Social media sites, such as Facebook, have become increasingly used as search engines and as a way to review businesses, making it a key issue to address, analyst Phil Calvert said.

Mr Calvert, founder of Lifetalk and a social media strategist, said many advisers fail to give an answer when he asks why they use social media. He said it is critical to have a proper plan in place and believes many are failing to make the most of “powerful online tools”.

He said: “We used to say if you’re not on Google, your business doesn’t exist. Now we’re saying if you’re not visible on social media, people can’t find, assess, review or refer your business.

“It is essential that you have a Facebook page for your business regardless of the age range of your clients. Facebook is now used as a search engine – indeed there is much evidence now to show that many people prefer to use social media to search for products and services than traditional search engines such as Google.”

He said: “There are also still a huge number of advisers who view social media as ‘new’ – this despite the fact that social as we know it has been around since 1998, with LinkedIn going live in 2003.

“This is worrying for a profession that offers so much, yet which is grossly underutilising powerful online tools that can be used to dramatically enhance the perception of their professionalism, credibility, trustworthiness and expertise.”

He suggested planners use promoted paid posts on Facebook and LinkedIn because they will be “astonished as to how many people will view them”.

He said: “In truth, social media is not a magic bullet for your sales, marketing, networking and communication activities within your business – but to ignore it or not have a plan will ultimately do you more harm than good, particularly now that we live in a world where searches for product and service providers in all industries almost always start online.”

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