Top 5 Broker-Dealers That Use Social Media

Hats off to the winners! http://bit.ly/m8LKzs

Based on a list by Investment News In Tech of 52 broker-dealers that claim to use social media, I’ve selected five top innovators.  They are doing it right.

The 53 early-adopters of social media are a subset of Investment News In Tech’s complete list of 111 top U.S. broker-dealers. That means 58 or 52% still do not use social media at all. (Come on folks, it’s the 21^st Century!)

Of the firms that do, use varies widely. In fact, despite being listed as using social media, 38 had no indication on their websites that they supported social media in any way.  Now I admit that just because a broker-dealer does not have social media on its website does not necessarily mean they don’t allow its use by affiliated advisors. For example, LPL has no mention of social media on its webpage. Yet Jeff Rose, an advisor who uses social media to the max, has LPL as his broker-dealer.

All right.  Don’t get me started. Let’s talk about the winners.

The awards go to:

- Prospera Financial Services Inc., Dallas, Texas.  The clear leader. Excellent use of LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. The website is beautiful—nothing cookie cutter here. The “Like A Cable Channel” white paper on the use of social media should be required reading for the rest of the industry.

-ING Financial Partners, the U.S. unit of the Dutch multinational conglomerate. Their Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube channels are used to promote ING Runner’s Nation, a nonprofit that supports  runners everywhere. Lots of great interactive chatter about running and, of course, sponsored ING races. Great way to build community.

-Securian Financial Group of St. Paul, Minnesota. Very good Facebook page, with a big, hard-to-miss button at the  bottom. Some videos are even posted. Started April 26, 2010, the firm’s Facebook posts focus on community involvement, customer surveys and awards.

- Northwestern Mutual of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sure this company is big, but it does social media right. Scroll down to see their social channels. 12,997 people like their Facebook page. They also use Twitter and YouTube.  Their Facebook posts even have comments – lots of them. No wonder this is one of the most admired companies.

-  Princor Financial Services Corporation, a unit of the Principal Financial Group of Des Moines, Iowa.  You have to hunt for the social media buttons on the Principal homely home page, where they are tiny and almost hidden at the bottom of the page. But they are there:  icons for Facebook and Twitter.  The use of Twitter began on August 17, 2010.

As for the others, I won’t name names. One has a president’s blog with one entry in 2011, showing no real commitment. There’s also a YouTube channel, but its use is sporadic. A couple of others have YouTube channels, with most videos from last year. Several have Facebook and Twitter icons, but when you click on them, you are presented with the opportunity to share their static home page on your Facebook or Twitter account. Would you want to do that? I wouldn’t.

Broker-dealers are late to the social media party. Generally, they don’t understand the benefits of social media and the revolution in communications that it brings. Regulators scare them. But they’re coming around, slowly, I can see the herd coming ‘round the bend.