UGC SEO: How to Employees Can Boost Your Firm’s Brand
Let’s face it: whether we’re talking with our friends about our favorite restaurant, dentist, or shopping brand—collective word of mouth significantly impacts the reputations and bottom lines of businesses of all sizes. This applies to financial firms, CPA consultancies, and every accounting practice out there. Your brand reputation matters for your lead generation and SEO strategy. Social media has amplified “word of mouth” marketing. This is where UGC SEO (user-generated content SEO) can have a powerful impact. Your best UGC creator may be your own team members. Recognize this collective power and encourage employees to become “brand ambassadors” and help spread the word.
By harnessing the authentic voices of your employees, you can boost your firm’s search rankings and enhance your brand visibility. But, surprisingly, many financial firms often overlook the role employees can play in influencing the clients they’re trying to connect with. But, when employees speak—your prospects listen. So, here are three ways to turn your team into a marketing machine.
1. Communicate your firm’s vision.
To maximize the impact of UGC SEO, start by ensuring that your employees understand the firm’s vision, mission, and core values. You want everyone on your team to understand the value and benefits you provide to your clients—and how their roles contribute to client success. That means boldly explaining your company’s vision and mission to your employees.
Be clear about where your team fits in your culture and the big picture, and help them see how their roles contribute to the overall success of your firm’s brand. Employees who feel important are more likely to be cheerleaders for your services.
2. Encourage employees to share content for UGC SEO.
Marketers highly prize UGC because it’s authentic, engaging, and often more relatable than polished marketing campaigns. Embrace UGC SEO by encouraging your employees to share posts about their work or create a venue for your team members to share on LinkedIn or the firm’s blog. Even recognizing their individual social posts (and reposting) can go a long way. By showcasing client success stories or insights into your firm’s culture, your employees help humanize your brand and send strong signals to search engines.
3. Provide clear social media and compliance guidelines.
While employee-generated content can boost UGC SEO, financial firms must navigate strict regulations. Encourage your employees to share, but give them the do’s and don’t’s of doing so. The recent M1 Finance LLC settlement highlights the risks when firms don’t properly supervise social media activity. Here’s what you need to know:
- Fair and Balanced Content: Under FINRA Rule 2210, all social media posts must be fair, balanced, and not omit material information. Don’t share any UGC that has exaggerated or misleading claims about returns and fees, violating these rules. Ensure your employees understand these guidelines.
- Supervision is Key: FINRA found that M1 failed to pre-approve and monitor influencer posts, resulting in an $850,000 fine. Your firm needs a strong review process for employee content, ensuring it meets compliance standards.
- Recordkeeping Requirements: Both the M1 and Cobra Trading cases show the importance of maintaining records of all social media communications. FINRA requires firms to archive these posts to comply with Exchange Act Rule 17a-4 and protect against regulatory issues.
By implementing clear social media guidelines and a strong supervisory process, your firm can leverage UGC SEO effectively while staying compliant, building trust, and avoiding costly fines.
Embrace UGC SEO for Your Financial Firm
When employees feel valued and proud of their work, they’re excited to share their experiences—and this authentic content is exactly what potential clients want to see. By incorporating UGC SEO into your overall content and SEO strategy, your financial firm can boost its online visibility, enhance client trust, and differentiate itself in a crowded market.
Tap into the power of your employees and energize them to boost your marketing efforts.
Ready to power up your SEO efforts? As a specialized SEO consultant and financial copywriter, I can help you develop effective strategies that align with your brand’s goals and resonate with your target audience. Let’s chat about taking your firm’s digital presence to the next level.