To outsiders, the world of finance can seem intimidating and difficult to understand. This is why it’s imperative for finance companies, from fintech startups to multinational wealth management firms, to use public relations as an evergreen solution for connecting with their audience and building their financial reputation.
Here’s how an always-on public relations strategy can help finance players of all stripes build trust and achieve credibility from consumers and businesses.
Understanding the evolving target audience and market landscape
First things first: the reason why finance companies should invest in great PR is because of how quickly the financial market for consumers is changing in this age of technology.
It is important to recognise that many people these days are active consumers – meaning they often seek out information on their own accord and are not simply consuming information that is presented by companies. Imagine you’re looking for specific financial information to manage your own portfolio – you’ll likely do your due diligence by researching and reading numerous trusted sources before coming to a decision of where to start.
In addition, the internet and social media have created a path for numerous independent financial advisors to carve out a niche and share easily digestible information. However, this evolution of information makes it possible for people to perpetuate financial misinformation, terrible advice, or even fake news unchecked. Thus, finance companies have an opportunity to navigate this competitive landscape and stand out by sharing information that is not only accurate, but useful for consumers.
Building trust by establishing visibility and credibility
To be seen as a helpful and factual financial source, companies have to build trust – and this is where PR steps in. Besides traditional media relations tactics like sharing news via press releases and pitching relevant stories to have an active voice in the media, PR can also help position top executives or people in senior leadership positions as thought leaders through interviews with credible publications.
However, with every company employing the same tactics, how can you make sure you stand out? One way is through providing valuable and relevant data insights. This will help build credibility, especially when media is able to refer back to the company for timely insights on certain issues. This is clearly highlighted when we helped conceptualise and execute two data-led campaigns for personal finance website SingSaver to garner mass visibility at a time when news cycles were dominated by COVID-19 and Singapore’s elections. What’s more, it positioned the company as an insightful and well-versed industry player, which resulted in SingSaver being proactively approached by top-tier titles like The Straits Times for commentary on broader industry stories.
Additionally, data campaigns can also help generate new organic leads when done right. This is a direct indicator of increased trust from consumers. For example, a research-driven campaign on the sensitive subject of retirement readiness for digital wealth manager Syfe not only secured stories across online, print and broadcast but drove traffic back to their website.
Connecting with your audience
Once you’ve formulated credibility and cemented yourself as a trustworthy voice, PR can help you connect with and sustain prolonged engagement with your audience. This is especially important in the finance industry because it’s such a competitive landscape – companies can rarely rely on brand loyalty. Instead, they should create opportunities to directly communicate with their audiences.
This can be easily facilitated via social media campaigns by anticipating and tailoring content to their target audience.
Let’s say your target audience is people in their 20s or 30s and looking to purchase their first house. Take note of key dates for BTO application and push out content around those times to capture their attention.
As money matters can be confusing to people outside of the industry, finance companies must ensure that new updates or trends are communicated clearly and simply. Cut the jargon to make the information accessible and straight-forward, and establish channels for open dialogue so that consumers can ask questions. Better yet, make the information visual: this can be done in the form of an infographic or flow chart to help consumers digest information easier.
The way different finance companies approach PR may vary, but the key outcome remains the same: to build brand reputation and provide consumers with a trustworthy brand that they can rely on.
Know a company that would benefit from this? Drop us a line at [email protected]!