38 Skyline | Edition 3 | Winter 2021
As a business owner , do you need to be a # influencer as well ?
There ’ s no denying that more and more of our everyday lives are played out online , whether we ’ re retweeting the final score , sharing the latest viral video or keeping connected with family and friends who are far away .
In the UK alone , there are said to be 53 million active social media users as of January 2021 [ 1 ] which means your clients , their beneficiaries and your prospects are already engaging on one or more platforms . Chances are , when they ’ re on social media , they will often be engaging with brands and businesses that they like as well as being influenced by what they see . So , should mortgage brokers be any different ?
During the early 2000s we saw a new phenomenon arising in the form of social media with platforms like Facebook , LinkedIn and Twitter blazing the way forwards . Many businesses across all industries were keen to adopt these new marketing channels and harness their power and some saw success , boasting about picking up hundreds of inbound direct leads a week .
Such stories seem almost like the stuff of myth , or rather legend , now and some new users still come to social media marketing with this idea and , when it doesn ’ t pan out that way , they ’ re disheartened , and their social feeds go dark and are forgotten about .
As with all things in marketing , things have moved on since then . For example , there are many more social media platforms to choose from now , each geared towards specific audiences , most capable of targeting specific users for a cost and some have already disappeared as quickly as they came about .
But the biggest shifts are moved by consumer attitudes and how highly engrained social media has become into some peoples ’ everyday lives , meaning they only want to engage with genuine content that piques their interest because there is so much more to choose from now .
Even older generations we thought wouldn ’ t take the leap , are crossing over after seeing first-hand the benefits of being instantly connected to their communities and family . And , with so much information available on an infinite scroll , you only have a fraction of a second to make an impact or your audience has moved on .
So , is it still possible to generate leads from social media ? Well , yes – and no , is the answer to this question . Yes , it is possible but no , it might not be in the way that you think .
Did you know that 42 % [ 2 ] of users between the ages of 35 and 44 use social media to research brands , products or services ?
Which means that although you may not get an immediate engagement from your following at the time of posting , that doesn ’ t mean that your posts are going unnoticed . Your social media channels are another shop window into your business and the service people can expect from you .