Social Media Marketing Tips for Financial Advisors to Grow Their Business

Social media has become an increasingly popular source for financial advice. A 2025 Labor, Income, Finances and Expectations (LIFE) survey published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia found that 28% of Americans who sought financial advice did so on social media platforms.¹ If you’re looking for a way to increase engagement and build deeper connections with prospects and clients, a well-crafted social media strategy can help you stand out in a competitive industry. Which social media marketing tips are most effective? Read on to learn how to build your presence and credibility online.

Are you looking to expand the marketing of your financial advisor practice? Try SmartAsset AMP, a holistic client prospecting and marketing automation platform.

Social Media Marketing Tips for Financial Advisors

If you’re not using social media yet, or you are but not to its full potential, it’s not too late to rethink your marketing plan.

For Robert Gilliland, managing director and senior wealth advisor at Concenture Wealth Management, one of his three approaches to marketing is social media.

“There was a study that came out, that showed that affluent people want to find their trusted advisors via social media. So on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, we’re posting videos, posting our intellectual capital. And those types of things, everyone has access to. So it’s easy, it doesn’t cost a lot, other than time,” Gilliland said of their social media marketing strategy.

To make the most of social media as a tool for your business, here are some marketing tips that may help.

1. Know Your Audience

Social media is such a vast landscape, and new platforms are being created all the time. You could take a scattershot approach and try to target all of them. However, focusing on just one or two channels can be a more effective use of your time and resources.

The Federal Reserve study tracked which social media platforms were most preferred for financial advice. Here’s how they ranked, starting with the most popular:

• YouTube (65.6%)
• Facebook (54.7%)
• Instagram (44.2%)
• TikTok (36.4%)
• X (33.5%)
• Reddit (19.5%)
• LinkedIn (15.3%)

Knowing your audience can help you determine which channels you should be pouring your marketing efforts and budget into. Asking these questions can make the answer easier to pin down:

• Who is my target audience, demographically speaking?
• What financial problems do they need help with?
• Which social media channels do they use most often?
• Are they primarily consuming written or video content?

Asking these kinds of questions can help you determine which social media platforms to use. They can also help you figure out what kind of content you should be creating to get prospects’ attention.

2. Engage With Clients and Prospects

Client engagement is a focal point of any advisory business. If your clients feel a disconnect, they may decide to move on to a different advisor.

Social media is an excellent way to boost engagement in simple ways. For example, you might post a poll or survey about a specific topic or issue. And you might ask your followers to respond. Or you may simply pose an open-ended question to facilitate a discussion. Replying to comments shows that you’re paying attention, not just posting for posting’s sake.

If you struggle to maintain engagement consistently, you may consider outsourcing social media management to a virtual assistant. A VA for financial advisors can review comments and respond to them promptly using your brand voice to keep engagement going.

3. Include a Call to Action

Social media can help you gain a sizable following. But that following may not be worth much if new followers aren’t converting to new clients. You can change that by including a clear call to action (CTA) in your social media posts. For example, say you’re sharing thoughts on a recent study. You can direct followers to read more about the topic on your blog.

Or let’s say you’re interested in expanding your email marketing. You might try a different approach, and include a CTA for followers to sign up for your email list. Or you might use social media to promote a freebie you’re offering on your website, such as a free webinar.

Giving your social media followers an actionable “next step” to take can lead to more opportunities for you to familiarize them with your services.

4. Be Consistent

Consistency is one of the secrets of social media marketing for financial advisors (and other businesses). When you follow a set posting schedule, you can get your followers in the habit of anticipating new updates from you. One way to make this easier is to create a social media calendar.

That applies to email marketing and content marketing, as well. If your social media posts (or email newsletters or blog posts) regularly provide valuable tips or information, your readers are more likely to look forward to them.

5. Create Shareable Content

While your social media content doesn’t necessarily have to go viral to get attention, it does have to be something your current followers are willing to share. When content gets shared on social media, that’s effectively free advertising that can help you to build a larger audience.

What constitutes shareable content? There’s no magic formula but generally, it’s content that’s designed to spark emotion, discussion or debate. In simple terms, it has to be so good that someone reading it just has to share it with friends, family or their own followers on social media.

6. Keep It Simple

When asked what they valued most when seeking advice, 79.7% of Americans who use social media to connect with an advisor said they wanted content that was easy to understand. That means:

• Staying on-topic
• Sticking with simple language and avoiding complex jargon
• Using examples that are relatable to your target audience
• Explaining complex terms if your content requires their use

You don’t need to revert to “text speech” or slang to make your content resonate. And that could actually work against you if it makes you seem disingenuous or cringey to your target audience. Aim for a tone that’s professional but friendly, and stick to the most relevant details to explain concepts in a straightforward way.

