And you don’t need to be a reckless driver to blunder on social media – well-meaning Twitter users can still get caught out by the limits of 140 characters. Last week the network Tenet Lime announced it would be introducing guidelines for advisers using social media sites to provide them with “complete peace of mind”.
But with no compliance officer able to see every fast-paced tweet, where should brokers draw the line between the personal and professional?
For this week’s Marketwatch our commentators are:
Tenet Lime managing director Gemma Harle, who says compliance policies should help brokers network and build trust without breaking regulation rules
Nationwide’s social media team senior manager Paul Beadle, who says an authentic personal approach works best – as long as it reflects the company view
Bien Media founder Melanie Bien, who links to complex articles rather than condensing when tweeting on behalf of broker clients
Gemma Harle, managing director, Tenet Lime
Many clients of Tenet are enjoying a good level of success from social media, with some firms generating as much as 90% of their business through social media platforms. Simple actions such as re-tweeting interesting news and information can help build your network and we find those that reap the most benefits are those who are fully committed.
The FCA has made it clear that the financial promotions rules apply to social media in the same way they apply to a website or brochure.
However, most advisers are not utilising social media for ‘financial promotions’ – they are networking, sharing best practice, asking and answering questions, pointing to resources on their websites and helping consumers/followers to get to know them as people. Therefore, a network’s compliance policy should reflect this and enable advisory firms to enjoy a good level of success from social media, whilst ensuring they stay within the regulatory framework.
Advisers do need to tread very carefully around personal opinions. In general terms, personal or company posts that are non-service or product specific, informing clients of activity or responses to conversation threads are normally OK. It is best to work on the assumption that everything you post online is public, permanent and can be traced back to you.
Paul Beadle, senior manager, Nationwide Social Media Team
Social media is very personal – its strength lies in creating a one-to-one conversation with the consumer, so an authentic “personal” approach is much more effective than broadcasting corporate messages. But your personal opinions should reflect those of your company and sharing your experiences mustn’t cause any reputational risk. And remember, you’re still subject to regulations so you must be mindful of when opinion becomes advice.
The Nationwide social media team works closely with our compliance department to ensure our strategy and content is compliant. The Regulator has been quite clear that it is ‘media neutral’, so the same rules apply for social media as they do for print, broadcast and other media. This can make financial promotions difficult on social media as all the terms and conditions need to be included. But social media shouldn’t been seen as a ‘push’ sales channel – companies need to be creative and engaging.
Our members use our @AskNationwide Twitter to pose questions and queries which are answered by a dedicated Twitter team in our Customer Service department. We can answer questions quickly and provide customers with links to further information. So, for example, if we have news or information to communicate, we Tweet that to our followers keeping them up-to-date.
Melanie Bien, founder, Bien Media
I have a personal Twitter account, which I use for promoting my business and my clients, as well as for developing contacts with potential clients and journalists.
I also tweet on behalf of clients who don’t have time to do it themselves. Some of these are brokers so I always bear in mind that Twitter should be used to educate and inform rather than advertise or promote.
For example, I steer clear of tweets such as ‘X is offering the cheapest five-year fix ever. Call this number for more details!’ There simply isn’t enough space in 140 characters to provide all the information required to ensure such a tweet would be compliant. It is far better to tweet a link to an article giving all the relevant information.
Personality is so important on Twitter, so I insist all my clients have some input. We might tweet their press coverage, trends they are seeing, any useful detail that informs and educates.
In my own Twitter account it is much easier to include the personal. But while some of this is important, I also think it’s vital to hold something back. For me, tweeting pictures of my children is a big no-no.
