to attract and retain customers. And, in all honesty, we’re getting better at it. But, even as we polish our skills in social marketing, we marketers need to realize that our approach and the current climate is putting social marketing at risk.

 

The audience is onto us

If we don’t start by admitting that the audience is aware of our motivations and that we are in fact subsidizing the social media platforms, we will continue to spiral downward. We must recognize that our fans are not dumb. They know when we are selling. People do not like to be sold to, unless you are Lego and then you can make millions on a long-form ad. (Well played, Lego!) That being said, it is ok to ask for the sale, just don’t do it ALL the time.

We’re still talking to them, not with them

We are still monolog driven. Despite response models and community managers, we are still talking at them. If we want to get the amplification we desire from social, we must start communicating with our fans. It isn’t a simple poll or question post. That doesn’t do it, we need to invite them in with our content. We need to create new ways for people to interact with the brand. Remember, a huge percentage of people on Facebook are lurkers.

We’re not connecting

Social media evokes emotions. The stories that generate the most interest are either emotionally powerful or really funny. We are not effectively doing either of these things. We do not make them laugh or emotionally connect with them because we are busy selling. Because we lack this resonance, they are not reading our content and skipping over us. And being ignored is a marketers worst nightmare. So, stop selling and start trying to find smart ways to infuse personality, emotion or humor into your brand. Key word there: “smart”. Make sure it fits the brand.

We’re not putting them first

Essentially, we are interrupting their cup of coffee. Chances are, your customer is taking a quick break with coffee catching up with her network. And there we are trying to sell her frozen entrees. When you are creating content and scheduling it, try to find ways to fit into her day at the right time with the right message. Study your segment and their behavior. When are they accessing social and what are they saying. What are they consuming at that time of day. Then schedule content that fits into their mindset.

We’re not listening broadly

Putting our fans first means we are going to need to listen to them. And there are plenty of brands out there that have very active listening and monitoring strategies. However, I would bet that those same brands are only listening to the branded and competitor conversations and not the market or industry conversations. And this is a huge miss. If you are only listening in for your brand, we miss out on at least 80% of the conversation that is driving customers to make decisions outside of your brand. Listening broadly fills this gap and builds better content strategies that net results.

We’re not measuring the ROI

If you are still talking about fan count and engagement, your budget is going to be in danger. The C-suite does not fund based on those metrics. We need to start talking about the sales or leads that are driven by social. If we lose the customers in the manner above and lose the support of the c-suite, we might very well be doomed.
On the bright side, we have all the tools we need to change the way we engage people on social and how we position our results to executives. It is time to build thoughtful strategies to build trust with our fans and the people who fund our efforts.
We can do it. But, it’s time to start.

It’s the beginning of the year and all over the web, you’ll see top 10 lists of this year’s hottest social media trends. Dig deeper and you’ll hear that 2014 will be the year that Google+ takes over, mobile apps will be everywhere, image-based sites such as Pinterest will continue to gain steam, and micro-videos a la Vine and Instagram will be tops. Heck, there’s even talk that people should be taking more selfies.
But that’s the general social media world. On Practically Speaking, I’d like to make my own recommendations, starting with the financial advisor’s social media platform of choice: LinkedIn.
If you’re not doing these five things on LinkedIn, you’re not leveraging this network the way you could be – and you may be missing a lot of opportunities:

1. Hiring:

If you’re in the fortunate position that you’re looking to expand your firm’s staffing in 2014, LinkedIn is a good place to start. You can post status updates letting people know that your firm is hiring, share your company’s job posting within relevant groups (locally-based or professionally-related), or even post the position (there is a cost associated with that). LinkedIn will then target ads towards qualified candidates. In addition, you can use the “Advanced Search” feature to look for people with work experience at certain companies, or with specific skills, such as “financial planning.” And that’s not all. Here’s a comprehensive list of other ways that you can use LinkedIn to hire your next employee.

2. Managing Business Cards:

If you don’t have the CardMunch app yet, download it now. Every time you collect a business card at a networking event, such as at the Chamber of Commerce, the golf course, or your kid’s school, you don’t have to manually enter all of that information into your CRM or Outlook (or worse yet, let it sit and collect dust on your desk). Just take a quick picture of the business card with your smartphone and the contact information will go right to your LinkedIn contacts for you to stay in touch. That means if you have one of those clunky business card scanners, you can kiss it goodbye. But wait – what if you like to keep your business cards so you can write little notes on them? Never fear. It’s time for my next tip.

3. Using LinkedIn Contacts:

Last year, LinkedIn added a beneficial new feature that allows you to add notes and set reminders to contact connections right within their LinkedIn profile. There’s a new tab for notes and reminders, and it even keeps track of your InMail conversations. It’s perfect solution for those scenarios where you’ve met someone and have their business card, but they’re not quite ready to make their way to your customer database / crm. You can learn more about this feature in this article.

4. Taking Advantage of LinkedIn Email Notifications:

Been noticing that LinkedIn has been sending you lots of email lately? It’s telling you to log in and interact with your network! Each day, visit the site and congratulate your connections on their work anniversaries, comment on articles that they’ve shared, or answer their questions. After all, Facebook is where people go to catch up with family and friends; LinkedIn is where people share professional development updates. Who better to respond than you?

5. Cultivating Referrals:

Looking for qualified referrals? Look no further than your top clients. If you’re targeting executives, business owners, and centers of influence such as attorneys, CPAs and bankers, look no further than your 2nd degree connections in LinkedIn. Prior to each client meeting, do a quick scan of your client’s profile (first – to see if anything about them has changed), and then of their connections. Who are they connected to that might be a good referral source for your practice, or who might be a potential wealth management client? Build this review into your process. You might even be able to delegate this research step to your another staff member. As for the delicate task of asking for the introduction, I’d suggest sending a LinkedIn message or a tasteful email ahead of time, asking about the individual in question to find out how your connection knows the person. In your upcoming review meeting, suggest that you, your client, and the person to whom you’d like to be introduced go to lunch, or a sporting event – something completely non-work-related. Begin with fostering the personal relationship with the prospect and let your client be your advocate for your services.

