Advisor Website Showcase: Fairlead Financial Group

For this week’s Client Showcase, I spoke with Devan Robinson from Fairlead Financial Group. Devan worked with our Marketing team on both his website and social media strategy (via our social media bundle). We are dedicated to helping financial advisors grow their business, and if you read along you’ll get some great insight on how to get started on social media.

DEVELOPING A SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY

My first question for Devan was “can you describe why you decided to use Twenty Over Ten’s social media bundle when developing your website?”

Devan shared that he initially came to Twenty Over Ten because he was in need of a stellar website and he was struck by how Twenty Over Ten really focuses our business on financial advisors. He recently transitioned from a broker model to starting his own RIA firm, and his main focus at the time was on his clients, not necessarily his social media strategy or his website. After a few meetings with Samantha and Ryan it was clear to him that they understood the financial industry and the goals he had in mind during his business transition.

As a millennial, Devan felt very comfortable with social media, but he had never utilized it from a business perspective.

“When you transition from a broker to an RIA you suddenly have much more flexibility with social media“, Devan said. He really wanted to be able to “hit the ground running” and be as time-smart as possible. With the social media package, he felt like he was setup for success from the get-go.

USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF ONLINE

When asked why Devan thought it is important for his business to have a social media presence, he gave two specific reasons—”differentiation and efficiency”.

In Devan’s view, clients want their advisors to have a voice and opinions. Research shows that the first thing a client is going to do is google your name and see what they can learn about you.  It always felt a little backward to him that broker/dealers and large firms do their best to keep all of their advisors uniform and undifferentiated – a google search will yield a name and phone number, maybe some certifications.

When a client hires him as their advisor, they hire Devan, not Fairlead Financial Group.  Prospects want to learn about you – what is your investing philosophy, what are your opinions on X market issue, what do you do for fun in your free time?  Social media is a fantastic way to achieve that very efficiently.

A TACTICAL BUSINESS APPROACH TO POSTING

I asked Devan about his expectations about using social media versus his actual experience with social media, and he was very surprised. He expected the process to be slow-building and time-consuming but was wrong about both. He admits he is no social media wizard, but he has been shocked by how many clients read and appreciate the content that he now shares.

When asked about the development of his social media presence for Fairlead Financial Group, Devan said Twenty Over Ten helped him approach social media as a business. He felt comfortable with social media, but with the help of Twenty Over Ten he quickly was able to navigate through when the best time to post on different platforms were, what makes good content, and engaging with others’ content as well. Twenty Over Ten helped him develop a tactical approach to social media.

 

SHARE PERSONAL POSTS TO CONNECT WITH CLIENTS

Devan was also kind enough to share with us some of the tips and advice that were most helpful to him as he was getting started with social media. First, he shared that he when developing his first “personal post”, he felt really strange to write about a personal travel experience on a business page, but despite what he thought it ended up being his most popular post.

“Who you are, where you come from, and what experiences you have had all influence how you see the world and ultimately how you invest”, says Devan.  “Clients and prospects want to know these things about you much more than I realized”. 

I asked Devan if there was anything in particular that worked well for Fairlead Financial Group specifically, like a blog post, third party article, etc. He said his personal post on the Fairlead Financial Group page worked really well, because clients and prospects are a lot more interested in their financial advisors on a personal level than we may realize.

USE SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYTICS TO TRACK AND ADJUST

Lastly, Devan told us how social media analytics have helped shape his strategy, and they’ve been able to help him be more effective and see what works, with trial and error. Often times what he thinks is interesting content ends up not being as big of a hit on social media as he had hoped, but using analytics helps him see what is interesting from the client/prospect perspective (read more on when the best time to post on social media is for financial advisors).

Fairlead Financial Group’s use of social media on top of their Twenty Over Ten mobile-responsive website is a great example of how to update your online and digital presence while staying true to your company’s brand, history, and goals.