Should advisors care about medium?

Many financial advisors still don't understand how to use hashtags or various link-shorteners or other Twitter tools to guide prospects to their content. Still others are simply having trouble making sense of how to integrate Twitter into their financial planning practice.

But even for advisors who do understand and use Twitter, the inherent limitations can be frustrating. Limited to only 140 characters, it can be arduous to get the right message across on that platform – unless of course you have a certain level of creativity or interest in writing financial planning haikus.

Enter Medium. Though Twitter has gone public and is growing rapidly, many social media experts have been paying attention to this social media platform still in its infancy. You can think of Medium – for now – as Twitter's younger brother.

Medium provides the stage for individuals to submit short stories rather than Twitter or Facebook posts. It targets people who don’t have time to read a whole essay or book on a topic, but who also don’t glean enough information from a few Tweets on Twitter.

Medium neatly categorizes articles submitted by users. You can set up your own home page to host all of your articles, much like you would on Facebook or Twitter (think of your "Wall"). Then you determine which of the various curated channels your content would be good for and submit your article to that channel.

If the master editor-in-chief thinks it's appropriate, he or she will post the article on the channel. This is an excellent feature because it provides some filtering of content for the end user making it easier to find high-quality content, compared to what feels like an the information free-for-all on Twitter.

Medium has proven to be a good addition to the social platforms I already use in my practice. Advisors can submit articles that illustrate their expertise and opinion or even share items on pop culture that show their voice and personality within the world of social media. "You Make $100,000 and Live Paycheck to Paycheck," is my most frequently read Medium article so far.

Advisors should keep an eye on this platform as I think it will get legs over the next several years. Since it is no different than submitting a blog, if you are blogging already, this will give you an additional channel to promote your content online.

Have you tried Medium yet? What do you think?

Ted Jenkin, CFP, is the co-CEO and founder of oXYGen Financial.