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"Be where your clients are, not just where the industry hangs out"

ended 23. June 2025

Newspage asked financial services and property experts for their views on the best social media channels to find new clients and leads. For some, TikTok is exceptionally powerful, but others believe “old school” direct mail can cut through more in the digital age - as few expect it. But ultimately, as one expert says, you need to be "where your clients are, not just where the industry hangs out".

8 responses from the Newspage community

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Philly PonniahVerified
Chartered Wealth Manager and Financial Coach at Philly Financial
TikTok has been my best social media platform by far for finding new clients — 55 in the last year alone. The users tend to be keen to learn and take action. The myth that high earners are not on there is stupid. The algorithm is so much better at serving up content that is relevant, such as the 60% tax trap when you earn over £100k. My only concern is that I have had 50 clone accounts taken down this year where people scrape my videos, pretend to be me and then try and get money out of my followers by impersonating me.
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Chris BarryVerified
Director at Thomas Legal
LinkedIn is best for B2B and the others are more B2C focused. Building a personal brand works far better than ads as trust comes from getting to know a person, and the same applies virtually.
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Kate AllenVerified
Owner at Finest Stays
Forget TikTok and X. For FS clients, we recommend going old-school: direct mail. It’s highly effective, stands out, and lands when recipients actually have time to read it. Open rates average 42.2%, ROI can hit 162%, and 84% of marketers say it delivers the best results. In a noisy digital world, print feels important, and it works.
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Rob PetersVerified
Principal at Simple Fast Mortgage
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer and social media fits best as part of an overall marketing and branding strategy. The right platform depends entirely on who you serve. For B2B and professional referrals, LinkedIn remains king. It’s perfect for credibility, thought leadership and connecting with introducers. But for B2C or first-time buyers, Instagram and TikTok are catching up fast. X feels increasingly like a megaphone for opinions, not conversions. We monitor it, but rarely invest time there. It’s about striking the right balance: be where your clients are, not just where the industry hangs out.
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Ken JamesVerified
Director at Contractor Mortgage Services
"To Social or not to Social this is the question", Answers on a postcard !. As the younger generation look to gain their knowledge from social media and with a mix of advisors out there it is really important to gather a level of trust in you and your brand. Linked in is great for networking amongst your peers within and around your industry and Yes I have had a few leads over the years, but I could count them on one hand, TikTok however has been significantly better with a high level of engagement especially from things such as the Tik Tok lives, I am also active on Insta FB and utube but for me the one that works the best seems to be TT.
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Kundan BhaduriVerified
Entrepreneur, Investor and Landlord at The Kushman Group
As someone who has worked in high-level financial services and now runs a portfolio property business, I find LinkedIn remains by far the most valuable platform for generating meaningful leads in 2025. It is where credibility is earned, trust is built and serious conversations actually happen. TikTok might entertain, but it rarely translates into real financial engagement in our space – people may like your video, but they are not likely to invest based on it. X has become an echo chamber of outrage and noise, and feels more like a digital pub brawl than a platform for doing business. For FS professionals and brands, LinkedIn offers the perfect environment to share insights, demonstrate authority and attract the right kind of attention. But the secret is consistency and substance. Social media success in our sector is not about chasing trends or going viral – it is about being visible, articulate, and relevant to the audiences that actually matter.
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Rosalia Lazzara-TilleyVerified
Ceo at Manuka Media
Before picking a platform based on the vanity metrics and popularity contest, you should be picking a platform as a financial adviser based on your ideal client and where they are most likely to hang out. Most financial advisers just assume that anyone and everyone is eligible to be their client, but the reality is, people buy from people, so you have to understand your ideal client. If, as an adviser, you've been building up your LinkedIn profile with other industry professionals and your competitors, then there's no point posting on there if you don't have the audience who are going to buy from you. Some make the mistake of trying to be on all platforms but what they end up doing is writing one post and reposting it everywhere "just in case". You have to give each individual platform the format and style that it promotes. The best platform really depends on what type of customer you are trying to serve.
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Alex CurtisVerified
Founder at The Lead Engine
YouTube shorts doesn't seem as popular as it should be but you have the best of both worlds. It's kind of a search engine and social platform in one. There's a huge audience and most people are just cutting up longer clips to make a short. So there's a real opportunity and a bit less competition than the others. Having said that, in terms of getting a return we haven't been able to beat Google's quality, volume and consistency of leads. So I wouldn't neglect Google for any social media platform.