On the finish of every calendar yr, social media platforms compile a wrap-up of every consumer’s metrics, exhibiting a theoretical attain for each account’s best-performing piece of created media content material and highlighting the “Greatest Of The Greatest” on the net, whereas revealing social media ‘superstars’ who’ve hundreds of thousands 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 check these figures with the precise attain of their very own content material getting in entrance of their goal shopper base, are these ‘self-importance’ metrics actually a great tool 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 talk about 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 major goal is to extend their shopper base (regardless that they could 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 partaking an viewers with their content material. And that evaluating what might appear to be humble numbers towards the highest accounts on social media will solely intrude with the advisor’s personal journey of planning out a profitable enterprise development technique; as a substitute, specializing in the creation of content material that their target market, nevertheless 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 specific target market via related and significant content material can be extra more likely to appeal to the correct prospects to that content material. Which frequently means extra referrals and viewers members, in the end main not simply to extra prospects and shopper conversions but in addition to a broader attain out to much more prospects who discover worth in what the advisor presents, which is usually the first objective from the beginning. So whereas a big unfocused marketing campaign, generically focused to a whole lot of hundreds of followers, is perhaps a gorgeous method to spice up impressions and followers to maintain up with different social media stars, the truth is that this course does not yield outcomes as priceless as extremely particular messaging focused to a smaller subset of subscribers who most have a resemblance to the agency’s best goal shopper. And regardless that this viewers base could also be a minuscule fraction of those that comply with bigger social media celebrities, it contains people who’re conversant in and discover worth within the advisor’s content material – and who’re additionally more likely to attach and interact with the advisor for his or her providers as properly.
Finally, the important thing level is that gradual development via related and impactful content material will lead to extra significant engagement and motion from a potential shopper base than untargeted blanket campaigns despatched to many hundreds 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 vital than having a formidable 50K+ followers, particularly when these 50K+ followers solely translate into single-digit numbers of people who truly interact with the enterprise. And having fewer followers and subscribers who actively interact in an advisor’s content material as a result of they discovered one thing they linked with on some degree is exponentially extra priceless than adopting a technique that guarantees development primarily based on excessive numbers alone!
