48% of Financial Advisors Interact Daily With Clients Via Social Media

Social advisors. 48 percent of financial advisors interact daily with clients via social media, according to Accenture which surveyed 400 US financial advisors.

According to the report of Accenture (@Accenture) “Closing the Gap: How Tech-Savvy Advisors Can Regain Investor Trust”, financial advisors know the impact of digital technologies to their client relationships and view social media as important to their success. Thus, nearly half of them use social media everyday to interact with clients.

60% of these clients have assets of over $20 million. 70% of the advisors believe that social media financial services increases the assets of clients, and 50% claim to use social media in acquiring clients. Also, 49% believe that failure to use social media will cause a firm’s breakdown.

The research shows that 42% of clients are knowledgeable about investing, while only 12% of investors are knowledgeable. 1% of the advisors describe their clients as not knowledgeable, while 25% of investors identify themselves that way. 28% of investors are aggressive, while only 13% of clients are aggressive. 67% of the advisors claim to have a personal relationship with their clients, but only 38% of the clients view the relationship as personal. This means that advisors need to focus on the views and objectives of the clients to create a trusting relationship.

To make their digital interaction meaningful, firms need to use social media strategies. This will also help increase their visibility and drive business to their companies.

Key Stats

• 48% of financial advisors interact with their clients daily.
• 60% of these clients have $20 assets.
• 70% of financial advisors believe in social media to increase the assets of clients.
• 50% believe to have converted prospects in to customers.
• 49% believe social media is crucial to a company’s success.
• 42% of clients are knowledgeable, while only 12% of investors have knowledge about investing.
• 1% of clients are not knowledgeable, while 25% of investors do not have knowledge about investing.
• 13% of clients are aggressive, while 28% of investors are aggressive.
• 67% of investors claim to have a personal relationship with clients, but only 38% of these clients view the relationship as personal.

Alex Pigliucci, Global Managing Director of Accenture Wealth and Asset Management Services: “The use of social media to interact with clients is a differentiator for advisors today, but it will be mere table stakes in the not too distant future.”

Covered by my Visible Banking Team

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48% Financial Advisors Interact Daily With Clients Via Social Media: personally I find this figure quite high, but I would be curious to find out more about the frequency and the quality of those “daily contacts”.

The very challenge of distinguishing clients from acquaintances and random connections is significant. Especially for most financial advisors who are not social media savvy and don’t necessarily recognize the value of spending time of twitter, facebook  or linkedin several hours a day.

More than being a fantastic opportunity to differentiate themselves, banks and investment firms have a responsibility to empower their tied financial advisors and their brokers, and turn them into engaging, trusted, social advisors.

Do you want or even expect your financial advisor to communicate with you via social media? Are public, mainstream social media services like facebook or twitter appropriate channels to discuss investment products? Or would you rather use a specialized online community like eToro or Nutmeg?

We invite you to share your thoughts about the role of social media in banking, here, via twitter or on our Facebook page.