An easy place to start

This is the year to get real about social media. After all, most broker dealers at this point permit some level of social media usage (and LinkedIn is usually a pretty “safe” place to start, relatively speaking), and you most likely already have a LinkedIn profile – now it’s time to use that account to help solve some of your business needs.
After all, it’s really just a new way to do what you’ve always done: networking, networking, networking.
So, what do you think? Are you already using LinkedIn this way? How else are you using it?
Note: As always, if you are affiliated with a Broker Dealer, please check with your firm’s compliance department before initiating a social media program for professional use.
- See more at: http://financialsocialmedia.com/5-things-advisors-arent-doing-linkedin/#sthash.2CjK1Ko5.dpuf

It’s the beginning of the year and all over the web, you’ll see top 10 lists of this year’s hottest social media trends. Dig deeper and you’ll hear that 2014 will be the year that Google+ takes over, mobile apps will be everywhere, image-based sites such as Pinterest will continue to gain steam, and micro-videos a la Vine and Instagram will be tops. Heck, there’s even talk that people should be taking more selfies.
But that’s the general social media world. On Practically Speaking, I’d like to make my own recommendations, starting with the financial advisor’s social media platform of choice: LinkedIn.
If you’re not doing these five things on LinkedIn, you’re not leveraging this network the way you could be – and you may be missing a lot of opportunities:

1. Hiring:

If you’re in the fortunate position that you’re looking to expand your firm’s staffing in 2014, LinkedIn is a good place to start. You can post status updates letting people know that your firm is hiring, share your company’s job posting within relevant groups (locally-based or professionally-related), or even post the position (there is a cost associated with that). LinkedIn will then target ads towards qualified candidates. In addition, you can use the “Advanced Search” feature to look for people with work experience at certain companies, or with specific skills, such as “financial planning.” And that’s not all. Here’s a comprehensive list of other ways that you can use LinkedIn to hire your next employee.

2. Managing Business Cards:

If you don’t have the CardMunch app yet, download it now. Every time you collect a business card at a networking event, such as at the Chamber of Commerce, the golf course, or your kid’s school, you don’t have to manually enter all of that information into your CRM or Outlook (or worse yet, let it sit and collect dust on your desk). Just take a quick picture of the business card with your smartphone and the contact information will go right to your LinkedIn contacts for you to stay in touch. That means if you have one of those clunky business card scanners, you can kiss it goodbye. But wait – what if you like to keep your business cards so you can write little notes on them? Never fear. It’s time for my next tip.

3. Using LinkedIn Contacts:

Last year, LinkedIn added a beneficial new feature that allows you to add notes and set reminders to contact connections right within their LinkedIn profile. There’s a new tab for notes and reminders, and it even keeps track of your InMail conversations. It’s perfect solution for those scenarios where you’ve met someone and have their business card, but they’re not quite ready to make their way to your customer database / crm. You can learn more about this feature in this article.

4. Taking Advantage of LinkedIn Email Notifications:

Been noticing that LinkedIn has been sending you lots of email lately? It’s telling you to log in and interact with your network! Each day, visit the site and congratulate your connections on their work anniversaries, comment on articles that they’ve shared, or answer their questions. After all, Facebook is where people go to catch up with family and friends; LinkedIn is where people share professional development updates. Who better to respond than you?

5. Cultivating Referrals:

Looking for qualified referrals? Look no further than your top clients. If you’re targeting executives, business owners, and centers of influence such as attorneys, CPAs and bankers, look no further than your 2nd degree connections in LinkedIn. Prior to each client meeting, do a quick scan of your client’s profile (first – to see if anything about them has changed), and then of their connections. Who are they connected to that might be a good referral source for your practice, or who might be a potential wealth management client? Build this review into your process. You might even be able to delegate this research step to your another staff member. As for the delicate task of asking for the introduction, I’d suggest sending a LinkedIn message or a tasteful email ahead of time, asking about the individual in question to find out how your connection knows the person. In your upcoming review meeting, suggest that you, your client, and the person to whom you’d like to be introduced go to lunch, or a sporting event – something completely non-work-related. Begin with fostering the personal relationship with the prospect and let your client be your advocate for your services.

An easy place to start

This is the year to get real about social media. After all, most broker dealers at this point permit some level of social media usage (and LinkedIn is usually a pretty “safe” place to start, relatively speaking), and you most likely already have a LinkedIn profile – now it’s time to use that account to help solve some of your business needs.
After all, it’s really just a new way to do what you’ve always done: networking, networking, networking.
So, what do you think? Are you already using LinkedIn this way? How else are you using it?
Note: As always, if you are affiliated with a Broker Dealer, please check with your firm’s compliance department before initiating a social media program for professional use.
- See more at: http://financialsocialmedia.com/5-things-advisors-arent-doing-linkedin/#sthash.2CjK1Ko5.dpuf

It’s the beginning of the year and all over the web, you’ll see top 10 lists of this year’s hottest social media trends. Dig deeper and you’ll hear that 2014 will be the year that Google+ takes over, mobile apps will be everywhere, image-based sites such as Pinterest will continue to gain steam, and micro-videos a la Vine and Instagram will be tops. Heck, there’s even talk that people should be taking more selfies.
But that’s the general social media world. On Practically Speaking, I’d like to make my own recommendations, starting with the financial advisor’s social media platform of choice: LinkedIn.
If you’re not doing these five things on LinkedIn, you’re not leveraging this network the way you could be – and you may be missing a lot of opportunities:

1. Hiring:

If you’re in the fortunate position that you’re looking to expand your firm’s staffing in 2014, LinkedIn is a good place to start. You can post status updates letting people know that your firm is hiring, share your company’s job posting within relevant groups (locally-based or professionally-related), or even post the position (there is a cost associated with that). LinkedIn will then target ads towards qualified candidates. In addition, you can use the “Advanced Search” feature to look for people with work experience at certain companies, or with specific skills, such as “financial planning.” And that’s not all. Here’s a comprehensive list of other ways that you can use LinkedIn to hire your next employee.

