Facebook for Financial Advisors: A Social Media Marketing How-To Guide

With 70% of U.S. adults using Facebook, a platform is an essential tool for financial advisors looking to reach new potential clients. If you’re just starting to build a social media strategy, this is a great platform to start with because you don’t have to post as frequently as you do on Twitter and you don’t have to put as much time and effort into creating engaging images and videos as you do with more visual platforms like TikTok or Instagram. With that said, it still takes planning and careful execution to get the most out of it. So here’s a quick guide to leveraging Facebook for financial advisors. 

Who Is the Target Audience on Facebook for Financial Advisors?

The latest statistics show that over 35% of Facebook users are 45 or older, with another 18% falling between 35 and 44. So this platform is a great place for financial advisors to reach the audiences most likely to be interested in financial services. But it’s especially useful for advisors who specialize in mid-to-late career clients or clients nearing or entering retirement. 

A Pew Research Center survey also found that 73% of college-educated Americans use Facebook (compared to 64% of adults with a High School education or less). Meanwhile, 70% of adults earning $75,000 or more per year are on Facebook. 

As a financial advisor, keep these demographics in mind when you’re creating your Facebook content. Think about the kind of financial concerns or goals these demographics are likely to have and which of your services would most likely appeal to them.

What Should You Post About?

Keep in mind that social media, in general, is very much an early-stage marketing tool, meaning you don’t want to post any hard sales pitches here. While you can talk about your services, you should think of Facebook as more like a digital networking event. You’re getting your name out there. You’re showcasing your expertise. You’re building connections.

Like a networking event, some of those connections might turn into prospective clients but you need to be patient to avoid coming off as pushy or desperate. 

For the time being, focus your Facebook content on being helpful and insightful. If you’re not sure what your brand will be yet, a safe bet is to be an educational resource. Explain financial terms. Break down complex issues. Share some general best practices when it comes to wealth management. Talk about past examples of issues you helped a client through that might be relatable or relevant to others (without including personally identifiable details).

As a financial advisor, all your posts do need to be compliant with FINRA’s fair and balanced communication rules. But you can still share general tips and insights as long as you steer clear of recommending specific investments or financial products—and avoid making predictions or projections.

How to Set the Optimal Posting Schedule

Many social media marketers recommend posting to Facebook once daily, but you can still see results posting as little as three times per week. That’s what makes this platform so convenient for financial advisors with busy schedules. Not only do you only need to schedule one post per day, but posting more frequently than that could end up decreasing your engagement by as much as 50%. Less is definitely more with Facebook.

To get the most out of that single daily post, schedule it for sometime between 8:00 A.M. and 12:00 P.M., when the site is most active. You can use free or low-cost automation tools to schedule your posts ahead of time so that you don’t need to carve time out of each day to go on Facebook.

However, one post per day isn’t the only thing you should be doing on Facebook. Also factor in commenting on other posts, responding to messages, following other users, and other forms of engagement. While those tasks aren’t as easy to automate, you can delegate them to a staff member as long as that person clearly understands the FINRA rules and you still make time to review their comments and posts for compliance. 

How to Grow an Audience on Facebook When You’re Starting from Scratch

One of the biggest challenges on any social media platform is building an audience for a brand-new account with no followers. Some audience-building strategies are the same across all platforms: Follow relevant accounts in your industry and engage with the current thought leaders by commenting or sharing their posts. 

However, these two tactics alone won’t be enough on a platform with an organic reach of just 5.2% — the amount of people who will see the posts you publish for free, without paying for promotion. So, to boost your engagement and get your content in front of more people, add the following tools to your general audience-building strategy:

• Join Facebook groups. 1.8 billion people worldwide use Facebook Groups each month. Look for groups focused on financial topics where you can answer questions posted in the group and share (FINRA compliant) tips and information. This will get you in front of users who don’t follow you yet but might be interested after seeing your helpful comments and posts. 
• Post Live Stories. Live content is often seen as more authentic than pre-recorded or pre-written posts so it’s a good way to establish trust with your new audience. But don’t worry, you don’t have to go live often. A weekly 10-20-minute live story where you talk about a current relevant financial topic or do a Q&A with viewers would be great. However, if you only have time to do that once a month, that’s fine, too. 
• Use Facebook Ads. One of the areas where Facebook excels is targeted advertising. Organic reach might be scarce by paid reach on the platform is among the best. When you create a new campaign in the Ad Manager, you can choose your objective from options including brand awareness, website traffic, and lead generation among others. Then, you set your budget and schedule. You can also choose your target demographics (including age, location, gender, and language). These features make ads useful for getting your content in front of the exact audience you’re trying to engage with.