Firms See Dip in Social Media Engagement: Study

What You Need to Know

Individuals consumed more content across channels overall, Hearsay found.
Instagram generated the most engagement despite being the least used social platform in financial services.
LinkedIn is a good channel for financial service pros to focus on, Hearsay advises.

Social media matters for financial services firms, yet a white paper released Wednesday by Hearsay, a digital client engagement platform, showed that the number of engagements was down in 2023. While individuals consumed more content across channels overall, they opted to engage with it less often than in 2022. 

Hearsay’s study aggregated data from more than 100 leading global financial services firms and their cumulative 260,000 agents and advisors who used the Hearsay platform during the calendar year 2023. Researchers analyzed some 13 million published social media posts, which garnered more than 21 million engagements across Facebook, LinkedIn, X and Instagram. 

“Target audiences are consuming a high volume of financial content across more channels than ever before, yet engagement dropped this year,” Leslie Leach, chief marketing and strategy officer of Hearsay Systems, said in a statement. “Our survey points out areas of weakness and opportunity so that firms can fine-tune their strategy and tactics to make the most of their social programs.”

Instagram generated the most engagement, even though the average rate dipped from 1.6 in 2022 to 1.1 last year — and was also the least used social platform (again) this year. Still, Instagram performed three times better than Facebook and 14 times better than X.

Some channels experienced little change. Facebook engagement came in at 0.4 in both 2022 and 2023, and X edged up from 0.07 to 0.08.

The study also found that post frequency declined year over year, particularly on Facebook and X, suggesting that brands are no longer posting for the sake of posting. Rather, they are publishing a lower volume of carefully curated content.

Original content generated three times better engagement than modified content and 10 times better engagement than unmodified content. Original content’s performance is also remarkably consistent from month to month.