Strategies for Public Relations Financial Advisors Should Consider

Mastering public relations is something financial advisors can benefit from at every stage of their career. A good PR strategy can elevate your brand’s image, underscore your credibility and strengthen client relationships. PR is more than just part of a comprehensive marketing plan – it’s an integral piece of your business development puzzle.

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Why Public Relations Is Important for Financial Advisors

Financial services is a highly competitive industry, and having a strong PR strategy can influence your ability to win new clients and retain existing ones. A well-executed PR plan can help you to:

Build trust with your target audience by clearly communicating your core message
Encourage engagement with prospects and your existing client base
Establish your credibility and authority to attract new clients
Develop collaborative partnerships with centers of influence

Storytelling is a key part of branding, and public relations is an opportunity to guide the narrative. Your PR strategy allows you to be proactive or reactive in positioning your firm’s products and services, values, goals, employees and company culture.

For example, if your firm achieves a major milestone, you might launch a PR campaign to spotlight that accomplishment and the people who helped make it possible. Likewise, if your firm is the subject of negative press, then your PR strategy is vital for minimizing potential damage to your brand reputation.

Public Relations Strategies for Financial Advisors

Public relations strategies that financial advisors should consider include both offline and digital PR.

Developing a well-rounded financial services PR plan requires a multi-tiered or multi-channel approach. At the most basic level, you might divide your PR plan into offline and online or digital strategies. You can then make further divisions within each category.

Offline PR Strategies for Advisors

Offline PR or offline marketing is anything that doesn’t happen in the digital space. Financial advisors can use offline PR efforts to build a positive public image in their local market using some of the following ideas:

Conferences. Attending conferences is an excellent way to broaden your network and promote your business. You can also highlight your authority if you’re attending as a guest speaker or panelist.
Sponsorships. Sponsorships allow you to support your local community while promoting your brand. For example, you might sponsor a local charity event or a youth sports league.
Direct mail. Despite the popularity of email marketing, direct mail isn’t dead just yet. Sending out flyers, brochures or postcards is an effective way to stay engaged and connected with local clients.
Local events. Participating in local events is another way to bring attention to your firm. For instance, you might partner with a local library or community college to host a retirement planning workshop, which could give you positive press coverage and an opportunity to meet with prospective clients in person.
Donations. Donating funds to local charities can raise your firm’s visibility locally, and it’s a chance to give back to your community in a meaningful way. You might also consider partnering with a local charity for an ongoing fundraising effort.

Digital PR Strategies for Financial Advisors

Digital PR can allow you to spread your message to a much larger audience beyond your firm’s geographic footprint. You might use strategies such as these to promote your firm online:

Press releases. Press releases are designed to attract media attention when your firm has something noteworthy to share. You might use press releases to promote a new business partnership or collaboration, important company milestones or upcoming events.
Media outreach. Media outreach involves building connections with journalists, editors, bloggers, podcasters and influencers in the financial services space. For example, you might offer yourself as an expert interview source to a writer who covers investments or retirement for a major financial publication.
Backlinks. A backlink is a link to your website from another site. Backlinks are important in search engine optimization (SEO), which can influence how websites rank in search engines. Reaching out to media channels that mention your firm to request a backlink could help direct more traffic back to your site.
Content marketing. Content creation, whether it’s videos, blog posts or infographics, can help boost your firm’s visibility on social media. For example, you might publish thought leadership articles on LinkedIn, write a guest post for a financial website that includes a backlink to your site or host a collaborative livestream Q&A with a financial influencer.
Online seminars or panels. Participating in an online seminar or community panel alongside other advisors or financial experts is another way to bring positive attention to your firm and share some of your knowledge.

Tips for Creating a Financial Services PR Plan

You could outsource PR to a third-party agency, but if you prefer to handle it yourself, it helps to know how to approach it. These tips can help you flesh out a winning PR plan:

Define your objectives first, being as specific as possible about what you want to achieve.
Identify your target audience and their preferences when it comes to how they prefer to consume content and in what form.
Do your research to identify your firm’s main competitors and how they’re approaching PR.
Focus on building relationships with media outlets, journalists, bloggers, influencers and industry experts, always with an emphasis on offering value.
Use analytics tools to track your efforts to determine which PR strategies are proving most or least effective.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What Is Financial Services PR?

Financial PR is a specialized category of public relations that focuses on financial services. Advisors can use financial PR strategies to manage their firm’s public image and brand reputation. A good PR strategy builds confidence and trust, allowing you to attract more clients.

Do Financial Advisors Need a PR Plan?

Advisors don’t need a PR plan any more than they need a marketing plan to do business. However, you might find it much more difficult to gain the attention of new clients or retain the clients you already have without any type of marketing or PR strategy. If you’re unsure how to approach PR for your firm, you might consider working with an advisor marketing platform to boost your profile.

What’s the Difference Between Paid Media, Owned Media and Earned Media for PR?

Paid media is any type of advertising you pay for to promote your firm, such as social media ads or Google display ads. Owned media is media you own and control, such as your firm’s website or social media accounts. Earned media is media you benefit from indirectly, such as press mentions, client reviews or testimonials.

Bottom Line

Financial advisors discussing PR strategies for their firm.

If you’re ready to get more eyes on your firm, a solid PR plan could be exactly what you need. The public relations strategies shared here are just some of the ways you might consider promoting your services to your ideal clients.

Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business

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Whether you develop your PR strategy yourself or work with a third-party agency, it’s important to keep regulatory compliance top of mind. Registered advisors are subject to SEC marketing rules as well as rules issued by other agencies governing how they promote their firms. Maintaining a marketing compliance checklist can make it easier to spot any potential issues or conflicts.