2. Managing Business Cards:

If you don’t have the CardMunch app yet, download it now. Every time you collect a business card at a networking event, such as at the Chamber of Commerce, the golf course, or your kid’s school, you don’t have to manually enter all of that information into your CRM or Outlook (or worse yet, let it sit and collect dust on your desk). Just take a quick picture of the business card with your smartphone and the contact information will go right to your LinkedIn contacts for you to stay in touch. That means if you have one of those clunky business card scanners, you can kiss it goodbye. But wait – what if you like to keep your business cards so you can write little notes on them? Never fear. It’s time for my next tip.

3. Using LinkedIn Contacts:

Last year, LinkedIn added a beneficial new feature that allows you to add notes and set reminders to contact connections right within their LinkedIn profile. There’s a new tab for notes and reminders, and it even keeps track of your InMail conversations. It’s perfect solution for those scenarios where you’ve met someone and have their business card, but they’re not quite ready to make their way to your customer database / crm. You can learn more about this feature in this article.

4. Taking Advantage of LinkedIn Email Notifications:

Been noticing that LinkedIn has been sending you lots of email lately? It’s telling you to log in and interact with your network! Each day, visit the site and congratulate your connections on their work anniversaries, comment on articles that they’ve shared, or answer their questions. After all, Facebook is where people go to catch up with family and friends; LinkedIn is where people share professional development updates. Who better to respond than you?

5. Cultivating Referrals:

Looking for qualified referrals? Look no further than your top clients. If you’re targeting executives, business owners, and centers of influence such as attorneys, CPAs and bankers, look no further than your 2nd degree connections in LinkedIn. Prior to each client meeting, do a quick scan of your client’s profile (first – to see if anything about them has changed), and then of their connections. Who are they connected to that might be a good referral source for your practice, or who might be a potential wealth management client? Build this review into your process. You might even be able to delegate this research step to your another staff member. As for the delicate task of asking for the introduction, I’d suggest sending a LinkedIn message or a tasteful email ahead of time, asking about the individual in question to find out how your connection knows the person. In your upcoming review meeting, suggest that you, your client, and the person to whom you’d like to be introduced go to lunch, or a sporting event – something completely non-work-related. Begin with fostering the personal relationship with the prospect and let your client be your advocate for your services.

An easy place to start

This is the year to get real about social media. After all, most broker dealers at this point permit some level of social media usage (and LinkedIn is usually a pretty “safe” place to start, relatively speaking), and you most likely already have a LinkedIn profile – now it’s time to use that account to help solve some of your business needs.
After all, it’s really just a new way to do what you’ve always done: networking, networking, networking.
So, what do you think? Are you already using LinkedIn this way? How else are you using it?
Note: As always, if you are affiliated with a Broker Dealer, please check with your firm’s compliance department before initiating a social media program for professional use.
- See more at: http://financialsocialmedia.com/5-things-advisors-arent-doing-linkedin/#sthash.2CjK1Ko5.dpuf

It’s the beginning of the year and all over the web, you’ll see top 10 lists of this year’s hottest social media trends. Dig deeper and you’ll hear that 2014 will be the year that Google+ takes over, mobile apps will be everywhere, image-based sites such as Pinterest will continue to gain steam, and micro-videos a la Vine and Instagram will be tops. Heck, there’s even talk that people should be taking more selfies.
But that’s the general social media world. On Practically Speaking, I’d like to make my own recommendations, starting with the financial advisor’s social media platform of choice: LinkedIn.
If you’re not doing these five things on LinkedIn, you’re not leveraging this network the way you could be – and you may be missing a lot of opportunities:

1. Hiring:

If you’re in the fortunate position that you’re looking to expand your firm’s staffing in 2014, LinkedIn is a good place to start. You can post status updates letting people know that your firm is hiring, share your company’s job posting within relevant groups (locally-based or professionally-related), or even post the position (there is a cost associated with that). LinkedIn will then target ads towards qualified candidates. In addition, you can use the “Advanced Search” feature to look for people with work experience at certain companies, or with specific skills, such as “financial planning.” And that’s not all. Here’s a comprehensive list of other ways that you can use LinkedIn to hire your next employee.

2. Managing Business Cards:

If you don’t have the CardMunch app yet, download it now. Every time you collect a business card at a networking event, such as at the Chamber of Commerce, the golf course, or your kid’s school, you don’t have to manually enter all of that information into your CRM or Outlook (or worse yet, let it sit and collect dust on your desk). Just take a quick picture of the business card with your smartphone and the contact information will go right to your LinkedIn contacts for you to stay in touch. That means if you have one of those clunky business card scanners, you can kiss it goodbye. But wait – what if you like to keep your business cards so you can write little notes on them? Never fear. It’s time for my next tip.

3. Using LinkedIn Contacts:

Last year, LinkedIn added a beneficial new feature that allows you to add notes and set reminders to contact connections right within their LinkedIn profile. There’s a new tab for notes and reminders, and it even keeps track of your InMail conversations. It’s perfect solution for those scenarios where you’ve met someone and have their business card, but they’re not quite ready to make their way to your customer database / crm. You can learn more about this feature in this article.

