By now, most financial services firms are aware of the marketing power of LinkedIn. Even if they don’t use social media platforms such as Twitter or Instagram, it’s rare to come across a firm that isn’t on the professional networking site. LinkedIn says its members are 2x more likely to seek financial advice on the platform and are 1.7x more receptive to brand messages so, it’s uniquely set up to help firms achieve marketing objectives. However, just because a firm has an account, it doesn’t mean they are using it effectively. We’ve seen many clients make key mistakes such as infrequently posting or relying solely on their main feed to reach their intended audience. Here are a few ways financial services firms can leverage the platform to build their brand and reach their market.
Thought Leadership and Building Trust
In the digital world, LinkedIn has increasingly become one of the dominant online spaces for publishing and disseminating professional thought leadership. Whether you want to provide commentary on the latest industry trends, introduce groundbreaking ideas, or simply break down complex financial concepts, posting thought leadership content on the site is an effective and efficient means of doing so.
By positioning your firm as a leader in the industry, you instill trust in your organization’s brand. This is advantageous for a number of reasons. For one, when existing clients and business partners see your firm regularly posting thoughtful and timely content, it may assure them that their decision to work with your firm was the right one. In a similar vein, companies and individuals considering your firm are likely to do their due diligence and search through the firm’s social platforms. If they see that your organization is up to date on industry trends and is producing competent commentary on a consistent basis, it increases the likelihood that they will view your business as a credible prospective partner.
Sharing the Message
The ability to build trust and show industry leadership is not limited to the firm’s official account. The CEO, other high-level executives and employees can strengthen the overall company image by sharing official firm posts and regularly writing their own. In fact, brand messages are re-shared 24X more frequently when employees share content too. As a result, brand messages reach 561 percent further when shared by employees vs. the same message being shared by the brand’s social channel.1
Advertise and Boost Visibility
Regularly posting content on your firm’s main feed is not the only way to promote your company. LinkedIn’s advertising feature, Campaign Manager, allows you to direct your content straight to a broad target audience that extends beyond existing followers. Though routinely publishing quality content is the best method of demonstrating thought leadership and building trust, creating ads expands your brand’s potential reach to relevant users that otherwise would not be likely to come across your firm’s page. This feature bolsters LinkedIn’s business development capabilities by putting your ads directly in the online path of your desired audience.
Campaign Manager is more accurate and offers users more control than ads on other social platforms, so it can be manipulated to meet your firm’s specific needs. Whether you want to boost website visits, attract new clients, or expand your brand’s reputation as an industry leader, boosting your firm’s LinkedIn presence through paid ad campaigns can be a smart move.
Ultimately, LinkedIn has the potential to be a powerful tool in any firm’s marketing toolkit. If used effectively, it can bring credibility to your company’s name, attract new clients, and build trust in your brand. Don’t miss out.
- Stats pulled from the Lowe Group Social Media Toolkit, found here.