Episode Summary
In this episode of The Out & About Podcast, Tiffany and Jimmy tackle one of the most common questions they hear from financial services firms: Which social media platforms should we actually be on?
While social media used to be optional for businesses, today it plays a much bigger role in how prospects evaluate credibility. Tiffany and Jimmy explain why an active social presence signals that a firm is “a living, breathing company,” and how platforms like LinkedIn now influence search visibility and AI language models.
They also walk through a practical way to choose platforms without chasing every trend. Instead of asking which platform is most popular, they recommend starting with a simpler question: Where is your audience already spending time?
Stay tuned for Part 2 of the conversation, where Tiffany and Jimmy dive into what to actually do on social media platforms once you’ve chosen them.
Key Takeaways:
This episode breaks down how financial services firms can choose social media platforms strategically instead of spreading their marketing efforts too thin.
- Problem statement: Many financial services firms feel pressure to be on every social media platform at once. That often leads to scattered effort, inconsistent posting, and channels that sit inactive for months.
- Why it matters: Prospects routinely check social media after visiting a firm’s website. If they see an active presence, it reinforces credibility and trust. If they see outdated or abandoned accounts, it can raise questions about how organized the firm really is.
- Real‑life example: Tiffany and Jimmy discuss a question they hear often from clients: Can we use the same copy across all social media platforms? Jimmy explains while the textbook answer is to tailor content for each platform, in practice many firms adapt the same message with small adjustments.
- Highlight any surprising or myth‑busting takeaways:
- Social media is no longer optional. As Jimmy notes, it has become “a must now,” not something businesses debate anymore.
- LinkedIn and other platforms increasingly feed into SEO and AI systems, which means consistent messaging across channels matters more than ever.
- Choosing platforms based on audience demographics, not popularity, often leads to simpler and more sustainable marketing strategies.
Don’t Miss the ONE Thing You Should Go Do First!
- Before creating new social accounts, take a step back and identify where your current clients are already active. Start by reviewing your client demographics and age groups, then research which platforms those groups tend to use. That insight alone can narrow down your platform choices significantly.
- Want more practical ideas? Join the Out & About newsletter for fresh insights into financial services marketing and downloadable resources.
Links & Resources
- Out & About Podcast #11: Marketing in 2026: Trends, Tips, Tactics, and More
- Out & About Podcast #9: Aligning Marketing with Business Goals
- Social Media Case Study: Employee Recruitment
Join Us!
- Want more practical ideas? Join the Out & About newsletter for fresh insights into financial services marketing and downloadable resources.
Transcript
Jimmy (00:10):
Social media, wouldn't you agree, Tiffany? It's a must now, right?
Tiffany (00:15):
What I'm seeing is just getting creative on the old standards.
Jimmy (00:18):
I mean, it's beyond just building a social proof. It's where you could find your potential clients.
Tiffany (00:25):
These are not the MySpace days.
Jimmy (00:27):
No.
Tiffany (00:30):
Hey everyone. Welcome back to The Out and About Podcast, where we break down all things marketing and financial services, what we're seeing working. So whether you've been in the marketing seat for decades or just sat down and we're handed the social media account, we're here to support you. So today we're talking about just that. We're talking about social media — any really specific question around that. We're joined by Jimmy, who's kind of been my companion through this whole journey. Glad to have you back here. And we're talking about, like I said, one of our most asked questions, which is which social media platform should we be on? So we're going to try to do this in 20 minutes, right?
Jimmy (01:16):
Yes. We're going to try and do this in 20 minutes. And for those who are tuning in for the first time, I'm Jimmy. I'm the marketing analytics director. Therefore, I'm here on this episode talking about social media because social media has analytics as data. Social media, it's a must now, right? It's no longer like a, yeah, I don't know if I want to do it.
Tiffany (01:44):
Oh, for sure. For sure. And that's the irony. You and I are old enough to remember when social media started and the decades of our career where it was like, "I don't want to be on social media and that's cool. You don't have to do that." But now it really is, I think for multiple reasons. And we preach the same message, but number one, when people search you, they're going to notice if you're on social media. When they're searching your brand, they're going to notice if you're on social media; if you've been posting regularly, it shows that it's a living, breathing company. You're actively doing things. And also just SEO and AIO, which we've talked about in recent podcasts. There's a lot of data showing that LinkedIn, especially, feeds into those language models. So it's important that you have messaging out there and it's consistent messaging and it's sharing how you want to be showing up, where you want to be showing up and all those things.
(02:53):
So yeah. These are not the MySpace days.
