Five Fabulous Social Media Tools You Need to Know About

Is your social media activity missing some pizazz? Wish you had a few new tricks up your sleeve to increase engagement and measure results? Well, look no further!

Here are five helpful tools to enhance your social media activity (and have a little fun):

1.    LinkedIn Social Selling Index

LinkedIn offers a free tool that evaluates the effectiveness of your LinkedIn profile and activity. The tool measures your social selling efforts based on four criteria:

• Establishing your professional brand
• Finding the right people
• Engaging with insights
• Building relationships

The tool grades you on a scale from 1 to 100 (100 being the best). The average financial advisor score is 18. Find out your score to see how you stack up and benchmark yourself against future results: LinkedIn Social Selling Index.

2.    Bitly

Bitly is a free tool that allows you to shorten links and make them trackable. I use it every time I share a link to third-party content for two reasons:

• It shortens the URL length to optimize the character count, which is especially important on Twitter.
• It creates an archive of all your shared links and how many times people clicked on them.

The first reason is highly practical, and the second is extremely valuable for determining what content is most interesting to your followers. Did I mention it’s free?

3.    Unsplash

Free. Stock. Photographs. Boom! Use them in your social media posts, for blog content, on your website — wherever you need images. You don’t have to pay for them, and you don’t have to worry about image rights and royalties. They ask you to include a credit to the photographer to say “thank you,” but it’s not required. Check it out.

4.    Video Blogging Kit by UBeesize

If you’re just getting started with video, this is a great setup for beginners. It features a basic ring light with various setting options, a tripod, and a mount for your smartphone. The latest version even includes a Bluetooth remote control to start and stop the camera. Buy it on Amazon for less than $50.

5.    GIPHY

In the “just for fun” category, when you can’t say enough with words, say it with an animated GIF. Often featuring pop culture references and trendy sayings, they’re great for laughs and to get people’s attention to emphasize a point. GIPHY has tons to choose from, or create your own.

Find out more about financial advisor marketing strategies from LPL marketing consultants.

If you're already an LPL Financial advisor, get exclusive marketing, branding, and social media marketing tools and trainings on the Resource Center.

You should consult your compliance department for information about the rules and use of social media.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES

All company names noted herein are for educational purposes only and not an indication of trading intent or a solicitation of their products or services. LPL Financial doesn’t provide research on individual equities.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Sarah provides custom marketing and social media consultations for LPL Finanical advisors and investment programs. In this role, she consults with and supports clients in effectively marketing their business in today's increasingly competitive environment. View full bio.