Bruce Johnston

With hope and fear. If they can publish a few blog posts, advisors can extend the life of a public relations story nearly effortlessly. With social media and its ability to generate attention inexpensively, it's hard not to consider it. The difficulty comes in when you ask an RIA what they are willing to pay for it. An RIA must opt for at least a minimal, consistent effort to communicate their subject matter expertise to their prospects. So, while the vehicles underlying all that publicity are almost free, the talent to assemble content and distribute it is not. And that's the rub: RIAs need to make a commitment to reach out and sustain an effort to attract new prospects into their loop. Whether an RIA is ready to take the deep dive into social media, he or she needs to answer four questions. 1. Do I like the idea of using nearly free marketing tools to attract pr... (more)

Bob Reynolds & Putnam Lead the Industry to Twitter

By: D. Bruce Johnston, President, DBJ Associates Today’s announcement that Putnam twitter.com/putnamtoday, and their CEO, Bob Reynolds twitter.com/robertlreynolds will begin to twitter advisors and shareholders to keep them informed of events at the firm and with their investments should be roundly applauded by the investment management community.  At a time when the industry is in need of senior leadership to blaze a trail to earning back advisor and investor confidence this certainly sends a positive signal. The move signals to the industry and Putnam shareholders and advisors ... (more)

What FINRA Doesn’t Want You to Know About Social Media

New Media on Ulitzer Topic A at the recent Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association Annual Meeting (SIFMA) was what to do about the fastest-growing communications phenomenon since the invention of the Internet: the explosion in social networking. Whenever compliance and communications come together there is sure to be a tussle and this meeting was no different. Chairman and CEO Rick Ketchum cited the current policy as “currently constructed, these sites would not permit you to easily supervise these communications. For that reason, most firms prohibit their employe... (more)

Full speed ahead: FINRA social media regs remove “excuses for delay”

By D. Bruce Johnston, DBJ Associates Researchers and compliance officers are rallying around FINRA’s landmark 10-06 rule on social media-driven investment communications to give guidance to legions of newly energized investment marketers. Marketers rejoice: Hedges “We’re seeing new levels of enthusiasm among marketing communications project managers,” said Zach Hedges of Advisolocity recently. “Marketers on a tight budget see sunlight through the clouds.” He credits freeware networking site Linkedin, Twitter and WordPress for a lot of the investment marketers regained optimism. ... (more)

To “Friend” Is the Trend: Social Media & Financial Services Today

That is the title of financial services research firm Corporate Insights update to their 2008 study on the topic of social media in financial services. The attached video interviews Alan Maginn, Senior Analyst, Consulting Services and asks him to answer these four questions: How are financial services firms using social media? How are financial services firms handling customer service in regards to social media? How are financial services firms using Twitter? How are financial services firms using Facebook to interact with clients and prospects? While I appreciate Alan’s comment... (more)