I’ve been in the business of advising global clients for 35 years, and it’s always been challenging to stay in touch. Time-zone differences make it difficult to review and respond to inquiries. In some cases, clients and I are speaking with 12-hour gaps. One of our clients lives in Australia and we make it a point to speak every quarter but it can take a few tries to get the meeting scheduled. At times we’ve spoken on Sunday evenings, which is Monday morning for him. Jokingly I ask: “So what’s happening in my future?”
My solution: LinkedIn videos. With these videos, our firm can reach a wide audience in a timely and efficient manner. They provide an engaging and friendly way to reach current clients, future prospects and centers of influence. Our followers and those who share our videos get to hear and see what our thoughts are on a monthly basis, whether we are offering insights about financial markets, ideas for consideration or summarizing our reactions to current events.
At the same time, our followers get to know us. When I started appearing on videos, I didn’t have facial hair. Once I grew a goatee, I suddenly got lots of comments and compliments.
Here’s how we do it: Since we segment our year into quarters, we usually post some videos the month following the end of the quarter. These posts communicate important points of what occurred during the quarter and share our forecasts for the future. We use the other two months to highlight a timely topic. We might share our expertise on environmental, social and governance issues or we might highlight alternative investments.
We have also used the videos to encourage clients to consider doing reviews. In the case of future potential clients, we have suggested they seek a second opinion for their portfolio reviews. We normally have around 300 views, however, when I post a picture of me catching fish, which is my off-duty passion, I get between 4000 and 5000 views. People really want to see what I do when I’m not at the office.
We usually don’t market specific products or services. For us it’s not the right forum.
The feedback has been very positive. In today’s competitive digital world, communication is key to demonstrating that you are relevant. When our audience sees a brief video, it gives them a sense of who we are. They get to “meet” the founding partner and hopefully establish a psychological connection. It doesn’t cease to amaze me how often our clients and friends will comment on a video. Case in point: the many comments I got when I grew out my facial hair.
We have tried other digital and social media channels to distribute our brief videos and have found that LinkedIn provides the best way to get the word out.
From time to time, we have also posted personal photos of our team doing something recreational — something that demonstrates that it’s not all about business. Earlier this year, for example, I posted a photo from a deep-sea fishing trip. These personal posts have received, by far, the largest views, shares and likes. We don’t intend to use LinkedIn primarily for personal news, but we feel it’s important for our followers to occasionally see us outside of the office, too.
In addition to videos and a few personal photos, we post additional content on LinkedIn about two or three times a week, often charts and graphs that communicate a point. These regular posts help keep our firm and our message front-of-mind, no matter where in the world a client resides.
