Have you heard the expression you can’t unring a bell? When it comes to media interviews truer words have never been spoken.
Have you ever had a terrific media interview that you couldn’t really do anything with because of something you said? Media interviews are great but they’re even better when you can secure reprint rights and repurpose them!
Reprints are incredible tools that can be used to showcase your firm’s investment strategy, expertise, and performance. The implied third-party endorsements can be more powerful than a host of other marketing materials such as commentaries, fact sheets, and brochures. Their impact, when placed on your site handed to an advisor at a conference or used as a part of your email marketing strategy, can lead to heightened investor interest and ultimately, flows.
We’ve put together our top 10 tips to help you in your next interview. Stick to these guidelines to help you stay within the confines of compliance.
- Be truthful, honest and avoid hyperbole
- Don’t use promissory language; use words such as “we believe” and “may”
- Don't predict the future; couch your thoughts with "I /we feel" or "in our opinion"
- Don't say anything is certain; say "has the potential to", "we see potential opportunities for"
- Don't discuss non-fund performance, i.e. performance related to your similar separately managed or predecessor accounts; remember to say “historically” when talking about beating benchmarks or peers
- Don't say we’re #1, top, best, unless you have the back up (later) to prove it – and it’s current
- Don't quote any yields (these can be very complex to add appropriate disclosures)
- Don't call yourself an "expert,” instead tell about the tenure of you or your team, and the market cycles you’ve experienced
- Don’t discuss stocks you are about to trade – it’s best to stick to your top 10 holdings
- NEVER say "unique" - or first - for your process/strategy, etc., unless hands down you have the proof; instead, try "one of few"…."among the first"
Compliance isn’t the enemy and whenever possible they’ll try to help you find ways to use your story. They can suggest revisions to language, or even asking the publication to make a few edits. Publications aren’t always able to do so, so you’re better off practicing now, and using ideal language the first time.
Are you looking for ways to extend the "shelf-life" of your media interview? Extend your 15-minutes of fame!
