Should I Use My Business or Personal Facebook Page?

Written By : Clifford Blodgett

You’ve made the smart decision to get on board with social media, you’ve read all of the advice you can get your hands on, and you’re ready to embark on a marketing strategy to grow your financial advisory practice. But for many financial advisors, one crucial question still remains to be answered:

Should I use my personal Facebook account, or create a new one to represent the business?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a simple answer to that question. There are pros and cons to using either account. But we’ll break down the benefits of each option here, so that you can make the choice that is right for your business.

First of all, remember the number one rule of social media marketing: Provide value to your target audience. Social media gives control to its users, meaning they can easily click the “hide posts from this person” button and you’re gone from their news feed forever. So make sure your posts offer something of value to your readers.

Usually we do this in the form of blogging, videos, or other content that your readers will like and share. For example, you could create blogs on topics like Social Security, saving for retirement, news from Wall Street, and other financial topics that would interest your target demographic.

Once you know what you’re going to share, now where are you going to post it?

Ask yourself this crucial question: Are you the face of your business, or do you prefer to promote your practice as a “brand”? It’s appropriate to use your personal Facebook page if you want to present your practice as an individually-operated business. But if you prefer the name of your business to become a household name, create a separate business page.

Use your personal account if… You have already established a “warm market” of family, friends, and associates who already view you as an expert in the retirement planning field. Your personal Facebook page is a great place to post advice, tips, links to your blog, or even a research article that supports what you do.

But keep in mind that everything you post should provide value to your network of contacts. Ideally, you want to establish yourself as their knowledgeable friend who they can contact with questions about financial planning. You do NOT want to become “that guy who is always selling stuff”. This will annoy your audience and probably have a detrimental effect on your marketing strategy.

Create a Facebook business page if… You’re looking to create or grow an audience. Facebook actually allows you the option of “boosting” your posts. This means you can create eye-catching content and then make sure a certain number of new people will see it. For a small fee (as low as ten dollars), you can designate a target demographic by factors such as age, sex, or geographic location, and Facebook will display your post in those users’ news feeds.

If you choose to go this route, keep in mind that repeated efforts are usually required to build your audience. Make sure that when your targets arrive at your website, you provide them with some incentive to “like” your Facebook page, contact you, or provide their contact information. Then, be prepared to repeat this process several times in order to reach more prospects. Eventually you will build an audience comprised of not just random Facebook users, but the ones you specifically selected to view your content.

Keep in mind that both methods require time, hard work, and patience before you see results. But over time, Facebook can lead you to an infinite number of contacts who need and value your services. This is an opportunity you wouldn’t have had twenty or even ten years ago – so take advantage of the enormous growth potential offered by Facebook.

Filed under: Financial Advisor Marketing, Social Media for Financial Advisors