The document provides guidance for investment professionals on using social media for business purposes. It discusses how social media can be used to build trust with clients, gain insights into target audiences, enhance personal branding, and track engagement. The key recommendations are to plan social media strategies aimed at specific goals, engage current clients, build an expertise-driven personal brand through high-quality content, stay compliant with regulations, and continuously analyze engagement and progress.

1. 1
Social Media Publishing for
Investment Professionals
May 2014

2. 2
Introduction
Financial communication is an area of continuous technological transformation.
Throughout history, banks, public companies, financial firms, and exchanges have
evolved to incorporate new tools for information sharing. With the advent of social
media we are witnessing the latest iteration of communication methods and it is
transforming the way we do business yet again.
Many members of the investing community are rapidly embracing social media.
After all, strategic financial research is made easier and more efficient with platforms
such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and StockTwits. By tuning into these networks
investors, analysts, and investment advisors have access to a massive collection of
opinions, profiles, and reactions that can be used to inform portfolio allocations.
Those who recognize the importance of social media are using these networks to
identify content that resonates with the public and to stay on top of potential market-
moving information.
Although the social media use case for research is an important one, it is just one
piece of the puzzle. Retail-facing investors, advisors, and research analysts must also
consider participating in outbound online communication if they want to effectively
market themselves as industry experts or thought leaders.

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Why Publish?
Trust, Loyalty, and Returns
Client relationships in the financial service industry depend on high levels of trust.
After all, entrusting someone with your financial future is a risky proposition.
Interestingly however, findings from recent studies show that banks and financial
services are the two least trusted industries globally lagging behind media, energy,
and telecommunications1
. Clearly, some modifications to traditional practices need
to be made in order to mend the industry’s precarious reputation and to profit as a
professional working within it. The first step in this process is to acknowledge that
trust is not only enhanced by frequent high returns but also through interpersonal
communication and relationship maintenance. For client-facing investment
professionals, this is where social media is making its impact.
“Nothing is as profitable as the
economics of trust. Nothing has more
influence than a reputation of trust”
- Stephen Covey
1 Edelman Trust Barometer | 2013 Annual Global Survey

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Trust, Loyalty, and Returns
Secondly, social media can teach you about your current
and prospective client base. By paying attention to
the behavior of users within these networks, you can
communicate your value with greater specificity and better
target your efforts. Knowing a bit about your prospects
means you can approach them on a more personal level
and offer insight that is likely to interest them. Instead
of seeming intrusive, you can position yourself as a
trustworthy and credible source of investment insight.
“Advisors are in the
relationship business and
the web is evolving in
their favor”
- Joe Rueckert
Interacting on social media, if done correctly, can enhance trust and facilitate relationship
maintenance- and it does so on a very large scale. Your voice is amplified through these
channels with the potential to reach a massive audience of both current and potential
clients. By continuously publishing interesting and valuable content, you can create a
series of positive experiences for your followers ultimately leading to greater engagement
and loyalty. In this way, social media allows you to nurture current relationships and build
new ones efficiently and cost-effectively.
Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of social networks is their ability to host a
powerful and sophisticated referral system. According to research by Forrester, three
quarters of new client acquisition in the financial services industry stems from referrals.
Once you have established a digital presence you can leverage the crowd curation and
referencing capabilities of social media to source new clients and to grow your business.
Finally, your social media profile can serve to humanize your firm. In the area of investing,
where clients’ emotions are so closely tied to their decisions, this is particularly important.
Through strategic social participation, your company becomes more approachable and
transparent thus facilitating communication. Warmly connecting with your clients sets up
a foundation for future positive interactions that will lead to enhanced trust, long-term
loyalty, and referrals.

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In the next few decades we will witness the greatest transfer of wealth in history as many
younger investors grow their portfolios with inheritances from older generations1
. This
transfer of assets from baby boomers to the generation that follows has some important
consequences for investment professionals.
Recent studies into the investment behavior of heirs found that, as few as two percent of
them remain clients of their parents’ advisor after the money has changed hands2
. Results
like these should inspire advisors and portfolio managers to find new ways of maintaining
younger clients while targeting new business.
To do so, one must understand that the decisions of the GenX and GenY are often affected by
a different set of factors compared to those of their boomer parents. Younger generations
learned a number of hard lessons during the dotcom bubble and great recession. In light
of these economic struggles a general sense of distrust towards banks and other financial
service providers has plagued the industry. This, along with technological advancements,
such as social media, has led to a different set of expectations in relationships between
financial service professionals and their younger clients.
Younger consumers and investors value transparency and immediacy of information and
are likely to distrust companies that don’t offer both. Social media has facilitated these
exchanges by offering a means to publically review products, companies, and services.
Additionally, younger generations have grown up with information at their fingertips making
them resourceful and relatively impatient when it comes to research. Instead of relying
on individual recommendations, younger individuals recognize the value in numbers and
often turn to socially curated ratings found on social media sites prior to making financial
decisions.
1
April Rudin | 2013 CFA Institute Wealth Management Confrenece | Source: blogs.cfainstitute.org
2
Accenture 2013 | The “Greater” Wealth Transfer: Capitalizing on the Intergenerational Shift in Wealth
Why now?
The financial decisions of future generations

