“The perception of the financial advisory industry in the United Arab Emirates is not great”, said digital marketing company Neesh, which collected the data alongside Dubai-based firm, Insight Discovery.
However, the project – which studied algorithms and data across social media outlets – found the majority of consumers had a neutral attitude towards the industry. According to Neesh, these findings go against an expectation that most people would feel negative towards UAE financial services.
The region was in stark contrast to the rest of the world where results showed positive sentiment outweighed the negative.
Despite a slight decrease in negative sentiment since December last year and some financial advisers in the UAE trying to provide value, Neesh said they are still “not doing a great job”.
“Content void”
Meanwhile, the data analysed advisers and companies’ use of digital technology and found very little useful information on financial advisers or services among social networking sites.
“This means there is a huge opportunity for companies and individuals to position themselves as key players, who are trustworthy and knowledgeable in the industry, by using networking sites”, said Neesh.
“Advisory firms should invest in sociable digital relationships to improve the traditional perceptions and begin to earn positive sentiment around their company”.
While advisers in the United Kingdom came top of the list as the “most effective” when it comes to utilising social media, only a couple of UAE advisers made good use of the outlets.
Neesh said: “There is a content void where useful information based around helping rather than selling will produce thought leadership and trust”.
