Advisors keep buzzing about the best mobile apps and social media sites, despite their uncertainty about how to navigate compliance issues.
As of 2011, 16% of advisors said they use social media to boost their businesses while another 31% said they don't now but do plan to use it, according to a recent AdvisorBenchmarking report.
There's a good reason why more advisors are turning to social media: because LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other sites and applications help them decrease marketing expenses, improve client support and, ultimately, increase revenue, says Amy McIlwain, president of Financial Social Media. McIlwain, who spent six years in the financial industry selling advertising space for Senior Market Advisor magazine,launched Financial Social Media in 2010 to address the compliance issues surrounding social media and the financial industry.
"While financial advisors may have initially been resistant or hesitant to embrace social and mobile apps, there are a medley of easy-to-use apps that make it easier than ever for financial advisors to manage their business, clients and the morass of information regarding the industry," McIlwain writes in an April 4 blog post for ByAllAccounts, a data aggregation firm used by thousands of advisors and wealth managers.
So what are the top 10 must-have social media and mobile apps that are fun, easy to use, and beneficial for financial advisors? Read on to learn about McIlwain's recommendations.
1. Bloomberg Mobile. This business news app is free, and users go to it for real-time financial market data, company descriptions and the latest market news and stock quotes. Advisors can use the "my stocks" feature to create personalized portfolios of stocks to follow for themselves or clients.
2. Nest Egg Estimator. This is one of Android's top 10 apps, according to Financial Social Media's McIlwain, noting that it's a great retirement tool because it projects finances into future years showing income, taxes, assets and debt. Advisors can give as little or as much information as they want. "More data means more accurate results," McIlwain writes. "It also allows you to try different scenarios such as purchases, expenses, job changes and more."
3. Flipboard Pages. This iPad app delivers content from a number of publications, including ABC News, All Things Digital, Bon Appétit, Lonely Planet, SB Nation, SF Gate, Uncrate and The Washington Post Magazine. When an article from one of those publishers is shared on Twitter or Facebook, a Flipboard user selects "Read Article," and can thus stay up to date on the latest news and magazine content in the financial industry.
5. 
7-10. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube. Last, but certainly not least, McIlwain recommends these best-known social media sites, all of which can be downloaded to a smartphone if a user already has an account with any of them.
