He said "crowd sourcing: - talking to groups of like-minded individuals - could be a powerful way to find new clients through social media and new media and it needn't cost much to implement.
"Find out where your customers are, who they are and what they are talking about and get involved," he said.
It was important to have a strategy for social media that can be explained easily to third parties.
He urged delegates to share their views and get involved in social media and avoid being overly commercial or false, especially when sending group emails and pretending they were aimed at one person.
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He also said that it was important to be "in the right place at the right time" by talking to people when they wanted to listen whether that be through their mobile or online and to bear in mind that many consumers would be increasingly accessing the information through mobiles, laptops or other devices.
He urged delegates not to over-burden people with too much information, "a lot of organisations would fare better if they said less," he said
Mr Pentel was speaking on how mobiles and tablets are being used by major financial institutions to transform the way they do business. He looked at how this will impact the Financial Planning firms as well as how client behaviour is changing.
Planners have to choose the right contact strategy for their businesses. "My contact strategy is not the same as Tescos but it works for me," he told delegates.
The full-day conference is looking at why social media is vital in business, how to add a personal touch to marketing, best practice strategies and defining goals and objectives.
Financial Planner will be tweeting live from the conference on Twitter @FPM_Online and running regularly updated news coverage onto financialplanneronline.co.uk To follow the conference on Twitter, use the hashtag #ifpsocialmedia.
Speakers at the event include Abbie Tanner of A Business Innovation and  Philip Calvert from LifeTalk (formerly IFA Life) on LinkedIn essentials.
The conference qualifies for six hours of CPD.
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