-1.svg "Close Icon (3)-1")
.svg "Close Icon (3)")
- Share
-
Does social media have a role to play in self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs)? And if so, how should advisers, trustees and other SMSF stakeholders get started?
This was the question addressed today before an audience of SMSF professionals by financial services communication specialist Carden Calder, MD of BlueChip Communication, and the SMSF Academy’s Aaron Dunn. The action took place at the annual SMSF Professionals Association of Australia (SPAA) conference in Melbourne.
The following overview offers some of the key points of their presentation. (Spoiler alert: the answer to the first question is a resounding ‘YES’.)
1. A whole new generation of SMSF trustees is seeking online engagement, guidance & information
The number of new SMSFs is growing rapidly, and trustees and potential trustees are increasingly looking to online channels to inform and educate themselves. In the past year alone, there has been a 22.3% increase in Google searches for information about SMSFs. Moreover, new SMSF entrants are younger than ever: almost 40% of them are aged 44 or under. If advisers want to remain relevant and valuable to this new generation, they must understand their needs and speak their language. And that means going online.
So what are SMSF trustees talking – and asking – about in social media?
Online SMSF discussions are strongly weighted towards service needs, specifically: (1) tax, (2) how to set up an SMSF and (3) help finding SMSF services.
Yet there exists a ‘topic gap’ between online conversations involving trustees and what advisers are talking about. Most SMSF professional are at the earliest stage of social media adoption, which means there is broadcast activity but very little engagement.
And, while Twitter is the primary social media channel among advisers, the deepest conversations and connections among trustees are actually occurring on message boards and discussion forums.
2. Get online – but with a strategy-first approach
As with any communication channel – be it traditional media, direct marketing or anything else – using social media without a supporting strategy is unlikely to produce good results. However, given the relative novelty of social media and its seemingly changing ‘rules’, knowing where to start can be intimidating.
As with any business strategy, the best place to start is with your goals.
Ask: what do you want social media to do for your business? Build your brand? Create a special interest community? Educate and engage clients? Or all of the above.
Next, decide what you want to be known for – your ‘fame agenda’; and who you want to engage with – your ‘personae’. How can you add value? And remember, you are not your audience.
Choose your social channels based on what you’ll be talking about and with whom. It’s important to know that the channel you choose is secondary. Your goal is to engage with a specific audience, not broadcast on a specific channel for its own sake.
3. Know your regulatory framework – and that of your licensee
For those in the financial advice profession – or anyone seeking to offer information that could be construed as such online or anywhere else – there are many compliance and related issues to bear in mind. For some, the difficulty associated with navigating these issues has been an excuse to avoid going online altogether. But all the evidence suggests that avoidance is an unsustainable strategy – certainly for those who want to remain in the business and flourish for the long term.
ASIC research, for example, shows that many Australian consumers would like more information and advice about investment issues. ASIC’s Report 224, ‘Access to financial advice in Australia (REP 224)’, released in December 2010, found that a third of Australians “are now expressing a preference for piece by-piece advice rather than holistic or comprehensive advice”. It then went on to offer some guidance on compliance.
ASIC’s guidance for those steering through the advice space
Against this backdrop, the ASIC REP 224 guidance on the topic assumes major importance. It seeks to:
- explain the distinction between giving factual information, general advice and personal advice (see Sections B and C, as well the examples in the appendix)
- provide industry-specific examples of giving factual information, general advice and scaled advice (see the appendix, as well as the shorter examples in the body of this guidance)
- provide guidance about how to give scaled advice that complies with the personal advice obligations in Ch 7, including the best interests duty and related obligations (see Section D)
- explain the importance of communicating to a client the service that is being provided to them (see Section E) and
- explain that the Corporations Act is generally neutral about how advice is delivered that is, the law is generally the same, regardless of whether advice is provided by telephone, email, internet, video conferencing, face-to-face, or in any combination of these or other ways (see Section F).
Armed with the will, the strategic plan and the right guidance on compliance, there’s no reason why an SMSF professional can’t put a toe in the social media water.
Find the full presentation here:
To find out more about BlueChip Communication’s social media services, email social@bluechipcommunication.com.au.
