So what keeps organizations up at night, in light of all these changes? According to 2010 Forrester research, data leakage and ensuring regulatory compliance in using these platforms are among the top concerns of organizations.

Data leakage is the biggest concern, with 82% of large organizations reporting themselves as “very concerned” or “concerned.” In the transparent social web, organizations – especially those with more than 5,000 employees, which is where this research is focused – have cause for concern. Regulatory compliance is another big concern – 66% of those surveyed said they were concerned or very concerned about maintaining compliance while enabling these social sites.

To address these fears, many large organizations restrict access to these and other “non-essential” programs, with almost 60% of enterprises reporting such restrictions. However, as we’ve talked about in the past, prohibition is not the answer.

Smarter companies are creating guidelines and implementing finer-grained controls on a feature-by-feature basis. This gives employees the opportunity to use key social networking capabilities while still giving the enterprise a degree of control. Up to 86% of enterprises have or plan to have such access in place which would allow advisors to, for example, establish a Twitter account or leverage LinkedIn to the fullest, all in a compliant fashion.

This aligns with our philosophy of enabling users to make the most of social networks for business, rather than blocking them. Innovative organizations seek to understand how social networks are used or can be used to build personal and professional networks, then analyze potential risks. The next step? Develop a policy that works by addressing regulatory issues, educating users on the policies, then enable them to use the social networks in appropriate ways. Over time, firms will review actual usage and results, policies will be updated and new ways to make the most of these networks will be discovered.

In short, while enterprises – including financial institutions – have cause for concern, ignoring the power of social networks isn’t the answer. There are many ways social networks will impact business – including creating new referral sources, helping advisors keep in touch with customers and recruiting new talent.

The companies that “get to yes” first will create a competitive advantage, establish themselves as innovators in the industry and enjoy the financial rewards this new communication channel has to offer.

Ask for referrals. All firms preach this, but the survey of wealthy investors found that 75% of them haven’t been asked to refer their colleagues to their advisor. In the era of LinkedIn and Facebook this is the low hanging fruit that everyone should be reaching for. Consider too that nearly 60% of LinkedIn users have high personal incomes and hold executive-level or consultant positions. If you aren’t building your networks online and leveraging those relationships you are leaving money on the table.

Actively keep in touch. Only 38% of investors say their advisors proactively reach out to them when market changes could impact their portfolios – and it’s hurting client retention. One third of investors have changed advisors since 2008, and 25% of the rest of wealthy advisors are dissatisfied with or neutral towards their current advisor. Again social networks can help. Look at the advisors on AdvisorTweets.com. Over 400 advisors are tweeting to clients and prospects about the market. If you aren’t tweeting, who are your clients following? Or even worse who WILL THEY be following?

Stop shouting, start engaging. We used to think about marketing as a chest-thumping activity that ensured we were always top of mind with prospects. Guess what. The old way doesn’t work anymore. Marketing today is about active engagement. Social networks are a key part of this change, allowing you to come out from behind the megaphone.

Think your clients aren’t using social networks? Think again. Another recent post revealed research showing those who use social networks are very interested in hearing from advisors: 63% of Twitter users would pay attention to investment tweets; 46% of YouTube users and 41% of Facebook users would seek investment information from these communities.

The question you should ask yourself right now is this: If you’re not engaging with your clients and prospects, who is?

At this point you are probably as shocked as I was. You may also be scratching your head as to how 1,700 people could like his update. What happens on LinkedIn is that when someone in your network “likes” a comment or status update it is automatically shared with that person’s network – instantly multiplying the reach each message has.

For employees who are looking to build their personal networks and for companies looking to build their brand within their business communities, this simple experiment shows how quickly a compelling message can spread throughout a network.  Unlike Facebook updates, where you need to be directly connected to someone, the majority of commenters and fans of Joss’ update have never met Joss face to face.

As a follow up message, Blair posted “Blair Joss is hunting for a professional in the oil and gas industry with experience in Reservoir Engineering and has a network in Norway.”  LinkedIn has clearly given him a platform to meet prospects, colleagues, and customers who may have never been connected to him otherwise, but given that he has a great message and a network that can spread it, he has truly taken advantage of the tools available to him.  How are you helping your employees spread their message?

