Usage of social media by UK advisers is up for the third year running, according to Intelliflo’s third annual survey* into social media usage.
Seven out of 10 (70%) users of Intelliflo’s specialist adviser software, Intelligent Office (iO), now engage in some sort of social media activity for business purposes, up from 58% in 2014 and 61% in 2015.
This year’s survey also found:
- LinkedIn has increased it’s ranking as the most popular social media platform for advisers, with 60% actively using it in 2016 compared to just 53% in 2015.
- Facebook has increased in popularity with 36% now using it compared to just 25% in 2015.
- Twitter usage is up: 40% are using it in 2016 compared to 35% in 2015. However, it’s still down on 2014 when 41% were using it.
- Other social media platforms, such as Google+ are being used by 6%, which is up slightly compared to 4% in 2015 and the same as during 2014.
Asked why their company gets involved in social media, two thirds (62%) said it was to attract new clients (up from 59% in 2015). Other reasons include:
- Being seen to be keeping up with modern communications systems (54% compared to 69% in 2015).
- To help with search engine optimisation (SEO) (50% compared to 41% in 2015).
- To keep up to date with financial news and events (42% compared to 39% in 2015).
- To communicate with existing clients (46% compared to 37% in 2015).
- To see what competitors are doing (14% compared to 20% in 2015).
For those who don’t engage in social media, lack of knowledge and understanding about how to engage with it to provide business benefits is a barrier for almost a third (30%). However, time is the biggest factor, with half (51%) saying they don’t have the time or resources to devote to it. Relevance to business is also questionable for some advisers, with half (51%) of those who don’t currently engage saying they don’t believe it is relevant for their business.
Nick Eatock, Intelliflo’s Executive Chairman comments: It’s interesting to see how use of social media is increasing with advisers year-on-year and there’s no doubt in my mind that, done correctly, there are tangible business benefits to be gained. However, it does require a strategy, governance and resources to be effective and that’s clearly a barrier for some businesses currently.
To help firms quickly and easily put in place a social media strategy that will help achieve business goals, Intelliflo has prepared a social media tool that is free for advisers to download at https://www.intelliflo.com/social-media-guide.
