Social media for RIAs: when it fits

By Sarah Falcon. Updated 2026-10-08.

Social media suits a firm with a clear niche, a partner with a point of view, and a goal that depends on being seen by specific people. For other firms it takes partner time and returns little.

What the 2026 data says

In the Kitces study, 36% of practices used social media, down from 42% in 2019. It had the highest RAC of any tactic at $4.88, which is the cost of each new dollar of client revenue.

In-person networking, used by 46% of practices, performed better, which Kitces ties to the chance it gives to build a relationship. Kitces also notes that social media is likely to produce little for advisors who lack a clear niche or other differentiation.

High-growth practices above $1 million in revenue used social media more than any other group, at 51%. Advisor time was 83% to 85% of the cost of social media at practices that were not high-growth, and 67% at high-growth practices once they passed $1 million, because more of the work moved to staff.

These are associations in self-reported data.

When social media fits

• The firm has a niche and a defined ideal client.
• The goal depends on being seen by specific people, such as referral partners, prospects, or advisors you want to hire.
• A partner has a view to share.
• Someone other than the partner can produce and schedule the posts.

When to skip it

If the goal depends on relationships formed in person, or no one can produce the posts, the effort goes further elsewhere. In the same study, 85% of new clients at high-growth firms came from trust a client or another trusted source passed on, or from trust the advisor built directly with the prospect, at networking events, webinars, and seminars.

How to run it with little partner time

1. Choose the platform by the audience. We start with LinkedIn and YouTube for RIAs.
2. Interview a partner. Ask what the firm believes about a client question and why.
3. Write from the interview. The post carries the partner's words and the partner approves it.
4. Hand each post to compliance before it publishes.
5. Schedule and watch replies, so a conversation that starts online reaches a person.

What to measure

First meetings that trace back to social, conversations started from posts and messages, and profile views among the roles you want to reach. Likes show attention and do not show clients.

Questions

Which platform should an RIA start with? The one where the people you want to reach already spend time. For referral partners, prospects, and recruits, we start with LinkedIn and YouTube.

How often should an RIA post? At a pace the team can keep. The Kitces report includes a chart of social media success by posting frequency (Figure 5.38, page 89). Read it before setting a schedule.

Sources

• The Kitces Report, Volume 2, 2026: How Financial Planners Actually Market Their Services. The survey drew 506 qualifying responses, 91% from Kitces.com readers. Figures are self-reported and show associations, not guarantees.

Next step

See how we run social media for RIAs.

Tell us where you want growth to come from.

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