1. LinkedIn Groups Overhaul

Groups are a great way to connect with the broader LinkedIn network, to find new contacts through shared interests and to discuss specific topics. And now this great resource has gotten better. Last month LinkedIn rolled out an improved look and feel with the goal of replicating face-to-face conversations. The new design also makes it easier to use. With a new voting system, content that is valued by the group will rise to the top and will be surfaced for all to see. Combined with the new following capability, LinkedIn has made it easier than ever to stay up to date on group discussions.

2. LinkedIn Inbox Updates

Speaking of email, LinkedIn has completed an overhaul of their built-in email system. Like Groups it all starts with an improved look and feel that you will notice right away on the home page. In addition, they’ve made it easier to manage emails through bulk actions, something we are all used to in our traditional email clients. And although it sounds strange you can finally delete messages in LinkedIn. This is great from a user’s perspective but compliance officers should take note that real-time archiving should be the goal if you are going to open up access to LinkedIn in a compliant fashion (as it relates to FINRA 10-06).

3. Improved Twitter and LinkedIn integration

I’ve shared before my belief that you get the most value from your social networking investment when you integrate your activities together. LinkedIn just made this process easier. They’ve updated their Twitter application to follow LinkedIn Connections directly from LinkedIn.com. Once you’ve installed the application, access it using the “More” menu and start following your connections.

4. LinkedIn “Likes” Addition

We are all familiar with this concept. You read a status update on Facebook, see a picture, watch a video and you click that little “Like” button letting your network know what you are reading or watching and the fact that you appreciated the content. Well this functionality is now available on LinkedIn. Liking a piece of content in LinkedIn will trigger a news feed update so your network can see what you are reading. On Groups, members who consistently contribute to discussions, and have a large number of followers, will be marked as “Top influencers”, making their ‘Like’ worth more than others. Keep this in mind as you work to grow you reach and influence across the 70 million LinkedIn users.

5. LinkedIn Compliance Guide

With all the opportunity LinkedIn provides many regulated firms have been grappling with the compliance issues and trying to balance those with the business benefit. To help jump-start your efforts we’ve outlined almost 30 LinkedIn features, explaining each in detail, associated it with a content type (based on FINRA 10-06), classified it according to the FINRA/SEC guidelines, offered a set of compliance considerations, and provided a specific recommendation to help jump-start the creation of your social networking policy and plan. If you haven’t downloaded this free guide, get yours today.

6. LinkedIn Best Practices (Webinar)

Like many people we talk to, the conversation quickly turns from “how can we open up access” to “how do we get the most out of our investment.” Thanks to Kip Gregory, Principle of The Gregory Group, and Mike Williams of Socialware, you will get answers to this question and so much more. They share their expertise on how advisors and agents can use this great resource to help drive their business. While the webinar took place in June you can watch a recorded version here.

6.5 Upcoming webinar on LinkedIn Social Networking Compliance

If you are looking for more information on understanding the compliance issues with LinkedIn be sure to register for our upcoming webinar taking place on July 13th. Learn more and register here.

I hope you find these resources helpful. Stay tuned for more great content and updates. And don’t forget to check out our newly revamped site for Socialware Insights – all of our Guides, Resources, Webinars and more now live under one roof.

Twitter awareness rivals Facebook. Awareness of Twitter has exploded from 5% of Americans 12+ in 2008 to 87% in 2010 (by comparison, Facebook’s awareness is 88%). And social network usage continues to grow among all age groups.

Twitter is used by approximately 17 million Americans – about 7% of the population. However, roughly six times more Americans maintain a profile page on Facebook than use Twitter. And almost 50% of Americans over the age of 12 maintain a profile on at least one social networking site, with the vast majority using Facebook.

Most Twitter users are “lurkers,” reading the updates of others without contributing their own updates – at least, not on Twitter. But 70% of regular Twitter users say they do post status updates to some social networking service (likely Facebook). Twitter appears to function as more of a broadcast medium compared to social network sites such as Facebook, still making it a key marketing tool for brands.

More than half of all Twitter users are between 25 and 44, signaling that most users are in prime decision-making demographics.

Business use cases for Twitter far exceed similar usage for social networking sites in general. The percentage of Twitter users who follow brands is over three times higher than similar behavior expressed by social networking users in general. As this graphic shows, Twitter users are more likely to follow brands or companies on social networks.

According to the study, “Significant percentages of regular Twitter users report using the service not only to seek opinions about companies, products and services, but to provide those opinions as well.”

