financial advisor social media case study by socialware

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Investment Advisor Tom Froehlich Uses Compliant Social Media Marketing to Grow Book of Business Consistent Social Media Efforts Bring New Clients and Thousands in Annual Revenue for American Portfolios RIA

“It’s very hard to put a number on the monetary value for the exposure, notoriety, and credibility I’m building due to my social networking efforts. I continue to forge new contacts and relationships. Every new relationship can compound into many more and eventually become revenue and earnings.”

Tom Froehlich, CEO and Founder Froehlich Financial Group and American Executive Benefits, Inc.

Froehlich’s Challenge: Continue to Grow an Established Business With more than 25 years’ experience in financial services, investment advisor Tom Froehlich is no stranger to developing new business relationships. Through his two firms, he advises professionals and business owners on wealth management and executive benefit plans. Like every successful entrepreneur, he is always on the lookout for his next great client. Froehlich now uses social media as a key channel for business development. By working with marketing firm Wired Advisor to develop his use of blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, he shares his financial expertise with current and prospective clients. By using Socialware, he is able to do so while maintaining full regulatory compliance. Finding New Opportunities with Existing Contacts In one instance, social media broke the ice with a business owner in Froehlich’s community whom he had known for many years. The business owner, who had never talked with Froehlich about finances before, approached him after reading a post on deferred compensation plans. Froehlich subsequently started such a plan for the business owner. Froehlich also used Facebook to connect with a high school friend he had not seen in 30 years. The friend read his articles posted to Facebook and then moved a large investment portfolio to his firm.

Investment advisor Tom Froehlich, working with Stephanie Sammons of Wired Advisor, builds his credibility through regular blog posts, encouraging sharing through LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

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Driving New Business via Social Media Connections Froehlich credits his success in social media to the steadiness of his activities. “The most important thing I’ve learned,” he says, “is that I have to remain consistent, just as in any marketing campaign.” He now has more than 700 LinkedIn contacts, which allows him to show up in many more searches since his second- and third-degree connections are growing exponentially as well. He can also see that many more people are viewing his LinkedIn profile, which includes links to his most recent blog posts. His LinkedIn involvement has brought Froehlich business from beyond his circle of connections. In one case, a blog post that he shared in a LinkedIn group for CFOs brought a query from a financial services executive—which led the executive to contact Froehlich for guidance on a compensation plan. In another example of social media’s impact on business development, a young doctor who had moved to Froehlich’s area called him after searching online for a financial planner in the area. The physician was impressed by how much he was able to learn about Froehlich’s business, expertise, and credentials. Real Results from Social Media Froehlich estimates that the new business he has already generated via social media will brings tens of thousands of dollars of additional annual revenue for his firms—not counting future business or referrals stemming from those clients. The results did not come overnight, and required Froehlich to make consistent effort to make or renew connections and share his expertise. Yet these activities are also far more scalable and trackable than traditional marketing efforts, allowing financial professionals like Froehlich to reap new rewards from their efforts for a long time to come. “Social media requires investment in terms of time and the tools to do it right. But it has let me rekindle relationships with people I haven’t spoken to in over 30 years—and truly differentiate

myself with new connections, too. Social media is making a real difference in my business.” Tom Froehlich

Froehlich’s presence on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, refined through coaching by Wired Advisor, allows him to find old connections and make

new ones as he shares unique content.