Jimmy (02:58):
No. And the thing is people, I mean, at the end of the day, we're all consumers too, right? And we would all, if we just take a step back, we would all just probably most of us, I would say, would remember at least one instance where we're curious about a particular brand or a company we want to maybe make a purchase from them. You look at their website and then you go, "Hmm, okay, I'm still not quite decided. Where else are they on? Let me see what they say on Instagram. Let me see what they say on LinkedIn." Kind of depends on what exactly you're looking after. If it's kind of more consumer products, then maybe on Instagram or they might have a TikTok. If it's something more on a professional level, you go to their LinkedIn, you kind of see, "Oh, who's there?
(03:46):
What do they say?" Things like that. And then you form the impression, which again, if we're talking about the funnel that helps you make a decision, right? Do I want to move further or do I want to go to another different brand now?
Tiffany (03:58):
Yeah, that's actually a really good point because if you just sit back and think about your own consumer behavior, there will be outliers listening, I know, say, "Oh, I would never do that." But we all do. Especially thinking of service providers, you do tend to check out if they, again, especially on LinkedIn or Facebook, if they've been posting things, they feel more legitimate than if you can't find anything. I mean, even just a plumber or something like that, you're just like, "Okay, so they're actively in business. They're legitimate versus someone who's not." I don't know. It's hard to feel they're valid if you don't have that going.
Jimmy (04:51):
Yeah. Your presence is not just, again, limited to the website. I mean, years ago and years ago, when websites, internet, everything, right? It's like, do I need a website?
Tiffany (05:03):
Exactly.
Jimmy (05:04):
If I have a storefront, that's good enough, right? I have a legitimate street address, you can find me at a business directory, but social media is kind of like the next step in the evolution that, yeah, it's just like if somebody doesn't have a website now, nobody's going to question, do I need a website? I think we're moving into like social media is almost getting there too. At least one will work, which probably brings us back to the question, which one? How do we pick?
Tiffany (05:37):
Yes. Yes. Okay. We need to talk about what we're saying yes to, but I have to ask because it's a fun question. So I guess two questions. We don't want to totally show our ages here, but we can show a little gravitas that we have seen.
Jimmy (05:54):
Put the filter on.
Tiffany (05:55):
Yes.
Jimmy (05:55):
Turn it all the way to the max.
Tiffany (05:58):
You and I are old enough to have seen the evolution of social media a number of times. So I have to ask: Did you have a MySpace account back in the day?
Jimmy (06:07):
No, but I'm aware of it.
Tiffany (06:08):
You did not have one. Okay. No. And two, do you remember when you got your first Facebook account?
Jimmy (06:14):
Yes.
Tiffany (06:16):
I was like a first gen. This is actually going to show my age, so feel free to Google. But I joined Facebook in college when you had to have a college email address, the first round of Facebook when the purpose of Facebook was to meet up with your classmates. And colleges had to join on, not the college themselves, but you know what I mean? So I had to use my college email address to join. And you joined up with people in your classes. This is what you looked up, for me, like Linguistics 101. Oh, who else is in this class right now? And now you can meet up for coffee. It was a simpler time.
Jimmy (07:11):
Okay. So that's interesting. I kind of consider myself like the first gen of the Facebook users as well but my experience was different. It wasn't tied to school. Okay.
Tiffany (07:25):
I mean, it shifted. Things happened really fast.
Jimmy (07:29):
Yeah. I think, yeah, you're right. It probably switched really quickly. Mine wasn't tied to that, but when I first joined, all we did was throw sheets at people. Yes.
Tiffany (07:42):
Throwing sheets.
Jimmy (07:43):
That is the true sign. If anyone knows what they're talking about when they talk about first gen Facebook, I throw a sheet at you, you throw a sheet back at me. Yes.
Tiffany (07:56):
A few years later, Twitter came onto the scene and I remember having just a daily routine of sitting down with my coffee in the morning and checking Twitter. And Twitter was at a point where it was like conversation. The same kind of people logged in. I was in this marketing space and we would all just like, "How's your day?" And whatever. At the same time, it was such a simple time, such a simple time for social media, right? Twitter is not even called Twitter anymore and it's used in a whole different way, like very reporter journalism driven. So I'm sharing this to say now there's just so many platforms and we have this sense of like you use Facebook for that, Facebook is for those people, LinkedIn for this, LinkedIn, but like it started from a simpler place where it was just a communication platform.
