SOCIALMEDIASTUDIES 2016

FIGURE 12

CONTENT DISTRIBUTION ON FACEBOOK BY ASSET MANAGERS AND ROBO-ADVISORS

Type of Content used by Asset Managers

Type of Content used by Robo-advisors 1% 3%

7%

11%

15%

31%

81%

51%

Link

Picture

Video

Text

Source: PwC Market Research Centre analysis based on TalkWalker

ROBO-ADVISORS “LIKE” PERSONALISED ANSWERS MORE THAN TRADITIONAL ASSET MANAGERS DO Although asset managers are using social media to provide information and support, the level of interaction with regards to their audience’s questions differs from that of robo- advisors, which are used to customising answers to their followers’ questions not just on Facebook but also on Twitter. On the contrary, traditional asset managers prefer to give standardised answers suggesting followers contact the customer services department in order to get a more specific response to a particular issue. This is linked to the fact that robo-advisors are principally interacting with a young and digital-savvy customer base, which expects personalisation and speediness from its FS providers 28 .

The type of content that traditional asset managers and robo-advisors disseminate 27 on Facebook also differs. Asset managers prefer posting pictures while robo-advisors use links extensively (see figure 12). The factors driving this situation can be ascribed to the fact that asset managers are used to roll advertisement campaigns on Facebook to target retail investors in the form of visual ads. On the other hand, robo-advisors are content-driven and they focus on driving traffic to their web- sites to provide the company’s views on specific investment matters or topics.

26 We have analysed the social media accounts of 10 of the most well-known robo-advisors at the global level in order to assess their level of interactivity on social media platforms 27 The analysis has been developed using TalkWalker during the period: 29 February 2016 – 11 April 2016 28 See footnote n. 24

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