Financial advisers and planners are waking up to the power of LinkedIn.

We’ve previously written about the six tasks advisers and planners should do on LinkedIn each day and how, if you do them consistently, you’ll create new enquiries.

Tasks #1 and #6 on the list are the most important. The first task on our list explains the importance of posting regularly. However, we know that many advisers and planners struggle for inspiration. Others overthink things, worrying that they will “get it wrong” or their posts won’t add value to their network.

The result is that nothing gets posted which means many advisers and planners aren’t getting the best out of LinkedIn.

We’re here to help though. Here are 12 ideas to help you create engaging LinkedIn posts.

1. Showcase your clients’ big successes

We all know that financial planning changes lives. So:

• If you’ve helped a client retire early, talk about it on LinkedIn
• If you’ve helped a client work through a divorce or separation, talk about it on LinkedIn
• If you’ve helped a client sell their business and move on to the next phase of their life, you’ve got it…talk about it on LinkedIn.

There are a couple of ways to celebrate your client’s successes. You could tell their story yourself, explaining their situation, how you’ve helped and how things have changed for them.

That’s okay but showing is better than telling. Therefore, a short video, where your client tells their story and explains the benefits of working with you, would be even more powerful.

2. Talk about your meetings

Big client successes should be celebrated, but they don’t happen every day. Your client meetings, though, happen far more frequently.

So, with the caveat that you shouldn’t share confidential information, draw on your client meetings for inspiration. The things you say in these meetings, and the wisdom you share, will benefit your clients and people like them you’re connected to on LinkedIn.

For this to work, you need to be alert in meetings for little snippets which you can share. When they occur, write them down so you can refer to them later when the time comes to update LinkedIn.

3. Talk about your day-to-day work

Much of your time will be spent working quietly behind the scenes for the benefit of your clients. This time can be a source of inspiration for your posts. For example, if you’ve spent the day:

• Working on a cashflow forecast for your client, explain what it is and how it benefits your clients
• Developing a strategy to reduce your client’s Inheritance Tax (IHT) liability, explain how IHT works, who it affects, and how you’re helping your client reduce their liability
• Working on a Lifetime Allowance calculation, explain how it works, who it affects and how your work has benefited your client.

Showing your processes and demonstrating your knowledge by explaining solutions adds value and positions you as a go-to expert.

4. Promote your successes

A constant stream of humblebrags won’t endear you to your connections. However, your network will be interested in occasional posts which celebrate your (or your business’) successes.

You could post about:

• Exams that you or your team have passed
• Awards won
• New accreditations you’ve achieved, for example becoming Chartered
• Being a VouchedFor Top Rated adviser
• Press coverage.

Posts about your successes should always be accompanied by a personalised image (or video) of you or the relevant member of your team.

There’s no need to be too shy. Talking about your successes (in moderation) will engage your network. They will like, share and (most importantly) comment on it, which means it’ll get seen by a wider audience.

5. Use the personal finance press for inspiration

The personal finance press should be a constant source of inspiration.

• Share articles that might be useful to your connections.
• Write posts that provide a different perspective to an individual article.
• Use the comments at the end of the article and use them as a source of myths and misconceptions which you can debunk (there are so many comments, this alone should give you plenty to post about!)

You could write these types of posts in the normal way, but they also work brilliantly as short videos. Use a tool such as Loom to record your video, add a call to action at the end (perhaps a link to your online diary so someone can book an initial meeting) and post it to LinkedIn.

6. React to news

The news is full of stories about money that will affect the lives of your LinkedIn network.

By explaining what’s happened and how it affects people’s lives you will quickly position yourself as a knowledgeable and go-to expert.

7. Talk about your business

Existing clients, professional connections and your wider LinkedIn network will be interested in things that are going on with your business. For example:

• New team members
• Big life events such as births, marriages, and retirements
• New services that you’re offering
• Your working arrangements during lockdown.

Again, use pictures to increase engagement.

8. Explain financial concepts

Our profession uses far too much jargon and reduces too many things to acronyms which only serve to confuse the consumer. So, use your posts to explain them to your network:

• ESG: What is it and why is it important?
• LTA: How does it work, why might it cost your clients money, and what can they do about it?
• SPA: Why is it changing and what action do people need to take?

These types of post will position you as a straight-talker people can easily understand, as well as someone who is happy to share their knowledge.

9. Share social proof

We believe that social proof should be collected in three ways:

1. Client surveys
2. Online ratings and reviews (Google and VouchedFor being our preferred platforms)
3. Client videos.

Of course, to get real value from social proof it needs to be shared with others. LinkedIn is perfect for that. So:

• Publish your client survey results: Write a blog to reveal the results, develop animations, and produce graphics that communicate answers to specific questions
• Online ratings and reviews: Every time you get a new review, share it on LinkedIn
• Client videos: Share videos, highlighting the key points in your post.

10. Links to your blogs

It’s impossible to market your business without content.

A successful content marketing strategy requires two things: the production and distribution of content.

For most businesses content means blogs. LinkedIn is the perfect place to promote these by writing posts and linking to them. Remember to add an image and always put your link to the blog in the comments to promote greater engagement.

You’ve got a quick win here too if you write “listicle” style blogs (“10 ways to…” or “10 things you need to know about…”) as that’s effectively a series of 10 LinkedIn posts over 10 days. Break your blog up into 10 individual posts and link to the whole article so your connections can discover the other nine.

11. Post job adverts

If your business is hiring new people, post those adverts to LinkedIn.

It shows you’re growing, and it might cut your recruitment costs as well.

12. Share other people’s content

The chances are that you will regularly see content elsewhere that could be useful to your audience. So, share it. Doing this shows you’re one of the good guys who want to add value to your network even if it’s with other people’s content.

Furthermore, sharing content puts you on the radar of the person who originally posted it. Let’s say you want to develop more professional connections:

1. Find people you want to work with using the LinkedIn search facility
2. Send a suitably worded connection request
3. Share their content (comment on it too).

Making yourself useful to potential professional connections increases the chances of them reacting positively when you reach out to them with an email or call to request a meeting.

Print the list and get into good habits

Hopefully, this blog gives you some inspiration and will help you beat writer’s block or gain the confidence you need to post regularly. Print it out and place it on your desk to refer to regularly.

We also recommend buying Austin Kleon’s Show Your Work. It’s a fantastic resource and will further inspire you to post regularly. Keep the book handy (it’s got a permanent home on my desk) and refer to it regularly.

If you’ve got any thoughts or comments on this week’s blog or would like help with your social media strategy, don’t hesitate to get in touch by emailing hi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or calling 0115 8965 300.