Jimmy (08:54):
Networking, communicating. I was going to say, and also just as a fun fact, well, for those again, kind of not familiar with my background, so I grew up and worked in Singapore. So Facebook was there, that was when I experienced Facebook that was there. So that could have been something that could have had something to do with why it was slightly different. The other thing is when Twitter was happening and getting really popular, it actually wasn't taking off in Singapore. We would know of it, but nobody really used it. Kind of like how WhatsApp was more of an Asia kind of app. And then it took years before it was more adopted in the US.
Tiffany (09:47):
Were you using something else or it was just Facebook?
Jimmy (09:49):
Huh?
Tiffany (09:50):
Were you using something else or just Facebook?
Jimmy (09:53):
Back then, yeah, it was just Facebook.
Tiffany (09:55):
Love It. Love it.
Jimmy (09:56):
Yeah. So it kind of ties back to, it's the same thing. It's the same app. It's the same program but then the different people using it, it depends, right? It depends on the people, they're using it, the countries, if we're talking within the US, probably even the locale and things like that.
Tiffany (10:17):
Absolutely. Okay. I'm going to break form and let that kind of be our yes, because I think we're going to speak a little bit into that. Or do you want to share what we're saying yes to? Maybe that'll be a segue.
Jimmy (10:31):
Let’s go straight into it. Yes, to picking social media of your choice just by being really calculated about it. So just not like, "Oh, what is the most popular one? Let's do that." But kind of like where are the social media platforms, what is my target audience? And again, for people like, "How do I know what my target audience is?" Well, literally look at your clients, kind of group them, the majority of them, and then if anything else fails, go for age, right? Age is always one of the easiest demographics and then do some research and see, oh, this age group, do they use Facebook or do they use Instagram or do they use something else?
Tiffany (11:17):
Yes.
Jimmy (11:17):
That's what I'm saying yes to.
Tiffany (11:19):
I love it. Yes. And what I'm saying yes to, I'm excited about social media. What I'm seeing is just getting creative on the old standards. So we just talked about Facebook, which has been around for just a hot minute and I feel like we're still having conversations with clients around like, "Well, what else can we be doing or should we go back to Facebook?" We were never on Facebook and all this kind of stuff. And then we have clients I just love who are like, "I never got on Facebook and I just want to hug them because they, I don't know, they may have chosen something else."
Jimmy (11:52):
Protect them.
Tiffany (11:53):
Yes.
Jimmy (11:54):
Put them in a glass dome, the precious.
Tiffany (11:57):
I know. That's a whole other thing we could talk about is just like the whole, what has it done to us? But anyway, we won't go there. It's out there and SEO is using it and Google's using it and people use it. So we can talk about just using it in a way that serves the business. So I want to unpack the question a little bit: Which social media platform should I be on? Because it does come up with our clients a lot. I know you and I are in those conversations a lot and it's really a question of, I think twofold, where should I be actually spending my time? I don't want to just be creating to create. I mean, we always say marketing shouldn't just be a creative project on the side. I don't want to just be spending money, spending time, spending resources.
(12:50):
And also, am I actually reaching more people? So I guess the question kind of comes in two ways where people are saying, "Are there social media platforms we should just be getting rid of? Do we need to be on X? Do we care about this or that?" And on the flip side, the clients are often questioning, is there another platform we should be using? Are there more people out there we're not reaching because we're not posting on whatever platform? And usually the conversations are around LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, occasionally Pinterest has come up, TikTok of course comes up, Reddit comes up, YouTube, if you consider that a social media platform, which I think you could in some ways. I don't know which ones I'm forgetting but those are kind of the ones we constantly think about.
Jimmy (13:45):
Yeah. These are the ones. And then there's Snapchat, this card, the list just keeps going.
Tiffany (13:52):
Oh, I know. I have not been in a conversation yet with a client who actually asks if we should be on Snapchat.
Jimmy (13:58):
That would be really interesting.
Tiffany (14:01):
Okay, where are we going with this campaign? But yeah, the others for sure. So what are your thoughts? I mean, where do we start?
Jimmy (14:08):
I would say, especially if we talk about financial services, right?
Tiffany (14:16):
Yes.
Jimmy (14:16):
Or yeah, I would even say just industry wide, minimally you should have LinkedIn because that's for your company is kind of like social proof, right?
Tiffany (14:28):
Yeah. Yep.
Jimmy (14:29):
It shows there are real people hired there, people can look around as we have been talking about, people are curious about people. Go to a website, check out the team photos, who's on the team and all that. So I would say, and now if I kind of pull it back to financial services, definitely LinkedIn is part of your startup pack.
Tiffany (14:51):
I love that.
Jimmy (14:51):
And also, I think that's where you get insights, right? I mean, it's beyond just building a social proof. It's where you could find your potential clients because you could look at job titles, you could look at locations.
