Twitter directory launched for IFAs

IFA Life has launched a directory of IFAs, financial planners and advisers who use blogging website Twitter for business.

Twitter is a free online micro-blogging website which enables users to post very short comments, observations and business updates to prospects, existing clients and professional connections.

As advisers join the 'Twitterati', it will help the growing number of internet-savvy consumers searching for financial advice to find advisers who use the simple web tool, says the financial services networking website.

Twitter has grown at a startling rate as 'member communities' including social networking websites and blogging overtake email in popularity, according to intelligence company Nielsen.

It is proving to be a 'powerful tool' for business users with one financial planner in the UK receiving a large SIPP enquiry as a result of his use of the tool, says IFA Life.

"As the World Wide Web reaches its 20th anniversary, it's exciting that financial planners and IFAs are adopting this powerful new tool to communicate and engage with clients and the wider business community," says Philip Calvert, founder of IFA Life.

"One of the most interesting trends occurring right now is growing use by consumers to search and find IFAs and planners through social networking websites and tools like Twitter."

"Google is still the first choice to find financial advisers, but these new Internet tools are growing in popularity because they add a human touch to the search results as real people provide answers to people's questions," says Calvert.

Twitter is an important source of traffic to many websites so IFAs who want more exposure for their business online need to build social networking into their marketing strategy, he says.

While many advisers are sceptical social networking websites can benefit their business, research has shown use of sites such as Facebook by those aged between 50 and 64 is growing at twice the speed as those under 18.

"Given the extraordinary speed at which Twitter is growing, there's no doubt that its search capabilities will become more and more important - that's why we've created a directory of IFAs and Financial Planners who are using Twitter," says Calvert.

"Financial advisers who don't use Twitter and who aren't in the directory will miss out on business leads - it's as simple as that," he adds.

IFAs and financial planners can sign up free to IFA Life's Twitter directory at: http://www.ifalife.com/twitterdirectory and can get started with a Twitter profile at: http://twitter.com/.