My 15 Minutes of Fame: LinkedIn Is Social Network of Choice for Financial Professionals

Thursday, May 9, 2013

LinkedIn Is Social Network of Choice for Financial Professionals

Staying abreast of expert commentary, researching people and keeping up with industry news are top uses of social

In the finance world, knowledge is currency. And financial professionals seem to understand that staying tapped into their social networks is a great way to stay on top of the latest information. A Q1 2013 survey of financial professionals conducted by Research Now and American Century Investments found that social media platforms had a penetration rate of 90% among this group.

While Facebook remained the most popular overall social network, LinkedIn’s focus on business made it the top platform for work-related issues. One-third of respondents said they used LinkedIn only for business purposes, compared with 2% of Facebook users and 3% of respondents on Twitter.

Financial professionals also reported turning to social media most often in order to read up on commentary and expert insights on the finance world. And financial professionals seemed to be interested in using the “networking” aspect of social networking to build out their real-world relationships, as well; the next most popular uses for social media were to research people, and then to share relevant news or other content with clients.

Twitter’s ability to allow users to quickly spread small chunks of information to their followers may explain its sharp growth among financial professionals. The platform’s penetration rate among this group jumped to 34%, up from 27% the previous year.

Social media has clearly become part of the permanent landscape for financial professionals, with 40% of respondents indicating they used it several times a week, an increase from 31% the previous year.