(15:08):
I mean, LinkedIn is the one place where I feel people are just in a safe space in a way. They go there because this is a professional networking platform. They put their name, they put their location, they put their company name, they put their title, all of these give insights to them. And the other thing I would say in your startup pack would be potentially Facebook. If you have the additional time to do that, I would say Facebook, because again, looking at demographics, we can quite safely say Facebook users will probably be in that retirement, nearing retirement or in retirement age. And if you're in retirement planning, then yeah, Facebook. And if you're doing other things, you're creating even more content, video, podcasts, like what we're doing on Spotify, Apple, YouTube.
Tiffany (16:12):
Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. I would say I would agree with those base minimum LinkedIn, starting Facebook second, and then YouTube if there's videos and things like that, especially. I mean, YouTube is Google, it's searched a lot. I want to point out too, not only those two reasons for LinkedIn and Facebook with the audiences and purposes, but also the, I don't know what's the word, like the technology, the ability you have on those two platforms is so much, we're so much more limited on the others. So like Instagram, here we are 2026, we still can't put a URL in the caption. So until that changes — There's workarounds, there's link trees or whatever. There's all these workarounds, which still just feels so —
Jimmy (17:11):
Cumbersome.
Tiffany (17:12):
It is so cumbersome and it feels so old school. I mean, again, you and I have walked through social media evolutions and you know there's always been these workarounds and you plug this into that. And I feel like so many things are smoothing out except Instagram where you still can't. And oh, what's the other one you just mentioned that I can't think of now? Well, Twitter or X is still limited by the number of letters. And then for a while you couldn't put a headline image because they were trying to keep people on the platform. I don't know if that's changed or not but there's limitations.
(17:56):
In Facebook and LinkedIn you can do carousel posts, you can do a video post, you have huge amounts for captions and long form captions are doing really well these days. You can put the captions in the link in the comments. There's just so many smooth, organic ways to share information. You know what I'm saying?
Jimmy (18:22):
Yeah.
Tiffany (18:23):
Yeah. They're just hefty. They're just really good for that. So I feel like that's why sometimes we're like, if we're going to go to another platform, we need to have a really good reason for it or just keep it baseline. If we want to stay on X, we just keep it simple and we just do it the same way every time. Same with Instagram. If we're going to go there, we just keep the link in the bio to the blog post, whatever, Jimmy.com/blog, right? It just stays that way and we just remind people they can click on that. You just keep it simple.
Jimmy (19:05):
Yeah, you're right. And I think it's just also being aware of the limitations like X. The social media platform formally known as Twitter. What was it? It started with 120 characters and then it increased, I think to 180, if I'm not wrong. If somebody knows the actual answer, you could let us know.
Tiffany (19:26):
I think it doubled at one point. I mean, it was really limited when it started. It was like, I can't even remember.
Jimmy (19:33):
Yeah, it was really little. So there are limitations on each platform you need to be aware of. And also the other thing, the behavior of the users are also different and we've obviously established the demographics are different. Where I would kind of maybe make it even slightly more confusing is that the same demographics will be using two platforms differently based on how the platform works.
Tiffany (20:05):
Yeah. Tell us about that.
Jimmy (20:05):
You would use Facebook a certain way and you don't change your age, you don't change your demographics, but when you move to Instagram or TikTok, just simply because it's built to train you to use it in some way, right? So I think we have to keep that in mind. And also when choosing, kind of keep in mind what are people there for. LinkedIn is, there's a lot of learning on LinkedIn. Facebook, again, we have to remember it was started with family, friends, networking, things like that. So if we post something, is that something — put yourself in the shoes of a client. Is that something I will feel comfortable liking? Because if I like it, if I share it, my family is going to see it, things like that. So I think as we unpack, it starts getting a little bit more granular but those are just things we have to be aware of because it takes effort.
(21:10):
It's not just about, okay, we have this thing. Now we are just going to figure out how many social media platforms we have. We'll just duplicate it across all and it will work.
(21:24):
Most often don't.
Tiffany (21:26):
Hey, marketers here with a little post-production note. So Jimmy and I had such a great time with that conversation we didn't want to stop. So we continue to answer more questions around content, on which social media platforms you should be posting things, all that good stuff. We even answer a question around Reddit. So make sure you are following along. You can follow us on LinkedIn. You can hop on our website, outaboutcommunications.com/community, sign up for the newsletter, or just subscribe here on your favorite podcasting platform and YouTube to make sure you don't miss that part two. And we are excited to answer those questions. So follow along and we'll see you in the next one.
