If there was any doubt that there is a generation gap between older and younger financial advisors, the social-media statistics in the Financial Planning 2015 tech survey should put them to rest.
Looking at the overall figures, the most popular answer among the 600 advisors surveyed to the question of, “How often do you use social media for business purposes?” was “Never,” at 27.9%.
The next-most-popular answer was once a week (23%). Among advisors 55 to 64, 47.6% said that they never use social media.
That stands in stark contrast to the 19.6% of those 25 to 34 who said they never use it.
The small sample of advisors 24 and under provides a glimpse into the future of the profession; 100% of these younger advisors said that they use social media, and more than 50% of them use it multiple times a day.
Granted, there may be reasons other than age that drive this behavior.
These advisors may view social media as the least costly method of gaining name recognition and public relations. They may be targeting a younger demographic that is more active on social media.
Whatever the case, it seems likely that social media will become an even more popular form of communication for advisors as the older generation retires and younger people join the profession.
Read more about the tech survey tomorrow, when we look at what is next in the tech realm.
Joel Bruckenstein, a Financial Planning columnist in Miramar, Fla., is co-creator of the Technology Tools for Today conference series and technology guides for advisors, including Technology Tools for Today’s High-Margin Practice. For more information, visit JoelBruckenstein.com.
This story is part of a 30-day series on leading tech trends for advisors. It was originally published on Dec. 1, 2015.