4. Taking Advantage of LinkedIn Email Notifications:

Been noticing that LinkedIn has been sending you lots of email lately? It’s telling you to log in and interact with your network! Each day, visit the site and congratulate your connections on their work anniversaries, comment on articles that they’ve shared, or answer their questions. After all, Facebook is where people go to catch up with family and friends; LinkedIn is where people share professional development updates. Who better to respond than you?

5. Cultivating Referrals:

Looking for qualified referrals? Look no further than your top clients. If you’re targeting executives, business owners, and centers of influence such as attorneys, CPAs and bankers, look no further than your 2nd degree connections in LinkedIn. Prior to each client meeting, do a quick scan of your client’s profile (first – to see if anything about them has changed), and then of their connections. Who are they connected to that might be a good referral source for your practice, or who might be a potential wealth management client? Build this review into your process. You might even be able to delegate this research step to your another staff member. As for the delicate task of asking for the introduction, I’d suggest sending a LinkedIn message or a tasteful email ahead of time, asking about the individual in question to find out how your connection knows the person. In your upcoming review meeting, suggest that you, your client, and the person to whom you’d like to be introduced go to lunch, or a sporting event – something completely non-work-related. Begin with fostering the personal relationship with the prospect and let your client be your advocate for your services.

An easy place to start

This is the year to get real about social media. After all, most broker dealers at this point permit some level of social media usage (and LinkedIn is usually a pretty “safe” place to start, relatively speaking), and you most likely already have a LinkedIn profile – now it’s time to use that account to help solve some of your business needs.
After all, it’s really just a new way to do what you’ve always done: networking, networking, networking.
So, what do you think? Are you already using LinkedIn this way? How else are you using it?
Note: As always, if you are affiliated with a Broker Dealer, please check with your firm’s compliance department before initiating a social media program for professional use.
- See more at: http://financialsocialmedia.com/5-things-advisors-arent-doing-linkedin/#sthash.2CjK1Ko5.dpuf

It’s the beginning of the year and all over the web, you’ll see top 10 lists of this year’s hottest social media trends. Dig deeper and you’ll hear that 2014 will be the year that Google+ takes over, mobile apps will be everywhere, image-based sites such as Pinterest will continue to gain steam, and micro-videos a la Vine and Instagram will be tops. Heck, there’s even talk that people should be taking more selfies.
But that’s the general social media world. On Practically Speaking, I’d like to make my own recommendations, starting with the financial advisor’s social media platform of choice: LinkedIn.
If you’re not doing these five things on LinkedIn, you’re not leveraging this network the way you could be – and you may be missing a lot of opportunities:

1. Hiring:

If you’re in the fortunate position that you’re looking to expand your firm’s staffing in 2014, LinkedIn is a good place to start. You can post status updates letting people know that your firm is hiring, share your company’s job posting within relevant groups (locally-based or professionally-related), or even post the position (there is a cost associated with that). LinkedIn will then target ads towards qualified candidates. In addition, you can use the “Advanced Search” feature to look for people with work experience at certain companies, or with specific skills, such as “financial planning.” And that’s not all. Here’s a comprehensive list of other ways that you can use LinkedIn to hire your next employee.

2. Managing Business Cards:

If you don’t have the CardMunch app yet, download it now. Every time you collect a business card at a networking event, such as at the Chamber of Commerce, the golf course, or your kid’s school, you don’t have to manually enter all of that information into your CRM or Outlook (or worse yet, let it sit and collect dust on your desk). Just take a quick picture of the business card with your smartphone and the contact information will go right to your LinkedIn contacts for you to stay in touch. That means if you have one of those clunky business card scanners, you can kiss it goodbye. But wait – what if you like to keep your business cards so you can write little notes on them? Never fear. It’s time for my next tip.

3. Using LinkedIn Contacts:

Last year, LinkedIn added a beneficial new feature that allows you to add notes and set reminders to contact connections right within their LinkedIn profile. There’s a new tab for notes and reminders, and it even keeps track of your InMail conversations. It’s perfect solution for those scenarios where you’ve met someone and have their business card, but they’re not quite ready to make their way to your customer database / crm. You can learn more about this feature in this article.

4. Taking Advantage of LinkedIn Email Notifications:

Been noticing that LinkedIn has been sending you lots of email lately? It’s telling you to log in and interact with your network! Each day, visit the site and congratulate your connections on their work anniversaries, comment on articles that they’ve shared, or answer their questions. After all, Facebook is where people go to catch up with family and friends; LinkedIn is where people share professional development updates. Who better to respond than you?

5. Cultivating Referrals:

Looking for qualified referrals? Look no further than your top clients. If you’re targeting executives, business owners, and centers of influence such as attorneys, CPAs and bankers, look no further than your 2nd degree connections in LinkedIn. Prior to each client meeting, do a quick scan of your client’s profile (first – to see if anything about them has changed), and then of their connections. Who are they connected to that might be a good referral source for your practice, or who might be a potential wealth management client? Build this review into your process. You might even be able to delegate this research step to your another staff member. As for the delicate task of asking for the introduction, I’d suggest sending a LinkedIn message or a tasteful email ahead of time, asking about the individual in question to find out how your connection knows the person. In your upcoming review meeting, suggest that you, your client, and the person to whom you’d like to be introduced go to lunch, or a sporting event – something completely non-work-related. Begin with fostering the personal relationship with the prospect and let your client be your advocate for your services.