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In addition to these decision-making behaviors, younger generations are spending a
considerable amount of time consuming information on social media with 84% of 18 to
29 year olds on Facebook and 31% on Twitter1
. Their social and professional networks are
largely represented online and this trend is increasing with time.
Remember however, that it is not just the members of next generations dominating social
networks. Although the percentage of active social media users is smaller among older
cohorts,55-64yearoldsarethefastestgrowingdemographicrepresentedinthesenetworks.
Studies have found that the number of social media users within this cohort has grown by
79% since 2012. Dissect these findings further and you see that as income and education
levels increase so does social media usage2
. This suggests that an advisors or portfolio
manager’s target audience is even more likely to be found in these online communities.
A study by Cogent Research uncovered evidence to support this. They analyzed social
media usage for high net worth investors and discovered that for those with at least 100K
in investable assets, close to ninety percent were active on these channels.
If you are not present in social media, you are not in front of these potential clients
and you are losing out to those who are.
The face-to-face connections and referral systems that many investment managers and
advisors relied on to carry their businesses forward in years past are insufficient in today’s
digital age. This is not to say that these offline interactions have lost their value, but that
social media is becoming an essential part of the complete business process. Advisors and
investment managers who are not represented in these networks are in competition with
the growing community of financial experts who are. This includes 71% of advisors who are
currently using these networks for business purposes3
. These social savvy professionals
are already reaching a massive audience of investors and when younger generations begin
searching for investing guidance, these finance experts will be established and ready to
receive their business.
1,2
Pew Research, 2013 | Pew Research Internet Project
3
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions and FTI Consulting, 2012 | Financial Advisors’ Use of Social Media Moves
from Early Adoption to Mainstream

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Social media gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your
expertise in an interactive and informal setting. Along with your
knowledge, you are also able to showcase your personality in
order to attract new business and engage with your existing
clients. Ultimately, work towards positioning yourself as a thought-
leader in your industry. Being a reputable and timely source of
information will drive new business opportunities, client retention,
and referrals. For guidance on how to get started with your social
strategy, refer to the following list of best practices:
Five Best Practices

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1. Plan Ahead
Clearly state your goals before beginning. Are you looking for enhanced visibility to attract
prospects or do you want to nurture the relationships you have with current clients?
A Thought Leader can be a company, orga-
nization, or individual who is perceived to be
an expert or a “go-to” source for information
about a specific topic. Such individuals or or-
ganizations aren’t afraid to break the mold
and communicate strong, sticky, and empiri-
cally supported ideas. They not only influence
the opinions and emotions of their audience
members but they also motivate their follow-
ers to act. This requires a great deal of trust
from a large number of people.
Once your goals are made explicit, spend some time reviewing the profiles and efforts
of successful thought-leaders in your industry or those with similar professional goals.
Use these individuals as inspiration in your planning process. Identify creative marketing
methods and research how the public responded to them. Examine changes in followers,
likes, interactions, comments on blogs, and Google page ranks. Don’t simply copy their
actions - you should be clear on your personal brand or what differentiates you from the
competition.
Be realistic about the amount of time you
will be able to dedicate to this initiative
and identify the best use of your time.
If incorporating a social media strategy
seems too time consuming, consider cutting
back on other marketing or networking
activities that have shown little promise.
It is probably a good idea to consider a
social media management tool to help
you streamline both the monitoring and
publishing processes.
If you are employed at a company or work as a member of a larger team, make sure to
either integrate your approach into an existing communications policy or strategy and to
clear it past a compliance professional if necessary.

