Social media continues to shape how producers connect with clients. As we move into 2025, the digital landscape is evolving rapidly, with new tools, strategies, and trends emerging at a pace that can be hard to keep up with. However, staying on top of these changes is essential to grow business, attract new clients, and stay ahead of the competition.
Understanding and adapting to these trends will allow you to not only maintain relevance but also leverage the unique opportunities social media offers to deepen client relationships and enhance your marketing efforts.
Facebook Special Ad Categories
One of the most significant developments coming in 2025 is Facebook’s expansion of its “special category ads” to include financial services. Previously limited to housing, employment, and credit, this change adheres financial advisors, life insurance agents, and retirement planners to stricter rules when running paid ads on the platform. These include limitations on targeting by age, gender, and ZIP code to ensure fairness and a required declaration that the ad falls within this special category.
Working Within the Restrictions
While these constraints may seem challenging, they encourage a shift toward more creative and strategic approaches:
- Broad Targeting, Tailored Content: Use content that resonates with your audience naturally, like retirement-focused messaging to appeal to older users, even with generalized targeting. Also consider avoiding terms like “retirement” in your ad copy. Rather than targeting specific age groups (like retirees or pre-retirees), planners can highlight benefits like “secure financial future” or “planning for life’s next phase” without directly mentioning age or retirement.
- Interest Targeting: Focus on relevant interests such as “financial literacy” or “retirement planning” to refine your audience.
- Engaging Offers: Drive clicks with value-driven ads like free e-books or quizzes, e.g., “Are You Ready for Retirement? Take the Quiz.”
- Retargeting: Use Facebook Pixel to reconnect with people who’ve visited your site or engaged with previous ads.
Making the Most of It
These restrictions emphasize ethical advertising while requiring more engaging and value-focused campaigns. By leveraging these tools creatively, financial professionals can expand their reach, maintain compliance, and build stronger connections with prospective clients.
Ephemeral Content
Ephemeral content—such as interactive stories, live streams, and disappearing posts—continues to be a powerful way for financial professionals to connect with audiences. This format thrives on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and even LinkedIn’s newer story-style features, appealing to users’ desire for timely, engaging interactions.
Ephemeral content works because it creates a sense of urgency, encouraging viewers to act quickly before the content disappears. For financial advisors, this offers an opportunity to share time-sensitive information, like updates on market trends, limited-time offers for consultations or upcoming webinar announcements.
How to Leverage Ephemeral Content Effectively:
- Interactive Stories: Use polls, quizzes, and question boxes to engage audiences. For example, a story poll asking, “What’s your biggest retirement concern?” can drive engagement while offering insights into client pain points.
- Live Streams: Host live Q&A sessions or mini-educational webinars on trending financial topics. The real-time interaction fosters trust and positions you as an approachable expert.
- Disappearing Posts: Share exclusive content, like quick tips or client success highlights, that feel more personal because of their limited availability.
This type of content also encourages users to check back frequently, increasing overall visibility and engagement with your profile. By incorporating ephemeral strategies into your social media plan, you can build deeper connections with your audience while keeping your brand top of mind.
Short-Form Video
Video content continues to dominate the social media landscape, with short-form videos leading the way. Platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube have seen explosive growth in this format. In fact, 93% of marketers say video is a key part of their strategy, and short-form videos boast the highest ROI across all social media content types. Additionally, TikTok’s user base is projected to surpass 1.1 billion active users in 2025, highlighting the immense potential for reaching new audiences.
Short-form video by the numbers:
- 81% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, with short-form videos seeing the highest engagement rates across all platforms (Wyzowl, 2024)
- 54% of consumers prefer short-form videos under 60 seconds (HubSpot, 2024)
- TikTok users watch over 1 billion hours of video daily, with 63% of TikTok users saying they discover new products and services on the platform (TikTok for Business, 2024).
- 60% of consumers say they prefer watching a short-form video over reading text when learning about a product or service (Insivia, 2024)
- Instagram Reels generated 10x more engagement compared to standard video posts in 2023, highlighting the power of short-form video on the platform (Social Media Examiner, 2024)
- 78% of people say they have been convinced to purchase a product or service after watching a brand’s video (Wyzowl, 2024)
- 83% of marketers believe video gives them a good return on investment (Statista, 2024)
Short-form video is a game-changer for simplifying complex topics like retirement planning, annuities, or life insurance benefits. Engaging 30-second clips can break down financial jargon into relatable, visually appealing content that captures attention quickly. This approach resonates particularly well with younger, tech-savvy demographics who prefer bite-sized, easily digestible information.
Leveraging platforms built for short-form video can establish authority, increase brand awareness, and drive meaningful engagement—all while staying ahead in an increasingly digital marketplace.
Additional Trends
Newer social media platforms like Bluesky and Threads are gaining traction, offering new spaces for financial professionals to connect with more engaged, niche audiences. Another opportunity for marketing your services directly through social media can be found in the rise of social commerce. This enables seamless transactions, allowing professionals to sell consultations or services without leaving the platform. By keeping an eye on these developments, you can stay ahead of the curve, experiment with fresh strategies, and further expand your digital presence.
Social media marketing won’t be your only concern moving into the new year. To help you finish the year strong and reach new heights in 2025, IAMS has prepared a complimentary Year-End Planning Sales Package. This package includes the following:
- New Year Revitalization Guide – Learn how to reflect on your year, build a winning marketing plan, and focus on long-term benchmarks that go beyond the numbers.
- Year-End Financial Planning Checklist – Help clients and prospects organize their finances while you uncover new opportunities to address their planning needs.
- Policy Review Kit – Use this simple, cost-effective collection to connect with clients and prospects through policy reviews: An easy, impactful strategy that works from anywhere.
Click below or call (800)255-5055 to request your kit today!