An easy place to start

This is the year to get real about social media. After all, most broker dealers at this point permit some level of social media usage (and LinkedIn is usually a pretty “safe” place to start, relatively speaking), and you most likely already have a LinkedIn profile – now it’s time to use that account to help solve some of your business needs.
After all, it’s really just a new way to do what you’ve always done: networking, networking, networking.
So, what do you think? Are you already using LinkedIn this way? How else are you using it?
Note: As always, if you are affiliated with a Broker Dealer, please check with your firm’s compliance department before initiating a social media program for professional use.
- See more at: http://financialsocialmedia.com/5-things-advisors-arent-doing-linkedin/#sthash.2CjK1Ko5.dpuf

It’s the beginning of the year and all over the web, you’ll see top 10 lists of this year’s hottest social media trends. Dig deeper and you’ll hear that 2014 will be the year that Google+ takes over, mobile apps will be everywhere, image-based sites such as Pinterest will continue to gain steam, and micro-videos a la Vine and Instagram will be tops. Heck, there’s even talk that people should be taking more selfies.
But that’s the general social media world. On Practically Speaking, I’d like to make my own recommendations, starting with the financial advisor’s social media platform of choice: LinkedIn.
If you’re not doing these five things on LinkedIn, you’re not leveraging this network the way you could be – and you may be missing a lot of opportunities:

1. Hiring:

If you’re in the fortunate position that you’re looking to expand your firm’s staffing in 2014, LinkedIn is a good place to start. You can post status updates letting people know that your firm is hiring, share your company’s job posting within relevant groups (locally-based or professionally-related), or even post the position (there is a cost associated with that). LinkedIn will then target ads towards qualified candidates. In addition, you can use the “Advanced Search” feature to look for people with work experience at certain companies, or with specific skills, such as “financial planning.” And that’s not all. Here’s a comprehensive list of other ways that you can use LinkedIn to hire your next employee.

2. Managing Business Cards:

If you don’t have the CardMunch app yet, download it now. Every time you collect a business card at a networking event, such as at the Chamber of Commerce, the golf course, or your kid’s school, you don’t have to manually enter all of that information into your CRM or Outlook (or worse yet, let it sit and collect dust on your desk). Just take a quick picture of the business card with your smartphone and the contact information will go right to your LinkedIn contacts for you to stay in touch. That means if you have one of those clunky business card scanners, you can kiss it goodbye. But wait – what if you like to keep your business cards so you can write little notes on them? Never fear. It’s time for my next tip.

3. Using LinkedIn Contacts:

Last year, LinkedIn added a beneficial new feature that allows you to add notes and set reminders to contact connections right within their LinkedIn profile. There’s a new tab for notes and reminders, and it even keeps track of your InMail conversations. It’s perfect solution for those scenarios where you’ve met someone and have their business card, but they’re not quite ready to make their way to your customer database / crm. You can learn more about this feature in this article.

4. Taking Advantage of LinkedIn Email Notifications:

Been noticing that LinkedIn has been sending you lots of email lately? It’s telling you to log in and interact with your network! Each day, visit the site and congratulate your connections on their work anniversaries, comment on articles that they’ve shared, or answer their questions. After all, Facebook is where people go to catch up with family and friends; LinkedIn is where people share professional development updates. Who better to respond than you?

5. Cultivating Referrals:

Looking for qualified referrals? Look no further than your top clients. If you’re targeting executives, business owners, and centers of influence such as attorneys, CPAs and bankers, look no further than your 2nd degree connections in LinkedIn. Prior to each client meeting, do a quick scan of your client’s profile (first – to see if anything about them has changed), and then of their connections. Who are they connected to that might be a good referral source for your practice, or who might be a potential wealth management client? Build this review into your process. You might even be able to delegate this research step to your another staff member. As for the delicate task of asking for the introduction, I’d suggest sending a LinkedIn message or a tasteful email ahead of time, asking about the individual in question to find out how your connection knows the person. In your upcoming review meeting, suggest that you, your client, and the person to whom you’d like to be introduced go to lunch, or a sporting event – something completely non-work-related. Begin with fostering the personal relationship with the prospect and let your client be your advocate for your services.

An easy place to start

This is the year to get real about social media. After all, most broker dealers at this point permit some level of social media usage (and LinkedIn is usually a pretty “safe” place to start, relatively speaking), and you most likely already have a LinkedIn profile – now it’s time to use that account to help solve some of your business needs.
After all, it’s really just a new way to do what you’ve always done: networking, networking, networking.
So, what do you think? Are you already using LinkedIn this way? How else are you using it?
Note: As always, if you are affiliated with a Broker Dealer, please check with your firm’s compliance department before initiating a social media program for professional use.
- See more at: http://financialsocialmedia.com/5-things-advisors-arent-doing-linkedin/#sthash.2CjK1Ko5.dpuf

It’s the beginning of the year and all over the web, you’ll see top 10 lists of this year’s hottest social media trends. Dig deeper and you’ll hear that 2014 will be the year that Google+ takes over, mobile apps will be everywhere, image-based sites such as Pinterest will continue to gain steam, and micro-videos a la Vine and Instagram will be tops. Heck, there’s even talk that people should be taking more selfies.
But that’s the general social media world. On Practically Speaking, I’d like to make my own recommendations, starting with the financial advisor’s social media platform of choice: LinkedIn.
If you’re not doing these five things on LinkedIn, you’re not leveraging this network the way you could be – and you may be missing a lot of opportunities:

1. Hiring:

If you’re in the fortunate position that you’re looking to expand your firm’s staffing in 2014, LinkedIn is a good place to start. You can post status updates letting people know that your firm is hiring, share your company’s job posting within relevant groups (locally-based or professionally-related), or even post the position (there is a cost associated with that). LinkedIn will then target ads towards qualified candidates. In addition, you can use the “Advanced Search” feature to look for people with work experience at certain companies, or with specific skills, such as “financial planning.” And that’s not all. Here’s a comprehensive list of other ways that you can use LinkedIn to hire your next employee.

