Three Cardinal Sins of Social MediaThree Cardinal Sins of Social Media

What you post, upload, comment, etc. online shapes your brand.  Your online brand is a precious commodity!  The truth is, anything you post online, is archived – scary thought.

Here are three classic mistakes we see advisor make.

1.     Neglect.  This is the most common faux pas’ we encounter amongst financial advisors. Social media is not a silver bullet – be prepared to invest the time and energy into building new connections, regular posting and contributing useful content. Think of social media as your new networking group - in order to be successful you have to work the room.  You get out of it what you put into it.

2.     Over use.  Find the happy medium between neglecting and overusing it. One of the main reasons people stop “following” other social media users is the bombardment of status updates – this will drive followers away.  You know the type.  Nobody likes a minute to minute tweeter! Spaced repetition is your friend.

3.     Pitch.  The last thing your connections want is you pitching your services 24/7. Think of your presence as a virtual cocktail party – there is always an element of class involved. If you were at a real life cocktail party you wouldn’t stand up on a table and proclaim your services to be superior to your competition. Well, we hope not anyway! Instead, you would build rapport, be subtle, and look for the opportune moment to add value.

Common sense? Yep! But alas, it’s not always common practice.