A ‘must have’ tool

Public relations is a “must-have” growth tool for advisers today, no matter the size of their firm, according to Susan Forman, vice president of corporate public relations for Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
“It’s a tool to build your brand; it’s also a tool to build the RIA industry overall,” Ms. Forman told advisers at IMPACT 2014.
Public relations “is probably one of the more scalable means of communications,” she said. “It doesn’t necessarily require a team of people, a big budget. It’s important to understand what you’re trying to achieve with your public relations effort and then scale to meet the resources that you have available to you.”
Successful public relations programs not only can differentiate advisory firms and the RIA industry, but also can drive referrals, support client, asset and talent acquisition, and position advisers as thought leaders, Ms. Forman said. “That third-party credibility that you get when you’re in the media is really important,” she said.
Speaking at an IMPACT 2014 session entitled, “Using Public Relations to Boost Awareness of the RIA Model and Your Brand,” Ms. Forman and Kerstin Österberg, a principal with The Neibart Group, a Brooklyn, N.Y., communications consulting firm, shared a variety of tips for building a successful public relations program.
Advisers must remember that public relations is strategic, Ms. Forman and Ms. Österberg said. Before launching a public relations program, advisers should discuss their firm’s business goals and how public relations can help achieve those goals. “Your public relations program will be more successful if it’s absolutely in lockstep with your business goals,” Ms. Forman said.
Advisers should identify the audiences they want to target with key messages, identify and train spokespeople for delivering those messages, and determine which channels – traditional media, social media, website or events — to use, Ms. Forman and Ms. Österberg said.
The communications landscape is undergoing a renaissance, with an explosion of communications concepts and tools causing significant changes during the last 10 years, Ms. Österberg said. “It’s important to use the right tools for the right story,” she said.
Advisers must understand the pros and cons of the three major types of modern media – paid, earned and owned, Ms. Österberg said.
The upside of paid media, which includes advertising and sponsorships, is control over the message and content. But the cost of paid communications can be a challenge, especially because they require a time commitment to reach your target audience successfully, Ms. Österberg said.
With the communications renaissance, public relations now encompasses earned media and owned media, she said.
Earned media is the traditional purview of public relations, and media relations remains the core of public relations today. “Earned media is that ability to build relationships, engage reporters, bloggers, influencers, get them to know your firm, your value proposition, your point of view, and feature that in stories and content,” Ms. Österberg said.
Earned media has enormous upside: “You usually get a lot of reach,” Ms. Österberg said. The downside is lack of control. “Nine times out of 10, you won’t get to see what’s published before it actually gets in print,” she said.
Advisers should map out a game plan for winning earned-media placement, Ms. Forman and Ms. Österberg said. Advisers should identify publications in which they would like to build a presence, check the publications’ editorial calendars in the marketing or advertising sections of the publications’ websites, and contact reporters to offer ideas on specific topics and to volunteer as a source.
When working with reporters, advisers should be prepared, remember everything they say is on the record, be quotable, stay within their area of expertise, deliver and repeat their key messages, and demonstrate their value as a source by providing strong points of view, data and other materials, Ms. Forman and Ms. Österberg said.
Owned media, such as websites, brochures, social media and company events,
“can be a real strength” in an adviser’s public relations tool kit because “you have control,” Ms. Österberg said. “You’re producing that content.” The downside of owned media is that it doesn’t provide as much reach as earned media and owned media, she said.
Ms. Forman and Ms. Österberg emphasized the importance of advisers expanding their digital footprint by investing in their website and increasing their use of social media.
“A number of years ago, a website wouldn’t necessarily be part of a traditional PR tool kit, but today it really is your electronic business card, and it’s a great way to tell your story,” Ms. Forman said. “It’s probably one of the first places a prospect is going to look to understand who you are, what kind of capabilities you have and the kind of firm you are.”
Ms. Österberg encouraged advisers to think about how they are using social media. They should pay attention to their LinkedIn profile and should consider using Twitter to convey their points of view, she said.
“The more you invest in getting your word out on…social channels, the better you will be….because this is really how clients today are doing their research,” Ms. Forman said. “They’re looking to see who comes up in their community when they’re searching for financial advisers.”
As the communications environment has changed, more news is surfacing through social media and other online channels, Ms. Österberg said. “These are places where you can have an influence,” she said. Research shows 76% of traditional media articles are shared via social media, and social media posts with visuals receive 94% more page visits and engagement than those without visuals, she noted.
But advisers also must keep in mind the potential pitfalls of today’s highly interconnected world, where spoken words, images, articles and other messages can be shared quickly in real time. “You’re `on’ all the time,” Ms. Forman said. “You always have to be putting your best foot forward because you don’t know where that content will end up.”
Providing solid content, including good stories, can help advisers differentiate themselves from the competition. Ms. Österberg offered the following tips for creating good stories:
• Make stories timely. Think about seasonal topics such as tax planning and charitable donations, and contact reporters to offer insights on those topics.
• Tap into emotions. Good stories require color, anecdotes and real-life examples.
• Include a story arc. Build stories around an issue, the tension it causes, and the resolution.
• Pass the “So what?” test. The story must be bigger than the adviser. “PR is not about you per se,” Ms. Österberg said. “It has to be about your audience…. What are the bigger issues? What is something unexpected that people perhaps don’t know? That is what will engage people.”
• Use “proof points.” Incorporate research findings and other data to support your case. Avoid jargon.
• Make stories shareable. “Five-page white paper? Inherently unshareable,” Ms. Österberg said. “Start with the big idea. Break it down. Turn it into graphics. Turn it into tweets. Do a short blog post that pulls out the top five things you need to know about `x’ topic. If you can make your content bite-sized, you have much more chance that it will go out there into your networks and be shareable.”
Developing strong points of view on topics of importance to clients, prospects and centers of influence also is an important component of solid content. To help develop points of view, advisers should actively follow the news and key conversations on social media, Ms. Österberg and Ms. Forman said. Getting involved in RIA advocacy also can create opportunities for advisers to develop and share points of view. Advisers should extend their points of view across multiple earned and owned channels, Ms. Österberg said. A strong point of view, she added, helps “underscore your differentiation points.”
Strong messaging is another element of solid content. Advisers should develop at the most three to five key messages about what differentiates their firm, Ms. Österberg said. Get people across the firm involved in developing these messages, and repeat them across all communications channels. “Your audiences are hearing your messages amidst an absolute plethora of other information that’s coming at them,” Ms. Österberg said. “The more you can repeat those core messages, the more successful you’ll be.” She and Ms. Forman recommended a tool called a “message map” that condenses a firm’s core messages to one page for spokespeople.
When developing a public relations program, advisers should start small, identifying one or two achievable activities per quarter, and then build from there, Ms. Forman said. “Don’t boil the ocean,” she said.
This article is part of a special advertising section that appeared in the December 15, 2014 issue of InvestmentNews. It was written by the InvestmentNews Content Strategy Studio and does not reflect the views of the InvestmentNews editorial staff. To download the full supplement, please click here.