"The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about."

Today, Oscar Wilde's comments are more relevant than ever to financial advisers and financial services brands in the fast-moving Internet world.

When customers are talking about you online - are you listening? And if they're not talking about you, what are you doing to engage and kick-start the conversation?

Social media marketing is a powerful and exciting opportunity for financial services brands. But most are 'still thinking about it' and missing out on integrating it into their sales, marketing and communication mix.

If you're not using social media, one thing's for sure; you're not hearing what your customers are saying, you're not truly engaging with them and you're moving further and further away from them. You're going to be left way behind unless you build social media marketing strategies now.

Not sure where to start?

If you're serious about using social media to get closer to your customers, January 2010 sees one of the most exciting and eagerly anticipated eMarketing conferences in years - one that's specifically focused on helping financial services marketers to network, share best practice and debate key issues on how to use social networking technology to get closer to customers.

IFA Life, the award-winning social networking website for financial advice professionals is proud to present Social Media in Financial Services at the Guoman Tower Hotel, Tower Bridge, London on 13th and 14th January 2010.

See the full programme at http://www.ifalife.com/content.asp?PageID=1654

You’ll discover new ideas to interact and engage with target customers and intermediaries online, and to increase your web traffic and conversion rates. With keynote presentations confirmed from Google, Ecademy and acclaimed Internet experts, this is one event which financial services marketing and communication professionals and IFA/financial planning firms won't want to miss!

Check back for details of top speakers as they are announced. Cutting edge content included includes: The evolution of social media and why it's relevant to your financial services brand How to use social media to drive more traffic to yours or your clients' websites and achieve high conversion rates Reputation is everything - how to use social media to cement trust and credibility Social media psychology - what financial brands need to know about how people behave online How to build Community round your financial services brand - proven tips, tools and tactics How to get client and colleague buy-in to social media marketing projects The truth about how to make your brand, organisation or clients more visible through social media How to get closer to customers with social media - starting from scratch How to keep control of your brand message in online communities How to successfully engage with financial intermediaries online Tried, tested and proven techniques to engage with your customers through social media How financial PR professionals can use social networks to reach the press and media How to identify PR opportunities and threats from social media and user generated content The role of mobile technologies in financial services marketing How to complement your search marketing initiatives with social media Best practice in social media from other industries - pearls, pitfalls, myths and legends How to tweet to woo customers - the inside secrets to using Twitter Faster ways to analyse customer information that will optimise your online performance Build your own social network - or work in partnership with existing sites? Startling quick wins with LinkedIn, Facebook, Ecademy, IFA Life and others And much more

Attending Social Media in Financial Services will be a new and different experience for many in the industry. This is a serious business event with serious networking to be done - and where sales, marketing and communication experts from life/pensions and investment providers, insurers, creative agencies, media buyers, banks, building societies, mortgage lenders, national IFAs and networks/support companies can meet to learn and share best practice.

You'll get together with fellow industry professionals, with outstanding presentations designed to discuss new technologies, best tactics, methods and strategies for digital marketers and owners of online strategies.

See the full programme at http://www.ifalife.com/content.asp?PageID=1654