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2. Reach out to current clients
Consider following your clients on Twitter and connecting with them on LinkedIn. Depending
on your relationship, reach out to your clients by sharing educational content, providing
news updates, sending them a link to your blog, or engaging in friendly conversation.
Consider emailing links to blog content and be sure to include social sharing buttons in
all of your outbound messaging. The people who know you personally are more likely
to engage with you on these channels. Provide these individuals with entertaining or
educational content that they will feel compelled to share with others.

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Be consistent: Make sure you communicate
an underlying message across all of your
social profiles. Your content and profile
pictures may differ depending on the
network but your expertise and value should
resonate through each. By sending mixed
messages you risk losing your audience’s
attention and trust.
Be approachable: This is especially
important if you are attempting to appeal
to younger demographics who have a
tendency to distrust the typical profile of an
investment broker1
.
Be professional: Being approachable
shouldn’t come at the expense of your
professional image. Avoid slang or posting
multiple comments concerning your
personal life unless it is relevant to the work
you do.
Be knowledgeable: Share only top quality
content and set high standards for the
material you create. Showcase your
knowledge through multiple mediums
including blogs, videos, presentations,
webinars, and articles. Find guest blogging
opportunities and consider contributing to
blogging platforms such as Seeking Alpha.
Be in the know: Be notified of market
moving information as it happens by
setting up an alerting system. React to this
information quickly by publishing an opinion
or summary of the event. Solidify loyalty by
communicating to your audience that you
are the go-to source for news on current
affairs related to their area of interest.
Be creative: Find new ways of reaching out
to your target audience. Be mindful that
there are many people like you out there and
you are competing for a limited amount of
attention. Make your content stand out from
the rest by exploring alternative methods of
communicating your message.
Be strategic: Don’t blindly publish content
without considering the individual network’s
audience or your timing. Similarly, don’t
indiscriminately gather followers or likes
through paid services. Your target group
of users can see who else has followed
and liked your accounts. Seeing paid or
fake followers will lead to distrust and can
damage your reputation.
1
April Rudin | 2013 CFA Institute Wealth Management Confrenece | Source: blogs.cfainstitute.org
3. Build a personal brand through
content marketing

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4. Stay compliant and guard against
regulation risks
As you work in the finance industry, chances are you are familiar with the risks involved in
publishing content through social media. Steer clear of trouble by familiarizing yourself
with the rules and regulations that apply to you and/or your company. Consider the following
suggestions for safe measure:
• Set up an approval process with an expert or your company’s compliance officer to
ensure that outgoing content is properly vetted before being posted
• Include disclaimer messaging in your social media profiles or linked content. Many
Twitter users include a brief message in their biography but Facebook and LinkedIn
users can include a message directly in their posts. Alternatively, some social media
tools offer the option to include a disclaimer banner that appears in the browser when
a reader clicks on a link you’ve shared
• Avoid publishing content containing trigger words that may be picked up by regulators.
Set up an alert each time a draft message includes one of these words so that the
message can be reviewed and changed if necessary

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5. Analyze engagement, track your
progress, and adjust accordingly
Perhaps the most important step of this process is to continuously track your progress.
Invest in a social media analytics tool and base your future actions on the analytics you
receive from past efforts.
The right tool will provide you with information on the number and location of the people
viewing the content you share, their demographic breakdown, and the time they spend
looking at your material. Find out who is engaging with your content either by reading,
watching, favoriting, liking, sharing, re-tweeting, and replying to it.
Get to know your audience better by identifying who among them have the greatest level
of online influence. Interact with these individuals and share original content relevant to
their interests in order to increase your exposure.
Set up Google alerts to notify you whenever your name or brand is mentioned online and
track visits to your website or blog using Google Analytics. Pay attention to the amount
of time your audience is spending on your site and their behavior before and during each
visit.
Instead of distributing a PDF file for something like a news release, publish articles or
documents using a host system that can offer you feedback on readership. Gain insight
on how frequently the article you shared is being read and which areas of the piece are
getting the most attention.
Use this insight to guide your future efforts and consider reposting content that has been
successful in the past.

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Thank you!
For more information on how you can leverage social media to attract new business
and engage with current clients please contact us at sales@finmaven.com.
We would be happy to discuss your publishing needs and how you can benefit from this
exciting medium.
www.finmaven.com
Finmaven is the next evolution of social intelligence for finance professionals. Publishing
interesting and timely content to multiple networks and analyzing the success of your social
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a single product - Monitoring, Analytics, and Publishing.
Institutional investors, Investor Relations, C-level management, and financial news
professionals use Finmaven today for:
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