Only a select few asset managers, such as Vanguard, have a blog according to a research report published by kasina. What might be the reasons behind the low adoption rate?
Introductionkasina evaluated the social media efforts of 45 asset managers and found that only 39% of those firms surveyed utilized a blog as part of their social media efforts. While I find this surprising, I believe there a a number of likely reasons driving the low blog adoption rate amongst asset managers.
Out of all the social media channels, it would seem like blogs would be an easy avenue with less potential compliance hurdles than other channels such as twitter or Facebook. Via a blog, an asset manager can:
Just the short list of benefits in utilizing a blog mentioned above should make blogging a key avenue to pursue for asset managers.
What could be the number one reason for the low rate of blog adoption?
Simply, I believe this comes down to a lack of resources, dedicated or otherwise, to social media.
Most asset managers have been slow to adapt to social media since the regulations are slowly being analyzed, interpreted and implemented. With the slow adaptation also comes a perceived lack of clear ROI around social media at the c-level. These factors have contributed to many asset managers likely trying to cover social media with existing marketing staff who already have other “day jobs”.
The asset managers who are successfully utilizing social media are fully aware of and have addressed their staffing needs early on. Witness Vanguard, who studied their twitter efforts for 9 months and specifically identified six key executives who would contribute.
Some other reasons hindering blog usage amongst asset managers may include:
Whatever the reasons maybe, I believe blogs are one of the easiest ways for an asset manager to make use of a content marketing strategy and actively engage in social media with little downside risk.
Sep 8, 2011Adam, frankly I’m surprised it’s as high as 39%. The mid-size asset managers I talk to are still trying to get their arms around how to use social media in a compliant manner. And you are absolutely right: it comes down to a lack of dedicated resources.
Scott Peterson´s last [type] ..Must Tweets by Securities Reps Be Pre-Approved? NO!
Sep 12, 2011Hello Dan,
Thank you for the comment.
I wholeheartedly agree that perhaps smaller firms are more nimble with social media. From my discussions, that stems from a couple of factors: ability to work more closely with legal/compliance, more entrepreneurial attitude, smaller marketing budgets.
Adam
Sep 12, 2011Scott,
I see this ~39% level of blog adoption as the tipping point. I think once asset managers address the staffing needs and figure out the compliance rules, the next 12 months will see many more asset managers begin to utilize blogs. Blogs go so well with a content marketing strategy and other channels like Twitter and Facebook it just makes sense as a strategy.
Hardly any clients want to or have the time to read long, in depth research papers, so blogs are a great way to still communicate your thoughts and research. Just need to get more writers and portfolio managers trained in writing for the web!
Nov 7, 2011I wholeheartedly concur that maybe smaller sized companies are more nimble with social media. From my discussions, that stems from a few of factors: capability to function much more carefully with legal/compliance, more entrepreneurial attitude, smaller marketing budgets.
Grace´s last [type] ..Understanding Men in Relationships
Nov 10, 2011Hi Grace,
Thank you for the comment you shared.
All three of the reasons you listed are quite good reasons why smaller sized companies in the investment management industry have adopted social media quicker than larger competitors.
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7:46 pm
Adam, nice post as always. I agree with your rationale that asset managers are “still struggling to figure this whole ‘social media’ thing out.” It’s just delivering good content (as firms were doing in other channels), with additional compliance hurdles, to engage investors in other channels. An interesting thing is smaller firms are using some of these newer communications channels perhaps a bit quicker than some of the larger firms – maybe due to the entrepreneurial spirit as opposed to the beurocracy.