The Socially Savvy Advisor + Website: Compliant Social Media for the Financial Industry

Chapter 26How Can We Use Social Media to Promote Our Events?

Consider the bad old days of public relations. If your financial firm had news of an event or an important hire, it would prepare a press release that it would e-mail or snail-mail to area newspaper editors and other local media. You would cross your fingers and hope the editors would publish it and provide you with the attention you craved from their audiences.

Some firms are still doing publicity that way, but the world is changing rapidly. The good news is that social media is providing alternatives to old-school PR practices in ways that help drive brand awareness and amplify your core message—as well as introduce you to new investor clients. You don't have to rely on gatekeepers to promote your message about your next event or a new service offering at your practice.

Create a Shareable Story

The first step in the process is crafting your story. What you say about your news, and the way you say it, will bear heavily on the success you have in trying to share it. It must be written in a way that makes people want to read it.

So consider the Four Cs as you sit down to write your story:

1. Clarity. Every story has a point. Every good story makes the point clear and doesn't force the readers to scratch their heads to understand what you're getting at.
2. Compelling. Why should people care about this? Give them a reason to take an interest in what you're saying. What's in it for them? How would they benefit from knowing ...