Why Facebook still matters in the finance industry

Just as Millenials are leaving the social network, their parents are joining it

Even President Obama knows what the rest of us have known for some time now: Facebook is no longer cool for many younger users.

They’ve already moved on to Snapchat, WhatsApp and whatever will come next (there willalways be another new social network/communications platform).

But here’s the interesting thing: just as early adopters — those kids and teens who practically grew up on Facebook — are leaving the platform, that’s when the mainstream is arriving.

Facebook has definitely crossed the Chasm

In my memory, Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm, was the first and best mainstream description of technology diffusion curves. The author contends that startup technology companies face a continuously changing new customer as they mature and successful companies must cross the chasm between early users and mainstream users.

So, the innovative early adopters of new technologies make way for the early and late majority of mainstream users. That seems to be what’s happening.

For people like us in the financial industry, this isn’t something to lament. Just the opposite: while Millenials are fleeing the Social Network, their parents are actually using it more and more. That’s good, because they’re the ones with money.

Facebook may matter more than ever in finance

In my work with clients (who tend to be venture capital-backed online investment advisors) and as head of investor community at leading equity crowdfunding platform, OurCrowd, Facebook matters more than ever.

Sure, our activity on Facebook leads to very few direct conversions of new investors (it’s a high hurdle for OurCrowd, which services only accredited investors). Financial marketers shouldn’t expect FB to magically bring new investors through the door.

But, nevertheless, Facebook is an integral part of how our investors engage with financial firms.

IThink of Facebook as an important stop on your customer’s journey. It’s not that marketing can’t rely on the funnel anymore — it’s that the funnel has gotten really complicated. Users are doing a million things all at once, checking a boatload of sources and media, and returning to search engines to verify an opinion that they’re just forming.

Facebook is an important source of validation. Your prospects may or may not spend a lot of time there but you’re going to want to be there if they do go looking for you. Facebook assists conversions in the twisted, mangled customer path that your prospects are taking on the way to doing business with you.

It’s ironic that the Finance industry, which is typically slow to migrate to new technologies and media, stands to gain a lot from Facebook becoming so mainstream. Investors are (finally) using the social network — you should, too.

Zack Miller is a partner and Head of Investor Community at OurCrowd, a leading equity crowdfunding platform. He’s also the author of Tradestream your Way to Profits: Building a Killer Portfolio in the Age of Social Media.