Firstly, a confession. When it comes to the world of social media I was something of a Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn-phobe up until a couple of years ago. Like many who did not grow up with social media being a constant part of their life – i.e. I’m over 40 – I was perhaps a little slow to realise its potential from a business point of view and the knowledge that can be gained, plus connections and networking that can be achieved by dedicating a relatively small amount of time to it.
As a business Bridgewater has had a Twitter feed for a few years and while the number of what we might term ‘equity release stakeholders’ using it has grown it is still quite noticeable that advisers in particular are not so heavily represented as providers or solicitors, for example. Of course, the quick explanation for this might be that they are far too busy doing the day job to spend inordinate amounts of time on social media however I’m here to say that they do not need to in order for it to make a difference.
For those who are not ‘on Twitter’, let’s try this quick experiment. Firstly, set yourself up with an account – I promise you it will not take long and even if you have no intention of ‘tweeting’ don’t worry as you can delete it later. Once you’re active pop the following phrase into the search box at the top ‘#equityrelease’ – this will bring up all the tweets that have included this hashtag (#) phrase.
Now spend just a few minutes scrolling down the tweets that have been brought up by this search. I’m almost certain that you will have learnt something new from doing this – it might be a distributor or provider announcing a networking event, it might be a trade body detailing a new piece of research that you can use with clients, or it may show you how other equity release advises are using Twitter to advertise their services and engage with potential customers or introducers.
No-one is suggesting that by simply using Twitter you are going to see social media-related business fall into your lap but it does give you an avenue to explore the market in greater depth and gain further understanding of important industry news, issues, research, etc that could help your business.
One of the criticisms I often hear levelled at social media use from equity release advisers is that it is pointless engaging with it as ‘it’s only used by kids’. ‘Kids’ of course who are not eligible for equity release products – but what about their parents or grandparents? How important are children in the decision of someone in, or at, retirement when it comes to a client choosing equity release? If they are aware or even knowledgeable about equity release then this surely represents a better situation than if they have no clue whatsoever. Yes, ‘kids’ use social media but so do a whole range of people.
To prove this why not pop onto LinkedIn at anytime and search for ‘The Equity Release Group’ – if you’re not already a member you’ll see an engaged community of equity release stakeholders all sharing information, debating issues and providing solutions. This group numbers over 800 of the top people involved in the UK equity release sector – I wouldn’t describe these as ‘kids’ and therefore even if you feel that Twitter or Facebook appears ‘gimmicky’ and not relevant to your business then you surely cannot say the same thing about this worthwhile forum.
Social media is obviously not going to be a lead generator for everyone however if you are not engaged with it then you certainly lose out on an information provider and a potential networking tool. News and debate about your sector is taking place on these channels and to not at least dip into this from time to time means you are likely to be behind the knowledge curve when it comes to those competitors who are. We’re not suggesting you spend all your time on social media but simply some of it. Perhaps give it a month and then come back and tell me that you haven’t learnt anything from it. I doubt you’ll be able to. And whilst you’re on there don’t forget to follow us at www.twitter.com/Bridgewater_ER
Chris Prior is manager of sales and distribution at Bridgewater Equity Release
