The private banking and wealth management sector in Europe and elsewhere is turning to outside consultants to manage professional social media accounts, as well as to improve chances of finding a job, hiring staff or promoting campaigns. And the pandemic has ratcheted up demand.

Tech-savvy experts are earning a good living by advising wealth management industry figures on how to make the biggest splash with their online social media networking, a demand that has surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The art of making a Linkedin presence more potent is now a business line in its own right. Geneva-based Melanie Goodman, who runs Trevisan Social Media Marketing, creates strategies for firms, such as to how to build more leads via Linkedin and increase personal and corporate visibility. She’s getting plenty of wealth management business. 

"A lot of people are rebranding their images...it is also that they now have more time on their hands. They don't have other options to get their names out there," Goodman told this news service. "Because there are no in-person events and conferences, it has forced people to find clients [in different ways]...There are a lot of people looking for new positions."

There are not many other specialists focused on helping wealth managers improve their profiles, although this area is much larger in the US, she said.

Linkedin is powerful in the professional world in which wealth management sits. For example, four out of five people profiled on Linkedin are responsible for making business decisions and 90 million senior-level influencers and 63 million decision makers use the platform. Some 92 per cent of Fortune 500 companies also use the platform. Hubspot, the US firm which makes and develops software products, has found that LinkedIn is 277 per cent more effective at generating leads than Facebook and Twitter. Engagement via Linkedin has risen by about 50 per cent per annum. And perhaps the killer fact that Goodman puts across is that Linkedin is responsible for about 80 per cent of all B2B leads developed through social media. A report in 2019 by fmg suite, quoting a study by Putnam Investments, said that around 80 per cent of advisors in the US found new clients from using social media sites and, on average, those new client pickups have added nearly $4.9 million in assets. 

In other words, making the most of Linkedin isn’t a fad, it’s a vital skill that needs to be right. But many people, even supposedly more technically fluent younger people, need to be given a helping hand.

Goodman not only advises clients about their Linkedin profiles, but she also manages Linkedin pages for companies, to maximise their effectiveness, their ability to draw traffic and engage clients. 

Her "profile makeovers" for clients can include taking better personal portraits - avoiding any social faux pas - their descriptions of themselves, how page settings are managed, and filters set to weed out time wasters. Goodman charges a monthly fixed fee for its business. 

The rise of Goodman’s business highlights how social media platforms - particularly ones that are curated and for professionals - are a potent business tool. Consider, for example, how the job of executive search and job finding has been revolutionised by them (in some cases, disintermediated). 

And the pandemic has only accelerated the trend. "How people think has changed a lot over the past few weeks,” Goodman said. 

"There will be a percentage of people who will always want in-person meetings...for managers all this will change how they do business. Some people have not been keen on social media in the past as they see it as a bit brash,” she said. 

Goodman’s business is growing. “At the same time, Trevisan’s client base has expanded from mainly UK and Switzerland to the UAE, Monaco and the US - and it includes some household names in the financial services sector.”

Her business is some way from where she started out after graduating with a BA Hons degree in economics and a postgraduate degree in law. Goodman qualified into the commercial property team at Allen & Overy LLP in 2001, practising with the firm as a real estate lawyer until 2004. She spent a subsequent period with legal firm Darlingtons before moving to Switzerland. In the following years she worked in business development and social media marketing for international law firm Arias Fabrega & Fabrega, boosting the company’s online presence. Launching Trevisan Marketing was a logical next step. 

Goodman is not alone in advising people on how to show their “best side” online, although these approaches come in different forms. Earlier this year this news service spoke to the reputation management firm Igniyte about the space. (The firm is based in the UK and founded in 2009.) The field is still controversial. For example, there is the question of what are the proper boundaries for enabling people to police and correct their reputations if this puts them at odds with a free press. Another reputation management firm is called Pure Reputation.

As far as Goodman is concerned, there remains great potential for Linkedin users to put a bigger dent in their professional universe.