2. Managing Business Cards:

If you don’t have the CardMunch app yet, download it now. Every time you collect a business card at a networking event, such as at the Chamber of Commerce, the golf course, or your kid’s school, you don’t have to manually enter all of that information into your CRM or Outlook (or worse yet, let it sit and collect dust on your desk). Just take a quick picture of the business card with your smartphone and the contact information will go right to your LinkedIn contacts for you to stay in touch. That means if you have one of those clunky business card scanners, you can kiss it goodbye. But wait – what if you like to keep your business cards so you can write little notes on them? Never fear. It’s time for my next tip.

3. Using LinkedIn Contacts:

Last year, LinkedIn added a beneficial new feature that allows you to add notes and set reminders to contact connections right within their LinkedIn profile. There’s a new tab for notes and reminders, and it even keeps track of your InMail conversations. It’s perfect solution for those scenarios where you’ve met someone and have their business card, but they’re not quite ready to make their way to your customer database / crm. You can learn more about this feature in this article.

4. Taking Advantage of LinkedIn Email Notifications:

Been noticing that LinkedIn has been sending you lots of email lately? It’s telling you to log in and interact with your network! Each day, visit the site and congratulate your connections on their work anniversaries, comment on articles that they’ve shared, or answer their questions. After all, Facebook is where people go to catch up with family and friends; LinkedIn is where people share professional development updates. Who better to respond than you?

5. Cultivating Referrals:

Looking for qualified referrals? Look no further than your top clients. If you’re targeting executives, business owners, and centers of influence such as attorneys, CPAs and bankers, look no further than your 2nd degree connections in LinkedIn. Prior to each client meeting, do a quick scan of your client’s profile (first – to see if anything about them has changed), and then of their connections. Who are they connected to that might be a good referral source for your practice, or who might be a potential wealth management client? Build this review into your process. You might even be able to delegate this research step to your another staff member. As for the delicate task of asking for the introduction, I’d suggest sending a LinkedIn message or a tasteful email ahead of time, asking about the individual in question to find out how your connection knows the person. In your upcoming review meeting, suggest that you, your client, and the person to whom you’d like to be introduced go to lunch, or a sporting event – something completely non-work-related. Begin with fostering the personal relationship with the prospect and let your client be your advocate for your services.

An easy place to start

This is the year to get real about social media. After all, most broker dealers at this point permit some level of social media usage (and LinkedIn is usually a pretty “safe” place to start, relatively speaking), and you most likely already have a LinkedIn profile – now it’s time to use that account to help solve some of your business needs.
After all, it’s really just a new way to do what you’ve always done: networking, networking, networking.
So, what do you think? Are you already using LinkedIn this way? How else are you using it?
Note: As always, if you are affiliated with a Broker Dealer, please check with your firm’s compliance department before initiating a social media program for professional use.
- See more at: http://financialsocialmedia.com/5-things-advisors-arent-doing-linkedin/#sthash.2CjK1Ko5.dpuf

11 Ways to Increase Engagement on Your New Facebook Page

Communication has never been a one-way street, but past marketing methods have not been conducive to back and forth discussions. Social media marketing, on the other hand, thrives on interaction and engagement between a company and its customers.

The appropriate interaction makes people feel valued. It means their needs and desires have been acknowledged and that the company is actively working to fulfill them. Getting the conversational ball rolling, however, can be a challenge.

How can a business get fans and visitors to engage with a social media marketing effort? Start with these first 11 tips for increasing engagement on a new Facebook page:

1. Welcome visitors.
2. Ask a question about products or services.
3. Ask fans about their business.
4. Ask for help or crowd-source new product ideas.
5. Ask an easy non-product related question.
6. Answer a question from a customer.
7. Respond quickly to comments from visitors and fans.
8. Create a connection from Facebook to the outside world.
9. Say “Thank You” publicly to active fans.
10. Join Facebook groups/networks.
11. “Like” other businesses on Facebook.

Fans return to where they feel welcome and where they are rewarded for being there. Engagement is increased by making it easy to engage in return. While there are people who feel comfortable writing a long response or carrying on a discussion, most prefer to keep things simple. So the business should as well. To see how well the social media marketing effort is working, determining the ratio of visitors that clicked “Like” or “Recommend” out of total visitors shows how effective the Facebook page has been.

Ease and convenience rule modern life, especially in social media marketing. To get answers, questions should be easy to respond to. If all it takes is a word or two, most people will take the time to participate. Rather than make the questions all about the product, though, the best social media marketing response will come from questions about a fan’s own business, about industry practices, and about improving a product or service to better fit a fan’s needs.

For all social media marketing, when a fan or visitor asks a question, the response should be as quick as possible, most effectively the same day. Using the email notification feature can ensure this. This means businesses will need staff dedicated to social media marketing efforts. Publicly telling fans “Thank you” means just as much as a quick answer. Showing appreciation goes a long way to cementing a relationship.

A spirit of generosity is also a very attractive part of social media marketing. When a business can
“like” another business, not only does that increase awareness of that other business, but reciprocity levels the same advantage back. This type of mutual admiration society also shows that the company is confident and comfortable with sharing attention.

As engagement grows, advocates will be found for the company through social media marketing as well as increased engagement between fans, helping to grow awareness across their networks. Joining networks and groups is another way of doing this. Plus, this level of engagement yields a trove of information about fans and visitors that can be mined to determine prominent industries using a particular product or service, what features are popular and which could be jettisoned, where improvements can be made and what new product or service could be successfully offered. This is one of the biggest strengths of social media marketing!

TRENDS DISRUPTING AGENCIES IN 2014

The role agencies play for brands is changing. The disruption that is coming will require agencies to completely rethink how they approach servicing clients, how they structure their teams, and the services they offer clients. Further, it will require brands to take a hard look at their agencies to determine if they are able to meet their growing demands.

Agencies have long been though of as the thought leaders who are able to drive marketing innovation, however the rise of new marketing approaches include social media, mobile, and content marketing are forcing agencies to take a hard look at how they can fulfill the demands of their clients while keeping pace with technology that is literally changing and evolving right in front of us.

