Gone are the days when social media was used to look at new photos posted by a high school rival or to listen to the same music tracks as a love interest. Social media is now at the forefront of the buyer's decision-making process. Yep, you read that correctly. Social media now tells you what to buy. According to a Curalate Consumer Survey, around 76% of consumers admitted to buying a product they spotted on a brand's social media post.

But not just consumer products get the nod from big brands on their socials. Financial products are also prevalent on these platforms. While it's not all bad, knowing how social media can influence your decision-making is important.

Social Media and Money

When it comes to social media, it's important to know where the advice is coming from. Understanding that those who use social media to disperse advice or gain a following only say and show what they want you to see, will go a long way into taking advice with a pinch of salt.

Before following advice on social media, check the following:

• Does the person or brand giving the advice have the right credentials?
• Do they have satisfactory customer service ratings?
• Is the advice given to a specific group (retirees, those without debt, fixed income groups)?

Social Media Influencers

Financial social media advisers play a large role in the financial literacy of modern investors. The information online is accessible and digestible. However, the dark side to this easy access is that the information can also be laced with inaccuracies or be downright misleading.

Despite this, many in the US rely on social media to make their financial decisions. A FINRA study shows that 60% of American investors under the age of 35 turn to social media for their financial information.

How to Ignore the Hype

Social media is everywhere and contains just about everything we need to fulfill our social, retail and entertainment needs. But sometimes it's important to filter out some of that information so that we're not tempted to follow bad advice.

Some ways to do this, include:

• Social Media Fasts or Timeouts: If you're finding it hard to stop the doom-scrolling or you simply feel overwhelmed with the sheer amount of information out there, create some distance by going on a social media blackout.
• Cross-Reference Advice: Ensure that you know the benefits and pitfalls of the advice you'd like to follow. If in doubt, run the advice by an accredited financial advisor.
• Don't Believe the Hype: If investment advice seems too good to be true, it probably is. Watch out for possible investment scams or traps. Be particularly wary of unusually high returns on short-term investments, risky investments that don't offer guarantees, or investments through companies that don't have the right credentials.

Save with Savvly

If you're drowning in a sea of investment advice from your social media feeds, it's time to go back to the basics of investing. At Savvly, we understand the need to secure your financial future while taking advantage of all the modern amenities and tools at your disposal. With our market-driven pension, we want you to achieve financial security for life.

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