Meet the Social Media Adviser

I'm going to help you be great on social media, so you can use that knowledge to find new clients and/or communicate with the ones you have.

Welcome to the first installment of Social Media Adviser, my new column dedicated to social media tips, tricks and instruction for financial advisers.

Before starting at InvestmentNews in November, I worked for many years as the social media manager at the Chicago Tribune where I wrote a nationally and internationally syndicated social media column called So Social. My goal in nearly five years of writing the column was to make social media fun and easy to navigate.

That’s exactly what I have planned for Social Media Adviser, except this time I’ll be focused on what’s important and relevant to you, the financial adviser.

I have 21 years of journalism experience as a reporter, designer and editor at newspapers small, medium and large, and switched gears into full time social media engagement and management in 2008. Since then, I’ve built a social media following of nearly 14,000 on Twitter, 23,000 on Facebook and thousands more on Instagram, Pinterest, Google Plus and Flipboard. I’ve won Associated Press awards for my use of social media and am excited to share what I’ve learned along the way with you.

Social media takes hard work, but it seems less daunting when you enjoy doing it. I’ve helped people see it through those glasses and I believe I can do the same for you.

I’m going to help you be great on social media, so you can use that knowledge to find new clients and/or communicate with the ones you have. If your company has specific rules for social media use, make sure you comply with them first. And if you aren’t sure what the rules are, this might be an excellent time to find out.

My inspiration to write this column starts with my No. 1 social media tip, which hasn’t changed since my first tweet: Always be social.

Sounds like a given, right? Except you’d be surprised how many people think they can send out a tweet once a month or update their LinkedIn profile twice a year and successfully cultivate an audience. Ok, if you’re a celebrity or singer then maybe, but I’m going to assume none of you have time to moonlight. But you do have the time to always be social.

So what kinds of topics will we cover in Social Media Adviser? (Spoiler alert: A little bit of everything and the things that interest you most, so I’ll be looking to you for suggestions. More on that below.)

• Did you know you can use Twitter analytics to keep track of how well your tweets are resonating with your audience, and that it’s absolutely free?

• How to create and use Twitter lists – and why you should.

• Should you accept every LinkedIn connection (probably not) even if you are really interested in finding new clients and making new friends? (Still probably not.)

• 15 minutes to better social media (one of my favorites!)

Those are just my ideas. If you have a social media question or an idea for a column topic, please let me know. Tweet them to me with the hashtag #socialmediaadviser or email me at [email protected].

And remember to follow me on Twitter at @scottkleinberg. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn.

Thanks for reading Social Media Adviser.