Marketing Matchup: PR Is Magic

“PR is magic,” says Michele Welsh of Verdence Capital Advisors. “There’s no one who can better tell your story than a third party.”

Welsh and Joanna Irwin of Homrich Berg Wealth Management, both guests on the latest episode of Marketing Matchup, have had time to watch the financial services industry realize the full potential of marketing and PR. When Welsh and Irwin joined their respective firms, neither had a chief marketing officer before them.

In fact, less than 10% of billion-dollar RIAs have a CMO. On the flip side, half of the 100 fastest-growing firms have a CMO in their leadership team. That trust and C-level buy-in made all the difference. Now, Welsh and Irwin’s roles are central to both organic and acquisitive growth at their RIAs.

Wall-to-wall strategy

Support from the top is important, but Welsh and Irwin see the storytelling potential of the entire team. Advisors are a marketing asset, both when building a collective brand image, and in communicating culture… both to prospective clients and potential acquisition partners. Public relations are a part of the all-hands strategy, too. It can be a challenge to fit media interviews and broadcast appearances into the team’s day-to-day work, but the long-term rewards outweigh the scheduling headaches.

Those interviews don’t live in a vacuum. Welsh and Irwin’s marketing teams repackage clips, links, and quotes into talking points for advisors, social posts, newsletters, and client emails. If a client brings up interest rates, the advisor can follow up with, “Here’s what our CIO said on CNBC yesterday.” It turns earned coverage into relationship-building.

At Homrich Berg, Irwin uses a framework that splits content into owned, earned, and paid segments. Owned content—like newsletters or advisor blog posts—builds the firm’s direct connection with clients. Paid ads bring in leads. But earned media boosts the signal. “You’re hooking your wagon to a credible source like CNBC or Barron’s,” she said. “It builds trust faster than anything else.”

Both CMOs said the key to integration is mindset. Stop thinking of PR as something separate from day-to-day marketing. Don’t chase headlines for their own sake. Instead, weave credibility into every part of your growth engine.

Watch the full conversation between Welsh and Irwin below, or download this episode of Marketing Matchup on your platform of choice!