LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 450 million user accounts and counting. It is also one of the most powerful tools for a financial advisor, because not only is this platform an effective way to prospect new clients, but also to build relationships with other finance professionals and stay ahead of industry trends. But with an ever-changing field of financial advising and wealth management, monitoring all of these things could become its own full time job. Filtering out clutter and focusing on the most crucial information is an art of news feed and profile management, and we’re here to guide you through it.

Here are 5 ways to get the most out of LinkedIn for your advisory or wealth management business

1. Check in daily (on weekdays)

First and foremost, if you want to get the most out of LinkedIn, you have to be an active user. That means checking your account once a day during the week, even if it’s just for 5 minutes, this will set you apart from other users by simply showing your activity more on the news feed. In fact, the average LinkedIn user only uses the platform for 17 minutes each month (visa SproutSocial), so it will go a long way to use it once daily. LinkedIn also knows you’re doing it! Active users will often get more offers and be put at the top of other users’ profiles. 

Simply checking your connection requests and your new messages on InMail will help you to build connections and make sure that you do not miss any incoming messages, as they could be from a potential lead or any new opportunity. You can also see other people’s content to comment on it or like it, which will also make you more visible to their contacts. Then, checking your notifications is a quick way to see any work anniversary, new positions from people in your network, birthdays, and more – you won’t always find it necessary to like or comment on these posts, but sometimes it is a good way to stay in touch with people in your network as this gives you something to discuss when you check in. 

2. Complete your profile

Having a complete profile is easily achievable if you follow all of the steps on LinkedIn. The platform also shows you a rating of your profile when you view it. You want to reach an “All-star” rating from LinkedIn – that includes a summary, your industry, current position, education, a professional headshot, and 5 listed skills. The “All-star” level from LinkedIn makes it easier for recruiters and your colleagues to find you, and your professional headshot and your headline will draw visitors to your page to learn more about who you are as a professional.

We recommend that you use a custom LinkedIn URL for your profile, which you can change by going to your profile and clicking on ‘edit public profile & URL’ in the top right-hand corner. Also, use a compelling headline to define how you can help, not just what you do.

3. Like and comment on industry relevant posts

By engaging with content that you care about, LinkedIn will show you content that is similar. Your LinkedIn feed is not only composed of updates from the companies you follow and your connections, but also recommended and sponsored content. Showing your professional connections what you are interested in is best done by showing that you are paying attention to industry relevant posts by liking and commenting on them. This will appear on your connections’ news feeds and they will see what you are up to and by seeing your name often, they’ll remember you as an active member in the community.

Consider following influencers and other companies, as this opens up your network to even more people you have something in common with, and therefore they become a closer connection.

To further understand how LinkedIn controls your news feed, read this.

4. Join groups

Another tool for generating leads, connecting with other professionals in your industry, and building your online brand is the Groups feature on LinkedIn. Groups are a place for professionals with similar interests to share content, answer questions, and build relationships. Groups are used in some cases almost as a forum to speak about news and have discussions. Financial advisors and wealth management firms may find this particularly useful to speak with other companies about investment trends and being a thought leader in groups will help your business gain credibility quickly.

It’s simple and quick to join a group, you just click on the ‘work’ icon on the upper right-hand side of the homepage and then click ‘groups.’ Take advantage of these opportunities and join different groups to see what works best for your business.

5. Publish your own content

Content is the current buzz for lead generation, and some say it is the future as well. Sharing helpful information that is valuable to your clients will entice them to come back to your company for more help in the future. For generating leads, a lot of interest and trust comes from seeing you as a trusted advisor, so content helps you solidify this role in the eyes of your audience. Content from your business can also help to build your brand and show your audience what your company believes in and why you stand out. When sharing content on LinkedIn, some great places to post are the news feed, your company’s page, or in a group that you are apart of.

All of your content should include an image with the post as these posts get up to 200% more engagement than text-only posts (via SproutSocial). Another key component is having a CTA (call to action) in the article so that your readers have a place that they can click through and get more information from the content – this is the perfect time to try to convert these leads to speak with you for an information session or see if they’d like to schedule a meeting with a financial advisor.

For more ways to stay updated on industry trends, check out our blog post about top reads for the teach and future of wealth management.