How Millionaire Investors Are Using Social Media

July 30, 2014

This article is included in these additional categories:

Digital | Financial Services | Household Income | Privacy & Security | Social Media

SpectremGroup-Millionaire-Investors-Social-Media-Use-July2014Roughly three-quarters of Millionaire investors (with $1-5 million in net worth, not including primary residence) report using social media platforms, with Facebook (57%) the most commonly-used, according to [download page] a Spectrem Group study. LinkedIn is the next-most popular (41%), with YouTube (26%) also used by a significant proportion, while Twitter (10%) and Google+ (8%) don’t see much interest. The analysts note that, aside from LinkedIn, Millionaire investors’ use of social media tends to be more social than professional, and that even LinkedIn is not considered a primary vehicle for reading financial blogs.

Interestingly, while few Millionaire investor users of social media use it to research investment information, Baby Boomers emerge as somewhat of an outlier. For example, while only 3% of Millionaire investors would use LinkedIn to research investment information, that figure rises to 7% among Baby Boomers (aged 55-64). Baby Boomers are similarly most likely to use Facebook (10% vs. 1%), LinkedIn (10% vs. 5%) and Google+ (7% vs. 1%) to find a financial or investment advisor.

A study last year by LinkedIn found greater use of social media for financial purposes among the “Mass Affluent” (current investors with $100,000 ”“ $1 million in assets, excluding the value of their homes). Indeed, almost 40% of Mass Affluents surveyed reported using social media for discovery (21%) or consideration (32%) of financial companies. The Spectrem Group study, though, doesn’t find Mass Affluent investors to be significantly more likely than Millionaire investors to use social media for financial or investment information – although it does show that LinkedIn would be their top choice, as opposed to Google+ among Millionaires.

Meanwhile, separate results from the Spectrem Group study identify the various reasons why investors aren’t using social media. Among Mass Affluent investors, 51% worry about the privacy of their information, 48% see no value in the purposes of the programs, and 47% see them as a waste of time. Millionaires share those top 2 concerns, at a slightly higher rate.

Interestingly, all of the Millionaire respondents under 35 who aren’t using social media cited privacy as a primary concern. And among social-avoiding Millionaires, Millennials were also the most likely to consider social media a waste of time.

About the Data:  The 2014 Mass Affluent Investor report is fielded each month with the rotation of questions changing on a quarterly basis. Each quarter a different topic of questions is fielded. For this quarter, Spring 2014, the questions dealt with Using Social Media and Mobile Technology in Financial Decisions. For the first quarter, 1,050 respondents qualified based on the aggregate total of the household’s indicated net worth. The surveys were completed by the person primarily responsible for making the day-to-day financial decisions within the household.

The 2014 Millionaire Investor report is fielded each month with the rotation of questions changing on a quarterly basis. Each quarter a different topic of questions is fielded. For this quarter, Spring 2014, the questions dealt with Using Social Media and Mobile Technology in Financial Decisions. For the second quarter, 1,361 respondents qualified based on the aggregate total of the household’s indicated net worth. The surveys were completed by the person primarily responsible for making the day-to-day financial decisions within the household.

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