In short, here’s more proof that social networks – and Twitter and Facebook in particular – are here to stay, and users are amenable to hearing from brands via these networks.

You can download the executive summary here for even more details. Don’t forget to grab our Guide on Twitter Social Networking Compliance and watch our webinar on the same topic.

1. What percentage of advisors use social media for business purposes?
2. Are firms taking the necessary steps to support this activity and remain compliant?
3. Are financial advisors getting value from their investment in social media?
4. Are the myths around social media true? For example, the sites are only used by the younger generation, it takes too much time, advisors comply with their firm’s policies and many more.

The survey results answered these questions and many more. Before getting into the results here are a few statistics that describe the pool of respondents:

• The survey was completed by 196 advisors.
• Over 53% of the respondents have over 100 clients.
• Over 40% of respondents are 46 years of age or older.
• Over 21% are part of firms with over 100 financial advisors.
• Over 44% of respondents have an average account size of $300K or more.

The first thing that stood out with this survey is the fact that advisors have flocked to social networks. 60% of financial advisors currently use social media for business purposes and another 11% have plans to use social media in the future. Of the 29% with no plans to use social media in the future, 85% of those respondents are currently prohibited by their firm.

In addition to usage it was clear that investments in social networks are paying off by delivering real results. 47% of respondents reported having identified one or more referrals (new leads/prospects) from their social media activity. 36% said they acquired new customers through social media and 10% stated they identified over 21 new referrals!

It was also clear that firms are lagging behind their reps in this area. 57% of respondents were aware that their company had a policy and 11% of the respondents were unsure if one existed. Unfortunately, the 32% operating without a policy are in direct violation of FINRA’s recent guidance on social network usage.

And if that wasn’t bad enough firms are also at risk due to a lack of social media archiving – a very clear requirement from FINRA Notice 10-06. Only 12% of the respondents archive their data with an automated system. 22% of the respondents manually archive data through screenshots or a copy and paste activity. Not only is this time consuming it is also very error prone. The remaining 66% of respondents are in direct violation of FINRA/SEC guidelines by not archiving this information.

There is no doubt that this is a hot topic in the industry. In fact, the survey results were already picked up by the following outlets:

• Wall Street Journal
• ComplianceWeek
• Broker Dealer Week
• TechTarget
• InvestmentNews

If you are looking for more information please check out the official press release and also be sure to register for our upcoming webinar where we will be reviewing the results of the survey in more detail.

In Penny Crosman’s recent article in Bank Systems & Technology, “Channel Innovation: Building Online Relationships,” she explores the variety of new consumers – and how they view banks and money.

For example, there’s a whole contingent of consumer that focuses on not consuming, such as “freegans” who strive to have no money and live “off the grid.” To reach this and other hard-to-reach markets, banks must up the ante on social and online marketing. For example, 18 to 30 year olds (Generation Y), a Cisco survey found, are heavily in debt, need help with their finances, and prefer communicating via their cell phones. They’re used to having Mom and Dad take care of the finances, and could use the most help from banks – but may not trust them as much.

The bottom line? Financial institutions must innovate to reach the hard-to-reach consumers; however, the good news is that half of all searches for financial products start on the Web, according to Terry Moore, Accenture’s North American banking practice lead. And online personal financial management is on the rise. These aggregators, such as Mint.com or Geezeo, help consumers keep track of budgets, discover new products, and manage accounts from a variety of providers in one place.

In a new trend, though, banks are building their own personal financial advice Web sites – sites that are nearly independent of the bank and that, in fact, barely mention the bank at all. For example, SunTrust’s Live Solid Network looks like a self-help site that could be associated with a women’s magazine.

Ron Shevlin, senior analyst at Aite Group, believes there’s a perfect storm creating demand for personal financial management tools, citing the recession, the regulatory environment and the impact of credit scores on consumers’ ability to get credit. “Consumers are becoming more aware and more diligent,” he says. “[Web sites such as] Mint, Geezeo and Wesabe have made these tools easier to use, and Generation Yers are more online friendly – they want to manage their whole lives, including their financial lives, online. And thanks to all these other factors, there’s a general dislike of banks. [Banks] realize that [personal financial management] can add value to the customer relationship.”

According to Jaidev Shergill, CEO of Bundle.com and a former Citi executive, it’s a matter of trust. “What’s really behind some of this can be summed up in one word: unbiased,” he says. “When you think about the way banks dispensed information and advice two or three years ago, it typically ended up in a sales pitch for that bank’s product. People started wondering if they were really getting the right recommendations.

