-1.svg "Close Icon (3)-1")
.svg "Close Icon (3)")
- Share
-
Political and business leaders these days are increasingly drawn to Twitter and the possibilities it offers to connect with potential customers or voters. Whether you really believe that votes or business can be won or lost - or even influenced by the effective use of social media - it is an undeniable fact that people from all walks of life are learning the art of influence using the tool of the 140 character message.
If only to simply broadcast a message quickly, to test the views of other opinion leaders, or to provide advice and perspective, many have heard the call to jump on board with this simple and cost effective engagement tool.
Is Twitter really the communication tool of choice to connect with your client, voters or the world at large?
To explore this, let's ask the hypothetical: what if a politician, a planner and market trader began tweeting each other on this subject? What might they say?
Financial Planners
Australia's financial planning landscape has been the subject of great legislative and policy scrutiny over the past few years. Increased regulation and the implementation of the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) reforms have seen the industry forced to improve standards and transparency across the board.
The question of how the financial advice industry will survive this future has also been given a great deal of consideration, particularly at the recent Financial Services Council (FSC) Conference. There, learned speakers agreed that advice businesses must meet their customers and suppliers online... and embrace digital media. This goes directly to the heart of remaining competitive and relevant.
Many financial planners are already actively communicating online and using Twitter and other social media platforms to reach out and engage with both clients and potential clients. For the head of social media at Morgan Stanley, Lauren Boyman, the Morgan Stanley financial planners who have been using Twitter and LinkedIn have increased their client base well in excess of the planners who haven’t.
BlueChip client, the Financial Planning Association has also been quick to embrace the possibilities of social media – their Ask an Expert free financial advice service is available not only via their website, but also via Twitter. By tweeting @AustraliaFPA and using the hashtag #AskanExpert, Australians can ask their financial questions and receive a response for free.
Nonetheless, even though Twitter clearly has an important role to play and can help financial planners engage with clients and vice versa, it is still difficult to believe that any form of digital interaction could take the place of face-to-face meetings with a financial planner and a discussion of a client’s specific objectives.
Traders
A New York Times column recently asked whether the global economy hinges on 140 characters. Absurd as this question might seem, with an increasing number of traders using Twitter to share and research information, it is certainly something that has caught the attention of market regulators and investors.
A good example of how makets are manipulated - in this case fraudulently - was shown in April this year when the Associated Press Twitter account was hacked. Tweets reported explosions at the White House, as well as injuries to President Obama – both of which led to the Dow Jones falling by three per cent.
Leaving aside the obvious security issues at AP and the motivations of fraudsters, it's clear that information flow via digital channels is quite real, and that markets and the media are watching and will react.
A trader interviewed by the AFR this week, @David_Scutt, spoke about the role that Twitter plays in his day-to-day job. He said that Twitter lifts the profile of his business and can also provide access to a range of people at the same time.
However, Scutt also agreed that the markets have no way of verifying the information they receive via Twitter, and tend to respond to information whether it is correct or not. He said that a very real risk inherent in Twitter is that the markets will react to what it hears, regardless of legitimacy. And that can cause big problems.
The bottom line seems to be that if you are using Twitter to make trading or investment decisions, the trade off to the speedy reactive opportunity is that you can’t believe or rely on everything you read.
Politicians
US President Obama’s sophisticated use of social media during his 2008 election campaign will go down in history for both its impact on the election, and the fact that it brought to light the influence that Twitter can have on determining a political outcome.
Still, it’s important to remember that social media is all about keeping it real. Even though Kevin Rudd is a keen social media fan, since it was announced that he had enlisted the help of “Team Obama” to handle the digital strategy for the upcoming federal election, his campaign was seen as being too stage-managed and lacking spontaneity, and as such has not achieved as much as expected.
However, in an effort to overcome the perception that the social media campaign was actually being run by someone else, Rudd resorted to an increase in so-called “selfies” in an attempt to personalise his campaign.
Whether or not you were impressed by his shaving mishap on Instagram, the strategy was branded a success when the photo went viral. Abbott on the other hand received most engagement by simply requesting a RT from those who support the Coalition.
While Rudd and Abbott have not flown the Twitter flag with much success, as we have commented before, the financial services industry has previously seen some fiery debate between old political rivals Bill Shorten and Matthias Cormann - via Twitter.
So what are we to make of the use of Twitter for our three target groups?
The bottom line is that there are some really effective ways of using Twitter to engage with clients, voters or even the world at large.
But as with all social media engagement – if you are looking for engagement and buzz around your activity, remember that tweets need a call to action, or provide legitimate interaction with followers – simply requesting a retweet isn’t going to cut it. And, while Twitter can provide some great insight and first response to news, if you are using Twitter to collect information or to determine your next investment, best you check with a verified source.
If you have any questions about your social media use, or for a social media 101, contact social@bluechipcommuncation.com.au.
