What are journalists watching when they evaluate your RIA’s growth story?
In the most recent episode of Marketing Matchup, we decided to ask them, point blank. Tobias Salinger, chief correspondent at Financial Planning, and Ian Wenik, editor at Citywire RIA, joined us to share how they separate signal from noise, and how they interact with professional marketing strategy.
Marketing leadership gaps are visible to the media
The absence of marketing infrastructure shows up quickly when firms interact with reporters.
Salinger described reaching out to a multi-billion-dollar firm with no listed press contact, and no formal plan for handling media inquiries. Eventually, he was able to make contact with a confused and hostile employee, who probably had no media training or ability to represent the firm leadership’s way of thinking.
Another firm of similar size had a press contact, who wasted no time setting up an interview with an appropriate spokesperson. It is probably no surprise which firm Salinger ended up quoting in the published article.
Firms with experienced marketing or communications leaders managed those moments more effectively. For RIAs investing in growth, a chief marketing officer or dedicated communications lead will directly affect how the firm is perceived.
AI and marketing technology can scale outreach, but trust still drives results
Salinger and Wenik have seen their share of AI-enhanced marketing efforts, but caution that the human work behind them still matters.
“You can use AI to auto-generate a prospecting game that’ll get sent out to a couple of thousand people,” Wenik said. “But I can detect if something’s written by AI fairly quickly, and you kind of move to dismiss it.”
Likewise, human prospects are probably inundated with AI communication to the point where they can sense they are interacting with generated content, even if they can’t articulate the “tells.” AI still plays a role, but should be used with care. Automation can support scale, but credibility and personalization determine whether prospects engage.
Client acquisition costs and referral economics are tightening
As custodial referral programs raise fees and tighten requirements, the economics of buying growth are changing. Both Wenik and Salinger have their eyes on this trend as it unfolds.
“If your business strategy is entirely dependent on the largesse… of a large institution… it’s not much of a sustainable strategy for organic growth,” Wenik said.
Salinger emphasized the margin impact of recurring referral fees.
“The referral programs are coming in and getting part of that recurring revenue. And that is very, very expensive.”
For advisors focused on organic growth, this reinforces the need to build internal marketing systems, client referral strategies, and niche positioning rather than relying solely on paid referral channels.
Don’t miss the full conversation below, or download the latest episode from your podcast platform of choice.
