The CFA Institute made me do it: A social media tale
I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to develop a business presence on Facebook. LinkedIn, Twitter, and my blog kept me busy enough.
But then I heard that the CFA Institute had way more followers on Facebook than LinkedIn. How many? I forget the numbers I heard at the institute’s 2010 annual conference, but more recent statistics include
- Facebook – more than 40,000 fans
- LinkedIn member group – almost 14,000 (and 27,000 in candidate group)
- Twitter – more than 8,000
- LinkedIn company page – almost 3,800
I found these stats in “The CFA Network” in CFA Magazine. The big gap between Facebook and other social media made me think seriously about Facebook.
I’m not saying that 40,000 fans on Facebook are worth more than 14,000 group members on LinkedIn. It seems as if the CFA Institute’s LinkedIn members are more engaged than its Facebook members. I enjoy my conversations on the group very much.
However, the Facebook numbers made me think about delivering content the way my readers want. I’ve blogged about this in “Great blog posts don’t matter…” Eventually I started an Investment Writing Facebook page. The Facebook page has become another way for me to share my blog posts and to experiment with starting conversations.
My Facebook page is still evolving. I haven’t found the right formula yet. But I’ve had fun experimenting. Thank you, CFA Institute!
FB and LinkedIn are SO different. I find it interesting that CFA has more FB fans. How engaged are those fans, that’s the question (what’s the percentage of likes and comments to the number of fans)?
I much prefer FB to LI and Twitter…there’s room to have more of a conversation, I find. (It’s also where more of my audience hangs out.)
Robyn,
That’s a great question. I’d love to hear from the CFA Institute on that.
I’m more active in the CFA Institute LinkedIn Group than on the Facebook page.
Such a great piece. My own impression is that the demographics are different. LI seems to be groomed while FB is where you let it all hang out.
Catherine,
I love how you describe the difference between LI and FB! Thank you for taking the time to comment.