On the finish of every calendar 12 months, social media platforms compile a wrap-up of every consumer’s metrics, displaying a theoretical attain for each account’s best-performing piece of created media content material and highlighting the “Finest Of The Finest” on the internet, whereas revealing social media ‘superstars’ who’ve tens of millions of impressions and followers. However how a lot do these numbers actually matter for monetary advisors driving the expansion of their companies? Whereas some advisors could also be naturally inclined to match these figures with the precise attain of their very own content material getting in entrance of their goal shopper base, are these ‘vainness’ metrics actually a useful gizmo in serving to advisors get higher outcomes, or are they merely a loud distraction?
In our 132nd episode of Kitces & Carl, Michael Kitces and shopper communication professional Carl Richards focus on how exceptionally excessive social media impressions or numbers of followers do not essentially sign the genuine development of an advisory agency’s enterprise, and why creating content material that engages a particular viewers that finds worth in that content material is what issues most for advisors whose main goal is to extend their shopper base (despite the fact that they might have a lot fewer followers, subscribers, impressions, and different smaller metrics than the social media ‘stars’ with purported 6-figure subscriber lists!).
As a place to begin, understanding which metrics are literally related to the enterprise is essential for advisors to discern the correct path towards actively participating an viewers with their content material. And that evaluating what might appear to be humble numbers in opposition to the highest accounts on social media will solely intrude with the advisor’s personal journey of planning out a profitable enterprise development technique; as an alternative, specializing in the creation of content material that their audience, nonetheless huge or small, actually cares about and that motivates them to work together with the advisor’s social media presence will result in extra priceless outcomes (together with new viewers members, referrals, and prospect conversion) in the long run!
Importantly, interesting to the agency’s explicit audience by means of related and significant content material might be extra more likely to entice the correct prospects to that content material. Which regularly means extra referrals and viewers members, finally main not simply to extra prospects and shopper conversions but additionally to a broader attain out to much more prospects who discover worth in what the advisor presents, which is usually the first purpose from the beginning. So whereas a big unfocused marketing campaign, generically focused to a whole bunch of 1000’s of followers, is perhaps a horny method to spice up impressions and followers to maintain up with different social media stars, the truth is that this path does not yield outcomes as priceless as extremely particular messaging focused to a smaller subset of subscribers who most bear a resemblance to the agency’s very best goal shopper. And despite the fact that this viewers base could also be a minuscule fraction of those that observe bigger social media celebrities, it contains people who’re accustomed to and discover worth within the advisor’s content material – and who’re additionally more likely to attach and have interaction with the advisor for his or her providers as properly.
Finally, the important thing level is that gradual development by means of related and impactful content material will end in extra significant engagement and motion from a potential shopper base than untargeted blanket campaigns despatched to many 1000’s of people. Constructing a enterprise and shopper base that matches inside an advisor’s capability to sustainably present shoppers with high-quality service is extra essential than having a powerful 50K+ followers, particularly when these 50K+ followers solely translate into single-digit numbers of people who truly have interaction with the enterprise. And having fewer followers and subscribers who actively have interaction in an advisor’s content material as a result of they discovered one thing they related with on some stage is exponentially extra priceless than adopting a technique that guarantees development based mostly on excessive numbers alone!