The following trends are set to turn the agency model on its head:

Fully-Integrated Media Strategy

Brands are starting to realize that a siloed approach to marketing channels isn’t going to deliver maximum results. The agency that used to come in and pitch a great idea for a public relations only campaign will be met with intense levels of scrutiny. Instead, agencies will need to consider how an integrated approach to all of the available marketing channels will help clients reach their goals. This will require brands to more fully integrate with their clients’ marketing teams so they understand the big picture.

Campaign-based Marketing Will Evolve into Story Telling

The idea of a marketing plan of running campaign after campaign is becoming passé. Instead, brands want long-term strategies that focus on story-telling not a catchy one month campaign. Agencies will need to consider a theme-based approach to story telling that helps to humanize brands and keeps them in the minds of their target audiences. This will lead to layered story based campaigns that are designed to tell a larger story, one consumable bite at a time.

Generalists Will Be More Important than Ever

Agency teams have been focused around combining a team of specialists aligned to a client’s needs. Hiring has been done based on what “specialty” someone brings to the table. However, with the need for an integrated approach that combines story telling brands will need to hire more generalists who understand how all of the marketing channels fit together to serve the greater goal. Generalists should be responsible for adding perspective and depth beyond a specific marketing tactic and pulling specialists together to show them how their efforts combine to create a snowballing impact for the client.

New Service Offerings will Emerge

Agencies will be asked to take a larger role in content marketing including producing content for clients. They will also be asked to fully understand how mobile impacts their clients. The client’s website and the content they produce are critical elements for agency and client success. You may see agencies adding content teams, user experience designers, responsive-design developers and mobile developers.

Ultimately, these changes will help push agencies forward. There’s only one question. Is your agency ready?

Keep Your Lead Generation Campaigns Alive During The Holidays

Somehow, another year is quickly drawing to a close. Many businesses are working hard to end the year on a sound note, while keeping their staff motivated and productive during the holidays. When you’re the business owner, though, your focus rarely wavers from keeping your sales pipeline full, no matter the date on the calendar. Not only can you continue your lead generation efforts during the holidays – you should.

End the year strong and start the new year with a bang. The following are suggestions for staying the course during the holidays and all the way through the end of the year.

Embolden lead generation campaigns with some festive fun

The holiday season creates perfect opportunities for marketers who don’t mind mixing a little fun with their work. Mandy Edwards of ME Marketing Services offers the following holiday marketing advice for social media marketing:

‘Get festive! You want your business/brand to be relevant, so that means “decorating” your social media accounts! Change out your Facebook cover photo to something Christmasy (if you celebrate that) or have your Twitter background be a field covered with snow. Show the world that you are ready for the holidays.’

Another fun holiday marketing suggestion is accomplished in an “old-fashioned” way. In his article for Autodesk, Ken Micallef shares several great tips for lead generation during the holidays, including snail-mailing holiday cards, gifts or gift cards to your current clients. This often makes a good impression and keeps your name on their minds for referrals and future business.

Heat up lead generation campaigns by firing up your sales team

Sales people who are worth their salt appreciate incentives. A fun contest or two around the holidays should help motivate and energize your sales team while fostering teamwork. For example, award the person who makes the most phone calls, the one who generates the most leads and/or the one with the best attitude. Of course, the rewards of lead generation benefit the entire team.

Invigorate lead generation campaigns by making connections

Many parties and other similar social affairs take place this time of year. Take time to network with your friends, colleagues, family, clients, and so on. Being social this time of year, whether online or off, increases your exposure – and your opportunities for lead generation.

What are your best suggestions for avoiding the holiday slump for your lead generation campaigns? I would love to hear what works for you!

Humorous Uses for Social Media

Sometimes we all need a little comic relief. Where else to turn than to the Internet! Rife with .gifs, memes, and funny stories, the Web is the perfect place to find humor. Social media is certainly no exception. You can find loads of funnies on Facebook, Twitter, and more.

My inspiration for this blog came from a funny slideshow of uses for Twitter. I’ll sum up a few of them for you:

Games – people have used Twitter for a variety of games. Try using Twitter to create a choose-your-own-adventure. There is also a Twitter handle called @artwiculate that offers a vocabulary game, challenging followers to come up with the most creative use of a word of the day. There are also other real-time games on Twitter, such as chess and Mad Libs.

Let your pet Tweet – a company called Puppy Tweets is an electronic tracker that submits information and posts Tweets on your pets’ behalf. You attach a special sensor to your pet’s collar and when it senses movement, it sends a signal to a USB receiver that then tweets on behalf of your pet. Is it what they are really thinking? Maybe. Is it funny? Definitely.

Writing stories – apparently it’s becoming a trend to try to write a full story in your 140 character or less tweet. This reminds me of Haiku, just a bit longer. You could also write a story using one tweet per day. Over time, you could write a novel!

Companies also use social media for humor. Check out these clever people that have put funnies on Facebook:

Grandma Mary – touted as a helpful yet grouchy old lady, Grandma Mary offers advice to followers. She also posts pictures of her “grandkids,” who, of course, are fictional as well.

Users – many Facebook users have been able to manipulate the new-ish format of Facebook to suit their needs. From using your cover photo to show off something goofy to ordering the pictures on your profile to make a creepy face, everyday users of Facebook have been able to insert some humor.

There’s no doubt that with social media essentially taking over the world, we’ve got to all have a good sense of humor about it. What are some funny things that you’ve seen happening in your social media circles?

(Photo Source)

Read more: http://www.jureklepic.com/2013/11/08/humorous-uses-for-social-media/#ixzz2mcVfwd81

4 Tools That Improve Your Social Media Analytics

Do you want more insight about your social media activities?

