The overwhelming majority of B&C Distributor poll respondents, 73.33 per cent, voted that social media is not a key tool to the broker and advisory market.
Ashley Ilsen of development lending specialist Regentsmead said: “Social media can be a great way of engaging with potential consumers and a wider audience business may have otherwise not had access to”.
“The resulting business is often completely intangible and I meet plenty of people that argue social media is a waste of time as there is no tangible benefit.”
He noted that social media is ideal to remain in industry discussions rather than directly advertising certain products.
However when asked about the FCA adopting a stance on social media Ashley added: “In a world of retweets, likes and endorsements there will always be a grey area as to what is and what isn’t acceptable.”
Rob Derry Managing Director of specialist packagers, Brunel Mortgages and Loans, believes that the FCA is right to take a stance on social media.
“It is a form of advertising and so it needs to be on their radar to ensure that firms are advertising in a compliant manner,” said Rob.
“I think there are some businesses who simply don’t understand it – they’re not being deliberately misleading and it is very difficult to get a fully compliant financial promotion in to 140 characters, of course.
“ I think a lot of the confusion on Twitter, for example, comes from the FCA’s term of ‘In the course of business’ so there are people employed by firms in the industry who don’t realise that they could be breaking the rules simply by retweeting an already non-compliant promotion or even replying to a compliant one.”
Businesses adverse to social media may need to adapt according to Vic Jannels, Group Executive Chairman of AToM, who believes that in the next few years almost everything in the intermediary sector will be disseminated using social media.
“Providers will still need to deal transactionally, but it is likely that they will also find that the easiest, immediate route to market will be electronic,” said Vic.
“Undoubtedly, many older folk may still demand face to face contact. Particularly if like me they find Tablets / I Phones / Twitter / Facebook / Pintrest and the remaining myriad almost unfathomable.”
Roger Morris, Director of Sales at Precise Mortgages, a regular user of social media, believes the key is to be proactive.
“I have my LinkedIn connected to Twitter. I simply get photos of all the broker events, visits and meetings I attend, I send out messages about positive things, never rates or specific products and brokers love this.
"I get so many brokers asking me criteria questions and it has raised our profile so much,” added Roger.
“My advice to anyone is make sure your proactive on Social Media just don't have to promote rate just promote yourself.”
Either way, the consensus amongst the industry is that social media is yet to become an integral part of the intermediary sector but it is certainly useful to those who utilise it.
You can read the full FCA guidelines on social media here.
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