Facebook Shares Ad Tips for Advisers

Younger adults are increasingly inquiring about financial wellness strategies, according to findings from Facebook.

Ken Johnson, industry manager of financial services at the social media conglomerate, noted during a recent webinar hosted by Broadridge Financial Services that more young adults are interacting with finance-related topics.

According to Johnson, finance subjects such as investing, planning for taxes and debt management are gaining five times more interest than the average topic. “People are talking about this content more than golf, soccer and hockey combined,” he said.

Seventy-two percent of people in the 18 to 34 age demographic want a master class in financial planning while 68% would prefer a “back-to-basics” approach that includes online communications. Fifty-two percent are interested in learning about financial strategies through personal, short stories, according to the research.

Johnson offered tips for financial advisers looking to market their services on online platforms, especially on Facebook. First, advisers must understand their competition—it’s not just other advising and consulting firms. “You’re competing against personal family members,” he said. “It takes more to stand out in that feed than simply having an organic presence.”

Advising firms will have to generate demand and find ways for potential clients to discover them as a business. For firms that are unsure of where to get started, there are resources on how to enhance ad spaces. Facebook Blueprint, for example, offers free online courses on selecting the right ad objective while targeting select audiences. Other guides and resources, including Google Ads, have risen in popularity as more clients are willing to engage online.

Those advisers who don’t have the time to launch a marketing platform might want to connect with marketing professionals who specialize in targeted ads and will post regular video or status updates, thought leadership pieces, etc., Johnson added.

Once advisers decide how they want to use online and mobile resources, they can begin to build creative content. One of the most impactful advertising formats on Facebook is carousel ads, Johnson said. These posts combine multiple images, videos and sources into one ad that consumers can swipe through. The idea behind carousels is to reduce friction while maximizing screen time. “They provide snippet content in an era where there is an influx in overwhelming information,” Johnson explained.

Modern video formats, including Facebook Watch, Facebook Stories and live streams, are more engaging than traditional ads since they use sound and motion. For example, hosting a live stream on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, etc., connects people because it mimics face-to-face contact with the ability to ask and share questions. This is incredibly crucial during a pandemic when in-person engagement is scarce, Johnson added.

As an added bonus, after they host a live event on Facebook—which the platform calls Facebook Live—advisers can create “post-Live seminars,” where participants and clients can connect with an expert, Johnson said.

When advisers have video promotions, they can shorten or extend their advertisements depending on which platform they’re using. While Facebook Live or other live streams allow advisers to engage with audiences for a couple minutes or a couple hours, if they use stories (offered on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), they have just seconds to get their message across.

“Take longer content and break it down to bite-sized chunks,” Johnson recommended. “Being able to digest it down to 15 seconds worth of content is most effective for you and your messaging.” 

Johnson also suggested advisers consider using lists (i.e., saving for retirement, back to school spending, debt management), polling advertisements and “playable ads,” which provide interactive previews and can make complex topics, including finance, more approachable.