1st Mariner Bank in Baltimore ($1.4 billion in assets), however, recently became the first bank to sign up with Geezeo’s white-labled online personal financial management, which lets their customers access their 1^st Mariner accounts as well as their other financial accounts from one site.

Steve Kruskamp, e-commerce marketing manager at 1st Mariner insists that online personal financial management “creates a tool that makes the relationship more sticky.”

Additionally, social media is a big part of 1st Mariner’s efforts to attract and retain younger customers. Kruskamp blogs and participate in social media networks regularly. Kruskamp posts messages and videos, including information about upcoming events and industry news, on behalf of 1st Mariner on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. In fact, a year ago the bank introduced a checking account for Gen Y based on feedback received in social networks.

“We look at Twitter as an extension of communication with our customers,” Kruskamp says. “You no longer have the number of customers coming into the branches and having a one-on-one relationship with the managers. So we wanted to see if there was a way that we could get back those relationships that are somewhat lost. Twitter, the blog and Facebook offer a channel where our customers and prospects are already there.” The bank doesn’t use social media to market products but rather to carry out overall public relations, Kruskamp emphasizes.

Twitter lets 1st Mariner connect with local businesspeople and industry peers. Facebook, however, is more of an opportunity for the bank to interact with customers and prospects in a more social setting, where the bank shares pictures, promotes fundraising efforts and personalizes the brand.

“Facebook brings a transparency that didn’t exist before,” Kruskamp suggests. “Unless someone came to our back office or one of our picnics, they wouldn’t see what we’re doing, that we really enjoy what we do.”

Kevin Lynch, SVP of e-commerce at 1st Mariner Bank, stresses that social media efforts are inexpensive compared to traditional channels and they’re increasingly necessary. “The branch transaction level is continuing to decline, call center volumes have dropped from 65,000 to 70,000 calls a year to 59,000 or 58,000,” he notes. But 1st Mariner’s online customers more than doubled, from 2,500 in 2008 to 5,500 in 2009. “People are interacting with us, that’s the business case.”

Like 1st Mariner, Atlanta-based SunTrust Banks ($172.7 billion in assets) is experimenting with both online PFM tools and social media. The bank’s mostly anonymous LiveSolid Network, which primarily targets 25-to-45-year-old women, went live Feb. 1. Broud Koun, director of digital marketing and direct mail, observes that the demographics of social media sites are sometimes surprising. “It would be incorrect to assume that Facebook, for example, is all about 19-year-olds,” he says.

Not every bank is jumping on the personal financial management bandwagon, however. A recent Aite Group survey found that only one in five banks overall — and only one in 20 large banks — offers online personal financial management. (Of the remaining firms, 60 percent said they will evaluate whether to offer such tools in 2010.) They cite lack of perceived demand and a hard-to-define return on investment.

For 1st Mariner Bank’s Lynch, however, the more important question is whether a bank can afford not to have these personal financial management tools. “Our perspective,” he says, “is that this is a requirement that customers may not know they need yet, but they will.”

Recently LinkedIn upgraded its Twitter functionality so now it’s easy to find relevant people to “follow” on Twitter, and track their tweets (and yours) all on LinkedIn.

This is important for two key reasons. First, it obviously helps you find the right people to “follow.” Even better, though, as you follow more people, it enables their followers to discover you on Twitter, which will increase your own number of followers.

Build your image to those who matter most

This functionality also helps you add some “personality” to the place where most people in business will find you. Have you ever wanted to infuse what you’re really like into your resume, for example? This functionality helps you do this, by showing potential employers or clients your Twitter feed, which will be written a bit more in your natural language.

And it’s important to know who is really using LinkedIn. A 2008 Anderson Analytics poll of more than 50,000 users found that 66% of LinkedIn users are decision-makers and tend to be more senior in their companies.

In short, LinkedIn has made it easy for you to build both your Twitter and LinkedIn networks, all on LinkedIn (where you are already spending most of your time).

And, once you follow someone on Twitter, you can now see more of their information on LinkedIn. This is a huge step forward, since Twitter only allows users to write a very brief bio – the real heart of a person’s background and interests show up on LinkedIn. It also lets your Twitter followers easily find more information about you, if they integrate their Twitter feed with LinkedIn.

