LifeQuote has found through a recent social media survey that 60% of advisers use social media in a professional capacity.

72% of these use LinkedIn, 38% use Twitter, 42% use Facebook, 8% YouTube and 8% Instagram.

28% of advisers now use social media to prospect for clients. Of these 69% estimate that up to 5% of their business comes from social media and 25% estimate that between 6 and 10% of prospects come from social media.

Of the 60% of advisers that use social media professionally 62% use it for networking, 42% to keep abreast of business trends, 41% as a source of information, 41% proactively positioning themselves as a thought leader, 28% for client communication, and 24% to monitor the competition.

Neil McCarthy, sales and marketing director at LifeQuote, said: “There was a lot of hype about the instant business benefits of social media, and a lot of advisers were left disappointed. Now with some years’ experience the majority of advisers are using it professionally, including for prospecting. But, like any sales or marketing activity, social media needs to be used for specific purposes, it’s not some sort of panacea solution.

“As the financial services market evolves, I expect more clients and prospects will use social media as an information source and communication channel, but advisers adopting a targeted approach will gain maximum benefit for minimum time expended.”