Marie Swift, Founder and CEO of Impact Communications, joined Julie Cooling, Founder and CEO of RIA Channel, to discuss the human touch in marketing and PR in an age of AI and technology.
Impact Communications has contributed public relations and marketing to the financial services community for thirty years. Swift notes that we are still hungry for human connections in the age of technology and artificial intelligence. When interacting with marketing communications, people are starting to wonder which ones are written by PR teams and which are written by AI.
Swift recommends that social media posts should be professional, but also authentically share from your personal life. Posts should not just focus on financial markets, but also on how financial planning can positively impact lives. When a firm is undergoing transitions or crises that spark negative speculation, Swift chooses to double down on positive PR efforts that focus on the long-term potential of the firm.
Impact Communications offers an integrated marketing approach, including owned, earned, shared, and paid publicity. Smaller firms may not be able to afford sufficient advertising to make a significant impact, so they should optimize the return on their owned, earned, and shared efforts. Swift notes that owned is content marketing on the firm’s own platforms, earned is PR and credibility marketing, while shared is the firm’s social media presence.
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