Social media is still becoming an increasingly common communication vehicle in the financial services industry.
A recent report by LIMRA shows that 83% of all insurance and financial professionals are using social media compared to just two years ago when only 72% of young advisors were using social1. Additionally, about two-thirds are currently receiving support.
Insurance and financial professionals find social media helps them to market themselves, research prospects and build relationships. Eighty-eight percent of those aggressively looking for new clients are using social media, compared to 62% of those less actively seeking new clients. The most popular platform for both groups of insurance and financial professionals is LinkedIn.
While social media has opened new opportunities to connect with clients and prospective clients, there have been some challenges integrating it. Compliance requirements present challenges for those who want to use it effectively because there are often limits as to what insurance and financial professionals can say on social media, or delays waiting for compliance to approve posts.
Over the past couple of years, social media has evolved for insurance and financial professionals from being something new to try out to now seeing its value and trying to find their niche use for it. Advisors are looking for a nuanced approach that allows them to use social media as a part of their business practice for marketing, information and communication. At the same time, they want support to help them seamlessly integrate social into their practice.
These findings are from a survey of 650 financial professionals under the age of 65 in 2016. Nearly half of the responses are from financial professionals aged 40 and younger.
1-Young Advisor Snapshot, LIMRA (2015)