Are you looking for a tool to bring important analytics to one place?

In this article, you’ll discover four social media analytics tools that deliver clear insights about your business’s social media activity.

Why Analytics?

Social media analytics are more than numbers.

Analytics give you the data you need to improve your social media engagement, make marketing decisions and tie social media to your bottom line.

To use analytics effectively, the data needs to be presented in easy-to-understand formats.

Here are four tools worth checking out:

#1: Receive Automatic Reports Daily Via Email With Social Report

The one thing we check every day is our email. So it makes sense to get social analytics and updates automatically delivered to your inbox.

Social Report is a comprehensive analytics tool with a very affordable starter account that lets you to monitor up to five projects, each with an unlimited number of social accounts for only $9 per month.

To get started, sign up for a 30-day free trial of the plan that best fits your business.

Once your account is created, you can set up your first project. Under your project dashboard, click on the Add Social Media Accounts option to start connecting all of your social media accounts and other important business accounts.

Account options you can choose for your Social Report profile.

Social Report connects to all of the major social media networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, YouTube, Foursquare and many others. You can also add any individual groups you own on Facebook and LinkedIn, your Google Analytics and online stores.

Once you’re set up, you can access lots of graphs to analyze audience growth, engagement, reach and activity. You can also find demographic details about your social audience on each social network you’ve connected.

Demographic information about your social media audience.

What you’ll really love about this tool is that you can get a daily digest summarizing the most important activity from each of your connected accounts (pages, profiles and groups) via email.

You can learn more about members of your LinkedIn group.

LinkedIn group insights from a Social Report email.

Get a quick summary of your audience and activity on Twitter followed by a list of your tweets, mentions, direct messages and new follower details.

Twitter profile insights from a Social Report email.

Get a list of new activity on your Facebook page, a summary of your fans, page views and referrer URLs leading traffic to your page.

Facebook page insights from a Social Report email.

Social Report’s daily digests keep you up to date about most—if not all—of your social media activity, without you leaving your inbox!

#2: Share Analytic Reports With Stakeholders Via Cyfe

Like dashboards? Then you’ll love Cyfe. You can create an unlimited number of dashboards with an unlimited number of widgets for only $19 per month.

To get started, create a free account and get a feel for the way Cyfe works, then upgrade to the premium plan to go unlimited.

Once you’ve created your account, set up your first dashboard.

Create a new dashboard on Cyfe.

Inside your new dashboard, you’ll add widgets to track your social accounts. The following are available for social media.

Add a variety of social media widgets in your Cyfe dashboard.

There are also widgets for Twitter, Twitter search and YouTube.

Depending on the network you choose, you’ll be able to create widgets to display your audience size, activity and keyword searches.

Configure your social media widget.

You can also create dashboards and widgets for many other platforms includingGoogle Analytics and AdWords, WordPress, AWeber, FreshBooks, PayPal and Moz.

View your social media activity in dashboards with Cyfe.

In addition to being able to quickly see the most important information about your social accounts, you can create reports based on your dashboards. Cyfe sends the reports to you at your preferred frequency.

Create reports for yourself, your boss and your clients.

Keep everyone up to date on the status of your social media marketing with dashboard data emailed to you, your boss and your clients.

#3: Establish ROI With SumAll

Want to connect your social media activity to other areas of your business?SumAll can help you do that. First, you’ll need to sign up for your free trial. Then you can start connecting to your social networks.

Choose platforms to connect within your SumAll account.

To get the most out of your SumAll account, be sure to connect to other platformssuch as Google Analytics, Constant Contact, Amazon Payments, eBay and Shopify. This helps you visualize how your activity on social media affects other areas of your business and your bottom line.

Once your data has loaded, you can add various streams of data to your chart by selecting them from the library on the left side.

Select platforms from the SumAll library menu.

As you add different data points, they’ll appear on the chart. This allows you toanalyze how your activity on one platform affects the activity on another.

For example, chart your Twitter activity and PayPal transactions to see if an increase in tweets leads to an increase in income.

Compare social activity with other important business data.

Now, you can find out if an increase in Instagram posts leads to more Facebook engagement, or if an increase in followers on Twitter leads to an increase in sales on Shopify. The potential to find social media ROI is limitless.

#4: Explore Social Audience Demographics With Google Analytics

Last but not least is Google Analytics. Goals help you link your social media activity to conversions on your website.

The easiest way to get social media data from Google Analytics is by using the standard social media report under Traffic Sources > Social.

Learn more about your social media activity in the social media overview.

Here, you learn more about the website traffic you receive from top social networks. Note that this only covers popular networks—Google Analytics doesn’t officially categorize a lot of smaller niche networks as part of their equation.

Under the Conversions section of the social reporting area, you can find out which social networks have led to the most conversions, including the value of those conversions if you set up values in your goals.

See which social networks drive visitors who convert the most.

Alternatively, if you’d like to view all of your Google Analytics data based on traffic from social networks, you can create a Custom Segment. To do this, click on Advanced Segments and then + New Custom Segment.

Click the + New Custom Segment button to start a new custom segment.

Name your custom segment and start adding the domains for each social media network you want to analyze. Each line should say Including > Source > Containing > domain.com. You can add up to 20 sources total.

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Creating a custom segment in Google Analytics.

Save your custom segment and you can view everything in your website’s Google Analytics data based on traffic from the social media networks you specified.

Custom segments can show you the top content consumed by your social media referrals, how many social media website visitors come from mobile devices, what countries your social media website visitors live in and other specific insights that will help you do better online business.

Over To You

These aren’t the only tools available to help you track and use the data from your social media analytics, but they do show that measuring or reporting social media analytics doesn’t have to be difficult or overly time-consuming.

What do you think? Which of these tools do you find most interesting? What tools do you use to measure and report your social media analytics? Share your favorites in the comments!