Generally, when speaking of social media for the purpose of promoting its benefits, I tend to focus on the advantages it provides to those in the financial services field – attracting new customers, optimizing customer service, etc.; however, a fascinating study grabbed my attention recently. The study described that 9 out of 10 “high–rolling” investors are currently making use of social media outlets to broaden their audience. I cannot see a more adequate way to convince financial professionals of social media’s benefit than to make them aware of the excellent chance that their customers are also tapping into it.

Let’s take a look at the study itself. Cognitive research, along with Linked In, polled “successful” to “very-successful” investors with over $100,000 in assets to invest as to their utilization and perception of social media. The results are pretty fascinating:

• -9 out of 10 engage in some incarnation of social media.
• -A mere 4% consult their financial advisers on social media yet more than half described that they would if they knew their financial adviser was using it.
• -Every month, 67% are visiting Linked In and Facebook.
• -Nearly half of the investors that utilize social media do not make use of a financial adviser.
• -20% view a financial services company as innovative and cutting-edge if they make use of social advertising.

From the perspective of providing clients what they want, these types of statistics should encourage financial service professionals to take a second look at their own use of social media; however, simply being aware of the fact that their clients are tapping into it is not sufficient – data must be collected in regard to the media their clients prefer along with more information on exactly what they wish to get out of it.

If there is ever a question, it never hurts to simply ask. A good starting point for financial service professionals is to poll their clients as to find out how to more efficiently supply data to them; data provided punctually and according to the client’s unique needs can easily improve this business relationship. Clients will be given the impression that their opinions matter as well as the perception that the company is improving its deliverables; as a result, financial service professionals will be able to collect quality data to push forward their customer service improvement efforts.

If a survey is out of the question, financial service professionals can simply bring the subject of social media into their quarterly reviews with clients. Using this method, questions can be asked in an informal manner and can easily be just as effective as a survey. For best use, a style should be chosen that places the financial company and its clients most at ease.