3 ways advisers can build their digital influence

If you want to find and attract your ideal prospects into your business today, it’s time to seriously consider going digital with your marketing and business development efforts.
Going digital is not only good business, but I believe it’s the future of client relationship professions. Being accessible online is no longer just an option as a financial adviser, it has become an expectation. Just as delivering a quality product, fair pricing, and respectable performance is expected of you from your clients, providing a digital experience is now just as important.
To market your practice effectively in the digital age requires a bit of a different mindset than traditional offline marketing. It’s not a one-time campaign or event. The most effective digital marketing is actually a continuous process of building your digital influence.
Digital influence is the art of showcasing your authority as a credible, knowledgeable adviser online while also presenting the authentic and somewhat personal side of who you are as a human being.
When you focus on growing your digital influence rather than overt marketing tactics, good things will begin to happen. You will attract the right people and opportunities into your practice.
Here are three building blocks for increase your digital influence:
1) Digitize your thought leadership
You have ideas, insights, and opinions, don’t you? Your clients and prospects have financial questions and challenges, don’t they?
Put your thought leadership into digital formats (text, video, audio) where it can be discovered, consumed and shared by your existing and ideal clients 24/7 in the places where they spend time online such as social networks, search engines and email inboxes.
We follow and work with influencers because of who they are and how they think. If your personal perspective never gets shared beyond your office or with your clients, no one will know about it. You have to get out there where the people are and start positioning yourself as a leader and a digital influencer.
2) Develop your social media profiles
Fully develop and update your social media profiles on sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
These are digital assets that will serve as positive gateways to your brand. Don’t neglect them! Improve and update your social media profiles frequently.
Share your thought leadership content to your social media profiles to create engagement and actively expand your visibility.
3) Build a smart digital network
Start building a smart digital network by replicating your offline connections online. Seed your social networks with the people you already know. Most of the major social networks allow you to upload your existing contacts and connect with them.
When you follow this network-building protocol, you help social networks get smarter about you. Social media platforms will give you suggested connections based on your existing network!
When you blend your digitized thought leadership with a ubiquitous social media presence and a smart digital network, you will have a solid foundation in place to begin growing your digital influence and effectively marketing your practice today.

Stephanie Sammons is the founder and CEO of Wired Advisor.