What if social media could actually improve your life?
For financial advisors, LinkedIn can be the ultimate game-changer for your career. But you can’t make the most out of LinkedIn until you learn how to stand out.
But do you know how to stand out on LinkedIn? And do you know why LinkedIn is so important to your career? Keep reading to discover our comprehensive guide!
Why Is LinkedIn for Financial Advisors So Important?
Our guide will help you take advantage of the best LinkedIn strategies for financial advisors. First, though, we must answer a question: why is LinkedIn for Financial Advisors so important?
The short answer is that LinkedIn is a connected social media network filled with affluent influencers (41% of the world’s millionaires use LinkedIn). Whether you want to make a major career move (90% of recruiters now use LinkedIn) or simply boost your marketing, connecting with the right people via LinkedIn is your key to getting things done.
And COVID-19 helped financial advisors all over the world realize the need for robust digital marketing and connecting with people online. LinkedIn isn’t just good in the here and now: using the platform is also a great way to future-proof your career!
Now that you know more about why LinkedIn is so important to financial advisors, let’s explore the different ways you can make your profile stand out.
1. Your Best Face Forward
First impressions matter, especially when you work closely with clients. That’s why it’s important to make sure that your LinkedIn photo helps put your “best face forward.”
First of all, the photo should actually be you instead of a fictional avatar. And don’t leave things up to your selfie skills: we recommend getting a professional headshot for your photo.
Second, the photo should look formal. Put on a nice suit or dress to leave a solid impression.
Third, make sure the image isn’t too small. It should be at least 450×450 pixels so that users can zoom in on your photo and your image won’t have a gray box around it.
Finally, don’t forget to smile and make eye contact. Even in a profile photo, this goes a long way towards winning people over.
2. Personalized Address
Your LinkedIn profile is connected to a web address the site gives you. But if you settle for whatever address the system generates, your web address will look weird and confusing for most users.
That’s why it’s important to get a personalized address. Keep things simple with it: an address featuring your first and last name (and maybe a title or certification) is usually enough to help you stand out.
A custom address makes it easier for people to find you on LinkedIn. And that custom address will look really nice on your business cards as well.
3. Headline Full of Useful Info
The headline is a bit like your LinkedIn address. The website will automatically generate one for you. But must like the address, we highly recommend that you customize your headline.
You may need to get creative here: LinkedIn limits you to 120 characters for your headline. And you need to use this short space to grab someone’s attention and then give them the most relevant info about you.
We recommend including things like your job title and key area(s) of knowledge. Before that, though, you should have a “hook” that gets someone’s attention and makes them want to learn more about you.
4. Detailed Responsibilities
In this day and age, LinkedIn functions as your digital resume. And as with your resume, it’s important to provide detailed descriptions of your current and former jobs.
Each job should, at minimum, detail your job title, employer, employment dates, and employment responsibilities. Ideally, you will have more details about your more recent responsibilities: prospective employers will be more interested in your more recent jobs than ones from your distant past.
Whenever possible, you should add information that helps quantify your achievements. The more specific your info, the more doors your LinkedIn profile will open up for you.
5. Sum It All Up
If we’re being honest, LinkedIn can sometimes be a bit confusing and intimidating. There is so much info about you in several different places that it can be hard for someone to figure out who you really are. That’s where the summary comes in.
A good summary provides an “at a glance” look at who you are as a person and as a financial advisor. Instead of being focused on a particular employer, this section should emphasize your general experience and specific qualifications.
It can be helpful to imagine your summary as an elevator pitch. When someone clicks on your profile, your summary may be your last chance to win them over. Make sure it is informative, persuasive, and not too long.
6. Don’t Forget the SEO
In some respects, designing a LinkedIn profile is like designing your website. For example, it’s important that you pack your profile with solid SEO.
If you personalize your address, you’re already improving your SEO. And you can take things further by including relevant keywords about your industry and certifications in your headline and summary.
You may not be searching now, but LinkedIn is a great way to find a new job. And following the principles of good SEO on your profile makes it that much easier for headhunters to recruit you.
Try to incorporate some of the keywords for your website into your profile and summary. And simply by mentioning your qualifications and certifications on LinkedIn, you make it easier for different people in the industry to find you and reach out to you.
7. Making Connections
While it is very specialized, LinkedIn is still a social media platform. And that means one of the most important things you can do for your career is to focus on making connections.
There are a few approaches you can take to making connections. The first is to add just about every industry professional that you meet at conferences and during the course of your career. This gives you a reliable network of contacts that you can draw on whenever you need to.
Another approach is to focus on a very specific group. For instance, you might focus on adding your existing customers as a way of growing your number of regular clients. Or you can start by focusing on your close friends and partners and use them to help you make new contacts.
Finally, you should seek out and join professional groups on LinkedIn that are relevant to your career.
Ultimately, the only “wrong” way to approach connections is to avoid making them!
8. Take Things Offline
Obviously, LinkedIn is an online social media platform. But to make the most of it, you should consider ways to use these digital assets to make things happen offline.
For example, you can reach out to your connections and have them help advertise any events you are putting on. It could be as simple as having them advertise an upcoming public speaking experience. And you can do this on top of advertising the event using LinkedIn’s tools.
And don’t be afraid to ask your online connections to refer you to prospective new clients. This is what LinkedIn is all about: professionals connecting and ultimately lifting each other up.
9. Personalize Messages
Earlier, we talked about reaching out to your contacts. But have you considered the best way to do so?
It may be tempting to send all of your connections the same message. But this can come off as cold and impersonal if you send hundreds (or even thousands) of people the exact same message.
Instead, we recommend that you take the time to personalize each message. Think of this like email marketing: people are likelier to respond to a customized message than a more generic message.
10. Create Killer Content
If you didn’t already know, LinkedIn functions as a platform for content from subject matter experts. We strongly recommend that you create your own killer content to cement your reputation as a top-notch financial advisor.
When possible, you should diversify your content. Write blog posts that reflect different areas of expertise and that appeal to different kinds of audiences.
It’s also okay to re-use some of your older content. Things like articles for your website or chapters from your e-book may make for solid blog content on LinkedIn.
Whatever you do, make sure you take writing this content very seriously. For many prospective clients, the quality of your content will be what makes them decide to trust you with their finances.
What’s Next?
Now you know why LinkedIn for financial advisors is so important. But do you know who can take your business and your digital marketing to the next level?
We specialize in helping financial advisors grow their business and financially prosper. To see what we can do for your own business, contact us today!
