While over two-thirds of all online adults are using social media in some form, the vast majority of advisors are still not fully leveraging this medium – despite its potential  to strengthen their businesses – according to a new SEI survey.

An SEI poll of 200 advisors found that only 28 per cent use social media to promote their practices and even those who do are only doing so in a “limited” fashion. In half of cases, advisors’ use of social media is limited to LinkedIn, meaning they are completely neglecting to capitalise on the immediacy of Twitter, for instance. Studies consistently show that LinkedIn is advisors’ most common social media platform, making it all the more surprising that 29 per cent of those involved in the SEI survey said they do not have a presence on it at all.

Consultants have previously spoken to this publication about the need for advisors to reach out to clients and prospects via social media, quite simply because that’s where they are – online, networking both socially and professionally, and looking for thought-leadership.

SEI found no over-arching reason that advisors are still reluctant to dive fully into social media. When asked to list their worries, broker dealer concerns came out most frequently with 29 per cent of the votes. Just behind (with 25 per cent) was having to come up with relevant content frequently, and next were the future regulatory environment (21 per cent), and time and costs (15 per cent). Regulatory concerns are of course justified, since the SEC has had social media firmly in its sights for several years now. That said, a number of firms have sprung up to help firms use social media in a compliant manner and monitor and archive their output.

While it is likely that social media take-up among advisors will rise as their concerns recede, it seems that they will also need to think carefully about how to fully leverage platforms: while 65 per cent of advisors said they use or would like to use social media to source new business, only 13 per cent reported having acquired a lead from doing so. Meanwhile, 31 per cent of those polled said they use social media for client engagement.

“I think many advisors want to use social media more, but they’re just not sure how to do it effectively and what resources to dedicate to it,” said Jill Ciccarelli Rapps, partner and financial advisor at Ciccarelli Advisory Services (Naples, Fl).

“We launched our social media program using a phased process that made sense for our business and we are beginning to use it regularly to engage current clients and create new relationships. We still have a lot to learn, but we believe using social media will be an important step in keeping up awareness of the services we provide to our social media community.  Patience and consistency are key and after several months, we are beginning to see results from our efforts.”