During the COVID-19 pandemic, 74% of U.S. financial advisors who used social media for business initiated new relationships or onboarded new clients, according to the Putnam Investments Social Advisor 2020 Study.  The research found that 55% of advisors who initiated new client relationships say they had increased their use of social media during the pandemic.

“When it no longer became feasible for advisors to hold in-person meetings due to stay-at-home and social distancing orders, many professionals turned to social media to help clients and prospects weather the financial and emotional impact of the crisis,” Mark McKenna, Head of Global Marketing at Putnam Investments commented.

Social platforms of choice

While all of the social network platforms tracked showed increased use since the first Putnam Social Advisor Study in 2013, and more advisors use multiple platforms, LinkedIn remains the clear leader with Facebook in second place.

“In their use of LinkedIn during the first few months of the pandemic, nearly half of advisors (48%) who initiated new relationships report using the platform’s InMail feature to contact out-of-network prospects and 36% say they have hosted or participated in a LinkedIn Live session. Additionally, 80% of advisors who initiated new relationships since late February were subscribed to one of LinkedIn’s premium memberships,” according to the study.

In a similar study targeting European asset managers, research by Cerulli shows that business-focused LinkedIn is still the social media channel most frequently used by asset managers in Europe, ahead of Twitter and Facebook. “However, with appetite for engaging video content increasing, managers are likely to use YouTube more. Some 73% of managers expect to create and share more video content via social media channels over the next 12 to 24 months,” according to the Cerulli research.

Good social media content is no longer just nice to have—it will play a major and credible role in investors’ decision-making strategies,” says Fabrizio Zumbo, associate director of European asset and wealth management research at Cerulli.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, 74% of U.S. financial advisors who used social media for business initiated new relationships or onboarded new clients, according to the Putnam Investments Social Advisor 2020 Study.  The research found that 55% of advisors who initiated new client relationships say they had increased their use of social media during the pandemic.

“When it no longer became feasible for advisors to hold in-person meetings due to stay-at-home and social distancing orders, many professionals turned to social media to help clients and prospects weather the financial and emotional impact of the crisis,” Mark McKenna, Head of Global Marketing at Putnam Investments commented.

Social platforms of choice

While all of the social network platforms tracked showed increased use since the first Putnam Social Advisor Study in 2013, and more advisors use multiple platforms, LinkedIn remains the clear leader with Facebook in second place.

“In their use of LinkedIn during the first few months of the pandemic, nearly half of advisors (48%) who initiated new relationships report using the platform’s InMail feature to contact out-of-network prospects and 36% say they have hosted or participated in a LinkedIn Live session. Additionally, 80% of advisors who initiated new relationships since late February were subscribed to one of LinkedIn’s premium memberships,” according to the study.

In a similar study targeting European asset managers, research by Cerulli shows that business-focused LinkedIn is still the social media channel most frequently used by asset managers in Europe, ahead of Twitter and Facebook. “However, with appetite for engaging video content increasing, managers are likely to use YouTube more. Some 73% of managers expect to create and share more video content via social media channels over the next 12 to 24 months,” according to the Cerulli research.

Good social media content is no longer just nice to have—it will play a major and credible role in investors’ decision-making strategies,” says Fabrizio Zumbo, associate director of European asset and wealth management research at Cerulli.

[box type=”info” size=”large”]How has the pandemic changed your client engagement? What platforms are you using? Where is digitisation taking us, how has it impacted you? Please help us to help you by taking a short survey.[/box]