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FEATURE

The practice of public relations hastraditionally been a preferredmeans to developing and deliver-

ing essential messages to key end-audi-ences. Utilizing traditional PR strategieslike media relations, stunts and promo-tions is certainly a powerful force.However, in today’s complex financialservices arena, nuts-and-bolts mediarelations are no longer enough to accom-plish most companies’ objectives.

Media are indeed gatekeepers thatmust be acknowledged as financial serv-ices companies strive to communicateand gain trust among customers. Media’simpact can’t be denied, and in mostcases, media relations should be a part ofa company’s communication platform,but financial services companies mustcommunicate not just with and throughthe media — today, their conversationsmust extend far beyond the press, bothonline and offline.

From public to influencer relationsCompanies that are trying to impact

customer opinions and drive consumeractions must develop a deep understand-ing of the industry’s landscape, and thor-oughly map all the stakeholders whohave an impact (not just media) amongtheir key audiences. They must workharder to establish an authentic, authori-tative and trusted voice among numer-ous sets of champions, build new com-munication channels, and engageprospects and clients in two-way con-versations.

No doubt this is a tall order, but todaymore than ever, the individuals andgroups that impact the success or failureof an organization include a vast networkfrom analysts and bloggers to social net-works, policymakers, board members,end customers, or others with influentialvoices. A solid influencer relations planbegins with a thorough and comprehen-sive analysis of those stakeholders —their wants and needs, messages that willresonate and channel of distribution thatwill achieve the desired outcome:engagement and championship.

Content curationWith the map in place, the next piece

of the puzzle is the development of “glit-tery objects” that attract and retainengagement. The heartbeat of an influ-encer relations effort is content curation— a streamlined and integrated approachto creating and extracting, packaging,distributing and promoting compellingcontent that moves these audiences tothink or act in a particular way.

When organizations expand theirthinking on how they can engage withclients and consumers across a more vastnetwork of interrelated contacts, theyabsolutely must do so in a way thatleverages compelling content that isstreamlined. The development of thiscontent must be very thoughtfully curat-ed with the aim of forging a clear pathand approach to influencers, as well as tocreate communications that attract, andthen engage, these audiences.

There are a number of things to thinkabout in regards to cultivating, produc-ing and promoting such content. A few ofthem include harnessing legitimate andcredible intellectual capital that incorpo-rates third-party expert opinions, build-ing stories using data and case studies,establishing an authentic voice that isconsistent, and integrating with all othermarketing disciplines to fully capitalizeon the content distribution opportunities.

Influencer relations in actionAs an example of a company that

recently implemented a smart influencerrelations campaign, Janus Capital Groupconducted what they called their “Impactof Politics on Investing” Campaign.

In the face of the 2012 Presidentialelection — a time when financial advi-sors and their clients, paralyzed by uncer-tainty, sidelined significant investableassets — Janus sought to shift this invest-ment behavior, and did so by developinga multi-platform content campaign thatextended its reach to myriad influenceraudiences.

As part of the campaign, Janus, placingthemselves in the position of a “collabo-rative thought leader,” brought together apanel of third-party expert influencers(including an editor from The Wall StreetJournal, a Stanford Professor ofEconomics and political economic advi-

sor to Romney, an expert on socialfinance, and Janus’ chief investment offi-cers) to address the issues. In addition tohosting mutual fund reporters live, thepanel was broadcast to more than 2,000financial advisors across the U.S., as wellas to reporters whocouldn’t make theevent. Janus com-bined the panel dis-cussion with therelease of a whitepa-per to VIP influ-encers across thecountry, as well aseveryone whowatched online, andpromoted it amonganalysts, bloggers, financial services andpolitical reporters. Additionally, theydeveloped an infographic that visuallycaptured the history of the impact ofparty dominance on the markets, and,finally, a series of video interviews withtheir sector analysts on the investingimplication of the impending election.The result was certainly relevant mediacoverage, but also direct outreach toprospective financial advisors and otherinfluencers that could impact Janus’growth, while establishing Janus as athought leader and resource for financialadvisors.

Creating passionate championsWhen convincing, relevant and timely

content is delivered efficiently to keyinfluencers, time and time again, theseinfluencers become engaged and, ulti-mately, passionate champions whoexpress their positive and powerful opin-ions among end-audiences that matter.

Influencer relations in the financialservices arena begins with a comprehen-sive understanding of short-term andlong-term objectives, and then translat-ing those specific goals into measurableimpact — lead generation, sales,improved SEO, increased web traffic,thought leadership and/or brand aware-ness. The results for companies that aimto achieve these objectives by engagingdeeply in not just traditional public rela-tions, but also in conversations withother influential individuals and groupsthat impact an organization, will far out-pace those for companies that don’t.

Dan Mahoney managesCommunications Strategy Group’sFinancial Services Practice. £

Returning influence to finance communicationsThe financial services industry is in a highly unique positiontoday. While somewhat hamstrung by compliance, a vastopportunity remains to leverage intellectual capital that canattract clients and engage influencers.

By Dan Mahoney

Dan Mahoney