Case study: How a financial planner invested in social media success

Tom Sawbridge from Sawbridge Financial Planning approached Red Rose Media & Marketing with a clear goal: to enhance his social media presence, attract new clients, and establish himself as a trusted advisor in the financial planning industry.

Tom wanted to connect more effectively with his target audience—small business owners, sole traders, and individuals in need of financial services like pensions, income protection, and retirement planning—all while maintaining a professional yet approachable online presence.

We started by conducting a comprehensive social media audit, reviewing the performance of his Facebook and Instagram accounts. Tom was already doing well by consistently appearing on these platforms, but there was still room for improvement.

Here are the key recommendations we provided:

• Profile optimisation: Simplifying URLs, completing profiles with contact details, and adding targeted keywords to the bios for improved searchability.

• Building trust: Featuring Tom more personally and in different settings to help resonate with his audience, alongside educational and trust-building content.

• Client engagement: Encouraging more reviews, engaging actively with local businesses, and adding interaction-driven posts like Q&A sessions.

• Brand consistency: Ensuring consistent branding across all platforms and using each platform’s features to maximize reach.

• Optimal posting: Aligning posts with peak engagement times and regularly reviewing performance metrics to fine-tune the strategy.

Additionally, we suggested creating Instagram Highlights, developing engaging reels with b-roll footage, and tailoring content to address the specific challenges (or “pains”) of Tom’s audience, positioning Sawbridge Financial Planning’s services as the perfect solution.

Here’s what Tom had to say about working with Red Rose Media & Marketing:

“I found the time spent working with Penny really useful in just getting my own ideas straight on the approach I should take. Whether that was organic regular content or paid promotions.

“Spending time, even just using Penny as a knowledgeable soundboard at times, allowed me to formulate a much better understanding of how my social media marketing strategy should look.

“I achieved a new record for the time between posting and generating a lead as well as giving the look and feel of my various socials a refresh so that when someone landed on my page, they became more likely to engage with the content but also with me as a business. Time spent working with Penny was certainly time well spent!”