We’re so thrilled to welcome Courtney McQuade in tonight’s episode. Courtney is a social media strategist and independent consultant for Citywire USA. With over a decade of experience, she provides effective social media solutions for financial services.
Let’s start from the beginning. Courtney’s interest in the financial market began when she was the president of her e-commerce class in high school. She sold stock certificates for a few dollars to all the kids in school and used the money to design and sell sweatshirts with the high school mascot. Her initiative actually earned her profit!
Motivated by her success, she interned at Morgan Stanley before working for Wachovia, followed by Wells Fargo, where she trained advisors on various FinTech offerings.
While working on the asset management of Wells Fargo, Courtney was working on a little startup with her friends on the side. It was here that she started discovering social media from a business point of view and implementing successful campaigns. Impressed by her work, she was approached by Citywire and ended up launching their entire social strategy and training wholesalers. There was no looking back from this moment on.
In the podcast, Courtney shares with us her three key tenets: asking the right questions, stepping in when needed, and bringing people together. She emphasized that there is no one size fits all template strategy. While Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook can be fairly similar, Instagram is visual and different. Each client and platform is unique, and content needs to be carefully curated.
Courtney has even written great articles on deepening client relationships, how to market creatively with video, and other trending topics on social media. She provides a wealth of information that’ll help anyone and any business level up.
Asking the right questions is key, and above all, finding and using your authentic voice. She understands that all of this sounds overwhelming, and she is passionate about helping clients design and implement a strategy that speaks your language and tells your story.
In the podcast, Courtney gives advice on how to overcome the vulnerable and awkward feelings that come with posting. She busts the negative connotation with the term ‘stalking’ and advises to “Think of social media as a digital version of networking in real life,” she says. You need to research and engage with clients and customers to find that commonality to gain a competitive edge.
Courtney is also extremely passionate about #WomenInFinance, and during the pandemic, she hosted several virtual events that brought women together.
From our conversation with Courtney, below are the top takeaways:
- Content Is King: Courtney strongly believes that you could have the best strategy in place but still fail if the content doesn’t convert. She advises that unless content creation is your expertise, businesses shouldn’t hesitate to outsource professional content writers to get effective results.
- Take Risks: Courtney encourages to be willing to try something new. Even if it feels awkward and fails, it’s always a learning experience. The field is constantly changing, and it can be rewarding to try new things.
- Network Early: Courtney advises you to start building your LinkedIn profile from your very first internship. She encouraged one to use their profile to list any internship, honor, and awards while connecting with alumni and anyone that you worked with so that when you graduate, you already have a good network to look for potential jobs. Ask questions and go with your gut feeling.
Show Notes:
We’re so happy to have Courtney McQuade in our podcast tonight. Courtney is a dedicated and savvy social media consultant within the independent financial advisory community and Social Media strategist at CityWire USA. She helps financial advisors tap opportunities and reach their target audience by developing their social media strategies.
The podcast begins with Courtney sharing with us how the financial landscape has evolved over the years. She reminisces that when she joined the industry, men were brokers, women were the sales assistants, and it was all about selling stocks. 20 years on, it’s about financial planning, looking at the whole picture, and understanding the behavioral aspects.
Tune in to the podcast to learn more about Courtney’s origin story, how she got into marketing, the three tenants she lives by, her thoughts on Clubhouse and Instagram, upcoming events at Citywire, how financial advisors can prepare for the conference circuit, the growth of voice marketing, and tips for developing an authentic social media strategy for the newbies and experienced.
Join our conversation below:
- Courtney Journey to Citywire (04:20)
- How did she get into marketing? (07:20)
- Top 3 Marketing Tips (12:30)
- The three key tenants (20:15)
- The parallel between social media and real-life (23:04)
- The love for Buffalo hot wings! (31:00)
- The conferences that Courtney hosted (32:54)
- Stalking on social media? (37:00)
- Thoughts on Clubhouse and Instagram (38:30)
- Upcoming events at Citywire (45:00)
- Courtney volunteers at Walnut Creek (51:20)
- Tips for newbies (52:50)
- The best way to contact Courtney (54:24)
- Book recommendation (55:20)
Resources:
- Courtney McQuade LinkedIn
- Courtney McQuade on Twitter
- Courtney McQuade Website
- Link to Johnny Sandquist – Three Crowns Marketing
- Taco Tech Podcast with Tina Powell
- Riskalyze Website
- Carson Group Excell Conference
- CityWire USA
- Amelia Garland Twitter
- Emily Binder Wealthvoice
- Sonya Dreizler Twitter
- Stephanie Foster XYPlanning Twitter
- Jess Bost Twitter
- Liz Slater Twitter
- Book: You’re Absolutely Worth It by Velera Wilson
- Book: My Descent Into Death by Howard Storm