7. Follow the Rules

Compliance is a necessary aspect of social media marketing for financial advisors. Regulations from the SEC, FINRA and other governing bodies require advisors to avoid false or misleading claims and maintain proper record-keeping of their online activities. Familiarize yourself with platform-specific advertising guidelines, as well. Consulting with your compliance team or legal counsel can help you navigate these requirements while maintaining an engaging presence.

Following these tips can help you build a social presence and eventually gain more clients, but it can take time. If you’re looking for another way to generate leads and market your business, consider SmartAsset’s Advisor Marketing Platform (AMP). This end-to-end marketing solution gives financial advisors the ability to automate their marketing and outreach efforts, as well as access a lead generation pipeline that can connect them with prospects based on assets and geographic areas. Learn more about SmartAsset AMP today.

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Do Financial Advisors Need Social Media?

No rule says financial advisors need to use social media to market their businesses. Many financial advisors have become successful without utilizing the power of this digital marketing channel. However, the Fed’s research shows that many people who seek financial advice from social media do apply it in their lives. For example, 26.1% report taking action to save for retirement based on advice they receive from social media. If you’re not leveraging social media marketing, you might be missing out on a tool that can help grow your business in the near term and in the future.

Benefits of Social Media Marketing

There’s some definite value to be had in social media as a marketing tool. Here are some of the ways social media can enhance your marketing efforts as an advisor.

• Expand Your reach: Social media makes it possible to get your branding and messaging in front of a wider audience. That means you have access to a sizable pool of prospects who may be looking for the kind of financial services you provide.
• Build trust: Trust is an important component of the client-advisor relationship. Clients want to know that you’re in their corner and that they can rely on you to do what you say you will. Social media gives you a platform for building trust around your business through your messaging.
• Define your brand: In a sea of competition, how you approach branding can be critical to making your advisory business stand out. Social media creates a path for doing just that. Branding encompasses everything from your business logos to the tone you use in your content. A consistent approach to branding across social media channels can help make your business ‘sticky’, in the sense that it becomes clearly recognizable to prospects and current clients.
• Gain insight: To serve clients effectively, you must first understand what they need. Social media can be an effective way to identify what their financial pain points are and what kind of solutions they might be looking for. You can also use social media to monitor industry trends, which can be invaluable in helping you shape your marketing strategy.
• Humanize your services: The financial services industry is built around people. Without clients, your business would cease to exist. Being active on social media is an opportunity to remind your clients that you are, in fact, a person just like them. Social media can allow you to create an ongoing dialogue with your clients, which can help to strengthen your working relationship.

If you would like to find an easier way to get a consistent flow of leads, you might want to try a lead generation service. Add new clients and AUM at your desired pace with SmartAsset’s Advisor Marketing Platform. Sign up for a free demo today.

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How Social Media Marketing Can Lead to New Clients

Social media isn’t just about getting your name out there and building a brand. Your marketing efforts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and other platforms can bring in new clients and new assets to manage. The key, according to the Federal Reserve study, is to be credible in the eyes of followers.

What makes an advisor credible among those who seek financial advice through social media?

• 47.6% of respondents say that demonstrating knowledge is important
• 47.4% say that a financial influencer’s success has an impact

Does that mean you can’t use social media to attract new clients if you’re knowledgeable, but have a smaller or newly established firm? Not at all. You may, however, need to use other marketing platforms to establish your expertise. For example, appearing as a guest on a financial advisor podcast or doing PR outreach can help you underscore your position as an expert.

Bottom Line

Social media marketing for financial advisors isn’t that different from marketing other types of businesses, regarding what it takes to succeed. The better you know your audience, where they spend time online and what type of content they’re most interested in, the more effectively you can fine-tune your social media efforts to meet their needs.

Financial Advisor Marketing Tips

• Marketing can take up valuable time and the time spent must produce your desired return on investment. This might be doable on your own with all of your other responsibilities. SmartAsset AMP (Advisor Marketing Platform) is a holistic marketing service financial advisors can use for client lead generation and automated marketing. Sign up for a free demo to explore how SmartAsset AMP can help you expand your practice’s marketing operation. Get started today.
• More people are using internet searches to connect with financial advisors. If you’re not making a name for yourself online, via a website, blog or social media, you could be missing a chance to connect with people who can benefit from your services. As you work on expanding your digital presence, consider using a service that can help you connect with prospective clients directly.

Photo credit: ©iStock.com/izusek, ©iStock.com/Jacob Wackerhausen, ©iStock.com/Olga Serba

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