Beyond cat videos: AMP and Clime IM harness social media

AMP and Clime Investment Management have shared how they are harnessing the power of social media to help the firm reach a younger demographic and increase brand awareness.

On Instagram, AMP has 4,275 followers while Clime has 1,202, but Clime is performing better on TikTok where it has 737 compared to AMP’s 260.

Speaking to Money Management, Michael Baragwanath, managing director at Clime Investment Management, said the firm is using social media to reach a retail audience beyond its traditional private clients. If the firm can reach the younger generation, then they will benefit “at both ends” of Australia’s intergenerational wealth transfer, he said.

“We are in the finfluencer space. It’s great and really working for us. Some of our posts have gone nuts – we’re talking about macroeconomic stuff; it isn’t a product push.

“It is a big challenge for financial services firms: How do we get our brand presence with younger clients, and how do we deliver things that resonate with them? We can’t wait and only come to them when they inherit wealth and our existing clients have died.”

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A popular video of the firm was one where chair John Abernethy discussed the Greek debt crisis which received over 165,000 views. Others covered Trump’s global trade moves, RBA rates, Chinese technology and the cost-of-living crisis.

Meanwhile, AMP said its social media focus seeks to make economics more accessible and improve financial literacy. While it has a presence on Instagram and TikTok, most traffic comes via LinkedIn where it has 99,000 followers. 

AMP deputy chief economist, Diana Mousina, said she aims for three videos per week rotated between her and her economist colleagues Shane Oliver and My Bui.

“We have been producing long-form content on LinkedIn, but as Reels took off then we thought we could engage in a different medium to help people build their financial literacy. It has been a slow burn, and we are still building followers. Sometimes finance can seem like a heavy topic when you’re scrolling at night, but they perform very well on Linkedin where the audience is more niche,” she said.

“I hope we are building the AMP brand and gaining positive traction. It’s hard to tell the demographics though and if we are reaching younger people. It is well-known that young people have lower levels of financial literacy, so we want to help them build up their skills.”

While most videos focus on economics topics such as inflation, the RBA and healthy financial habits, a tour of its new office in Sydney received almost 1 million views on TikTok.  

Being careful to avoid product pushes in the posts, Baragwanath is nonetheless hopeful the social media posts will reach a younger retail audience who may then consider Clime for products in the future. 

He said he is aware of the problems and complexity in targeting a retail audience, so the firm has opted for specific groups. Prior to joining Clime, he spent six years at Spaceship which was rapped by the regulator in 2023 over its target market determination which taught him valuable lessons.

“It’s very complex to market to the retail market and difficult to navigate. You can’t say a product is suitable or available for everyone. The whole regulatory model is about shaming you if you do something wrong, but I feel like I’m in a position to know what’s wrong and right and how to stay out of the regulator’s way.

“We’ve broken it down in segments such as ‘future home owners’ and are targeting the products specifically for that demographic. You need to be very specific and granular, rather than just saying you have a ‘balanced’ fund.”