"Raymond James Gets Social Media Right - Josh Brown (WSJ) Gets it Wrong!

Okay - enough! I’ve been holding onto my frustration for a week now - that’s long enough right?

One week ago today, I came across “Raymond James Gets Social Media Right”, a blog/article by Josh Brown on WSJ.com (The Wall Street Journal). I’ve been stewing over it ever since but wanted to be sure that I gave myself some time to process it and to calm down before sending a response out onto the internet and into eternity.

In the article, which eventually focus’s on Raymond James’ plan for entry into social media, Josh writes:

“And there is no more ridiculous creature on God’s green earth than the financial social media expert - if you see one coming, seriously, preempt them by hurling yourself in front of a crosstown bus at your earliest convenience - you’ll thank me later.”

It’s true, like “financial planner” and “journalist” anybody can call themselves a “social media expert” or even worse a “social media guru” (hate that term). We do seem to be suffering through a bit of a “social media expert” bubble, much like the “realtor or real estate expert” bubble we went through in 2007.

However, just as it wouldn’t be right to throw every financial planner and adviser under the buss because of the sins of the few these past years, or to quit reading the news because a few “journalists” get it wrong from time to time; it is equally irresponsible to bundle all financial services marketing consultants as “ridiculous creatures”.

Although I too am frustrated by all of the social media “experts”, “gurus” and “frauds” in the Internet Marketing space, my experience and interactions in the Financial marketing arena has been just the opposite. I am not sure whether it is because of the nature of the service that financial advisers offer, their reluctance or trepidation in entering into the social media marketing sphere, or simply the concerns over the compliance obstacles, but I find that the “gurus” are vastly underrepresented in our space. The people that I have met or worked with in this space are very professional, knowledgeable, and passionate about marketing and helping financial firms navigate the issues and obstacles that are preventing them from taking advantage of inbound marketing.

In his article, Josh interviews April Rudin of The Rudin Group and points to her as an example of a leader in our space. April is a friend of mine and is well deserving of the praise.

I have also had the great opportunity to work with and learn from Marie Swift of Impact Communications. Marie is a highly respected and sought after marketing expert and national speaker.

Victor Gaxiola of Red 7 Marketing has become a friend over the past year. I know him to be very passionate and knowledgeable about internet marketing in the financial services arena.

Additionally, although I do not personally know them, I also have great respect for the work of Stephanie Sammons of Wired Advisor (you can see her well thought out comments on several of Josh’s blogs - thanks Stephanie!), Amy McIlwain of Financial Social Media, and Pat Ellen of Rock the Boat Marketing, just to name a few.

Finally, although we are smaller than some of the companies that I have mentioned above, I would also include Echelon Business Solutions on this list. We work very hard with and for our partners to learn about their business and goals, apply the most appropriate and effective marketing strategies that are available to them, and follow up with ongoing measurement and support.

On an aside, I agree with both Josh and April on Raymond James’ plans for entry into social media, at least as it is on paper. They are combining training, appropriate oversight, pre-approved content, and the option for advisers to freely interact on social media once they are comfortable. I think that we’ll see more and more of this model of adoption in the next year or two.

Ahhh - that feels better - thanks for reading. Please feel free to agree, disagree, or vent in the comment space below. I look forward to hearing from you.