A lot of discussion in the financial services world about LinkedIn but the report found that Facebook is the most-visited social site, with 73% of U.S. broadband consumers using the social media giant. One of the conclusions I draw from this information is both LinkedIn and Facebook play a role in financial services firms promoting their businesses. Savvy firms will leverage LinkedIn as their choice for B2B awareness among a peer network while Facebook serves as the B2C site of choice when firms are prospecting for clients.
YouTube, at 49%, came in second. There hasn’t been much discussion about YouTube usage by financial services firms but there may not be an easier, more effective and cost efficient vehicle for asset managers, wealth managers and advisors to explaining their investment process and or approach to long-term financial planning. The remaining sites on the top 10, in order, are Craigslist at 34%, MySpace at 17%, Groups.Yahoo.com at 14%, Twitter at 14%, Groupon at 13%, LinkedIn at 9%, Classmates.com at 8% and Groups.Google.com at 6%. Need I even comment about Craigslist!
According to the Netpop survey of 1,253 U.S. broadband Internet users, 73% contribute content online. 39% post content on a social networking site, 38% upload photos, 27% rate or review products, 13% upload videos, 12% update their location, 12% post content on a blog or forum, and 10% post content on a mircoblog such as Twitter. Compared with a Netpop survey in 2009, microblogging has grown 400% and posting to a blog or forum is down 25%.
In order to improve their market presence I encourage our clients to differentiate themselves by articulating their thought leadership proposition through the use of white papers and blogs. Although the study points out that posting (responding) to a blog or forum is down, the statistics for microblogging and other segments are stronger then ever. I would also posit that posting to a blog or forum is down because one of the most popular forum sites, NING, went from free to pay-to-play last year.
The age of consumers who contribute content to the social web skews young. 82% of 18- to 34-year-olds and 77% of 13- to 17-year-olds contribute; that number drops to 67% for age 35 and up. And women contribute more content than men: 78% of women and 66% of men go social.
Asset managers, RIAs and Independent advisors have a tendency to believe that the social web is not where their clients are – it’s a young persons haunt they say. Not true. A 67% market share for age 35 and up looks like pretty fertile ground to me. This group is comprised of Millennials, a group that will inherit an estimated $40 trillion from their boomer parents, will eventually comprise approximately 29% of the US population and are sometimes referred to as “digital natives”.
“Social media is on the rise in the U.S. as Americans engage in a larger variety of online social activities,” says Cate Riegner, vice president of brand insights and co?founder of Netpop Research. “One in four broadband users now engage in at least four social media activities on a regular basis. Most anyone over the age of 35 is baffled by all the tweets, tags and uploads; but ask a Gen?Yer the last time they checked their e-mail and you’ll receive a disinterested shrug. Indeed, between Facebook and YouTube, the most popular social media brands, and Twitter, the dominant microblog brand, we see where media is heading in the 21st century.”
Asset management firms, RIAs and Independent advisors that grasp the nuances of this newly emerging target audience and design communication strategies that include their preferences will capture their share of this estimated $40 trillion market. Those that don’t will compete for a shrinking piece of the investable pool of assets.