Sure, it sounds a little confusing. But take a look at LinkedIn’s blog post about their updates to their Tweets application, and give it a try. I think you’ll find it helps you really stay connected.

Yet another study of financial professionals – this one by American Century Investments – finds that advisors are using and benefiting from social media for their business.

• 44% of advisors who use social media for business or business and personal use agree that social media is an emerging trend with significant potential for businesses like theirs.
• 73% of the participants have a profile or account with one or more of the social media types mentioned.
• Facebook was in the top position with 55% and LinkedIn was next with 46%.
• Of those who use social media for business purposes, almost one-fifth (19%) do so daily – either once a day or multiple times a day.
• Respondents reported their top three business uses of social media as: A) researching people (e.g. prospects, contacts and current clients); B) monitoring industry and market news; and C) reading expert commentary and insights.
• 71% reported they have one or more future business uses planned for social media, primarily monitoring industry and market news, followed by reading expert commentary and insights and researching people.

So what keeps them up at night?

Nearly half (47%) of respondents named regulatory or compliance issues as their single biggest concern with using social media for business purposes.

“Understanding how to better navigate compliance guidelines and industry regulations on social media use could bring peace of mind to financial professionals and spur adoption of its use,” Jennifer Sussman, director, Online Marketing and Experience for American Century Investments, said.

The rest of the study continues to show that financial services representatives are ready – or already using – social media, and their concerns about compliance are holding them back. Of course, the firms that figure out – and efficiently execute – their compliance plans will enjoy the competitive advantages of being first to market with this invaluable channel.

If you are looking to educate yourself on the compliance issues raised by social media sites you can start with a few of the resources below. In addition, check back in about a week for details on our own study of Financial Advisors use of social media.

• The Companion Guide to FINRA/SEC Social Networking Compliance
• The Guide to Twitter Social Networking Compliance
• Previously recorded and upcoming webinars on issues of compliance to social media best practices

We hope these resources help you navigate the compliance risks and opportunity in the waters of social media.

If I’m an advisor with a choice of firms, I’m looking for a place that is going to help me achieve not just success, but overwhelming success – for my clients, the firm, and myself. Sure… reputation of the firm will be important, cultural fit, and the portfolio of products available. However, at the end of the day, the advisory business is about building relationships, acquiring clients, and delivering value. What is step one?  Networking.  And you can argue that steps two through five are the same: Networking.

Advisors and agents now have an unprecedented ability to access, grow, and build networks. Social Networking tools like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter provide innovative and revolutionary capabilities for enabling success.

Why are social networks important?
There are many, many ways that social networking can help an advisor be more productive – with greater efficiency. Here are four key elements: Visibility, Speed, Assistance, and Information.

Visibility
Never before have financial advisors had the capability to connect actively with their “first degree” network that social networks allow. Have you noticed the “People You May Know” recommendations that LinkedIn provides on your homepage? How do they know that I could be connected with Leslie, a person that I met ten years ago when we were working on a critical project – but we were working at different companies? And, who knew that through 203 contacts on LinkedIn, a person can have 70,400+ friends of friends connections?

Speed
It’s one thing to try and list out on a spreadsheet all the people you have ever met, and then try to find their phone numbers or their email addresses. How long will it take to contact even half of that list? How about this? Start by connecting with ten contacts on LinkedIn or Facebook and see how quickly your ten connections turn into 20, into 50, into 100. You get the picture. Unprecedented. Tip: LinkedIn also makes it easy to download contact information should you have misplaced that business card from 5 years ago.

Assistance
I’m going to attend a week-long conference in San Francisco. Who do I know in San Francisco? That works in high-tech? I can find that with a few clicks. Who have I always wanted to meet? A few more clicks and I am getting introduced by a friend. The value of my trip has just multiplied.

Information
When I make a new connection or research a prospect, I now have more background than ever before. Not only do I know that my new contact, Joe, used to play poker with the friend that introduced us, but now I can see that he belongs to a local triathlon club – and I now have an instant opportunity for a personal connection.

Back to the recruiting pitch… what is your message? Are you demonstrating the firm’s willingness to invest and support advisor success? Or, are you going to wait and see what shakes out with these “personal” tools? The first movers will have an advantage. Don’t be surprised to start hearing stories about losing reps to a firm that has embraced and supported social networking.

Join us on June 22 for a complimentary webinar where we will be sharing Best Practices on how advisors and agents can leverage LinkedIn to drive productivity.