Alternative investments in social media: Assessing the risks of trying a new network
You're already a pro on Twitter and LinkedIn, so what's wrong with going outside your comfort zone?
As a financial adviser, you need to be well-versed in alternative investments. You have to be able to assess risk and explain to clients that there’s more to your portfolio than stocks, cash and bonds. You need to be able to clearly communicate when it makes sense to play it safe and when it makes sense to try something different.
As a social media manager, I need to be well-versed in a different type of alternative investment: the social media kind. In my world, stocks are Twitter, cash is Facebook and bonds are LinkedIn. That is, they’re familiar and safe. But once you start talking about “alternative platforms” such as Instagram and Snapchat and Reddit — think private equity, hedge funds and commodities — people get nervous.
And rightfully so. Plus, you have to take into consideration the rules and regulations regarding social media at your firm, and you have to find the time to learn/navigate a new network. But the bottom line is the same in investing and social media: Sometimes you have to go outside of your comfort zone to find what works best. And it’s my job to assure them or talk them down.
Have I convinced you to at least consider thinking outside the box? Good. Here’s a quick guide to getting started on what I like to call, “social media alts.”
• Start slow. If you aren’t quite ready to take off the training wheels, Twitter just launched bookmarking, which is a private way to save tweets and read content later. Until now, the only way to do this without leaving Twitter was to click ‘like’ (the heart symbol) on a tweet, but that’s public. Instagram (see below) offers a similar bookmarking feature for photos.
• Ask people. I often ask my colleagues inside and outside of the office what they are using and not using. I find all kinds of new things this way, and I also find out when I’m the only one still giving it my all.
• Choose wisely. Just as you wouldn’t blindfold a client and ask him or her to throw a dart at a chart of investments on the wall, (that’s frowned upon) you shouldn’t pick a social media network because it sounds good. If you enjoy photography and don’t use Instagram, you should be on Instagram. If you enjoy livestreaming and talking about things you’re passionate about, you could try Periscope. If you like deep information about a topic and have a thick skin for reading comments, then Reddit might be for you.
• Is there a platform that would help you do your job better? Have you considered dabbling in podcasting? The equipment won’t cost too much and a SoundCloud account is free.
• Pinterest can do everything from helping you organize your recipes to letting you pin up your favorite books and articles. Think of it as a super version of Twitter bookmarks. Pinterest is an example of a platform that can be useful at home and at the office.
• Before you get mad at me for even suggesting this, you should know that people are very intrigued by Snapchat – even people who are not 15. I’m convinced that all the buzz naturally piques their interest. Personally, I don’t think there’s a huge audience on Snapchat for financial advisers, but I’ve been wrong before: Once. Back in 1997. It was a partly cloudy day.
If you are feeling overwhelmed or unsure, remember this: Even if you choose and end up being wrong, you can try again.
I’ll close with this: I’ve been on Facebook and LinkedIn since 2006, Twitter since 2007, Instagram since 2010, Vero since 2018 and probably 30 other networks along the way. I’m guessing you haven’t heard of Vero, but if this kind of stuff fascinates you as much as it does me, I hope you’ll follow me so we can learn together. While I can’t list every platform, I can tell you that I strive to be ‘scottkleinberg’ on everything, so I’m easy to find.
If you have a social media question or an idea for a column topic, or if you have thoughts about this column or any previous ones, please let me know. Tweet them to me with the hashtag #socialmediaadviser or email me at [email protected].
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