Asset and Wealth Management conference season PR and outreach playbook 

Key Takeaways:

• Pre-conference preparation is crucial: Set clear goals, schedule media interviews and one-on-one meetings, create preview content, and coordinate any booth "activations" around high-traffic sessions. 
• Maximize visibility during the event: Post daily updates with photos and takeaways while tagging speakers and organizers, time product announcements to coincide with the conference, and come prepared to scheduled meetings. 
• Extend impact after the event through strategic follow-up: Publish a recap with key insights and photos, add new connections to your CRM and follow up, and repurpose presentation decks into articles for your website or LinkedIn. 

With Schwab Impact, scheduled for November 3-6 in Denver, in just a few days and Future Proof Festival and FT’s Future of Asset Management North America just a few weeks back, we are deep into conference season. Coming in early 2026: Futureproof Citywide, scheduled for March 8-11 in Miami, ETF Exchange, March 15-18 in Las Vegas and the Morningstar Investment Conference (US), June 7-18 in Chicago. Don’t forget about the many advisor-facing conferences hosted by the likes of P&I, Barron’s, Wealth Management and others.

These conferences play an integral role in the financial PR playbook. Landing a speaking spot at an industry conference can elevate the authority of your spokespeople. Conferences are a central meeting place where your team can grow its network – especially with key reporters covering the industry. And the topics of discussion on the agenda provide insights into what is on your audience’s mind, informing the content you’ll want to create to engage them.

We’ve written before about the process for getting your thought leaders on stage at select conferences.  We’d like to focus instead on what you and your thought leaders can do as attendees to get the most out of these events. Here are a number of ideas to elevate awareness, improve engagement and optimize your investment before, during and after an event:

Before the conference

Consider your goals. Are you hoping to connect with current or potential clients? Are you looking to drive awareness of your products and services? Are you hoping to part of the conversation on timely industry topics such as how AI will revolutionize advisors’ businesses or how to engage the next generation of clients? Determining your goals can help you prioritize how to spend your time at the conference.

Create a calendar and block your time. Review the conference agenda to block off any “must see” sessions. If your firm is a sponsor, plan any booth “activations” around keynote speakers and popular sessions. If you can get a hand on the invitation list, identify and reach out to priority targets to schedule in person meetings.

Schedule interviews. Work with your PR team to identify media attending and use the opportunity to set up meet ‘n greets. While conference organizers are often reluctant to share their media list, many will post the list a few days before the conference begins. If you have a pro willing to go on TV, several of the leading financial shows including CNBC, Bloomberg and Schwab TV have on-site cameras to do live interviews from conferences like Schwab and Morningstar.

Create content and social posts. Write a blog pre-viewing the conference agenda focusing on the topics you expect will create buzz such as new product trends, technologies or regulatory issues. Share your article on your website or LinkedIn. Before you go, create a social post to let people know you will be there. Don’t forget to include your booth number if you are a sponsor. If you or anyone on your team is speaking at the conference, announce the topic and include the date, time and location on LinkedIn.

Schedule meetings. Sign up to participate in new 1-1 meeting offerings at conferences like Future Proof and Morningstar. Review conference attendees in advance to identify those you’d like to connect with. A week before the event, take the time to do your research in advance of any scheduled meetings. Check out LinkedIn profiles and research company products/services.

During the conference

Live post from the conference. Take and share the iconic photo in front of the conference logo as soon as you arrive to let your contacts know you are on site. Plan time for daily social posts from the conference. Post photos from well-attended sessions offering a salient take-away (be sure to tag session participants and the conference organizers). If you are speaking or part of a panel, be sure to assign someone to take photos of your session to share and tag other participants.

Plan announcements. If the timing works, plan to release new product, programs or news during the conference to amplify effect and drive focused awareness.

Optimize 1-1 meetings. Come prepared with leave-behinds (fact sheets, branded items) and smart questions based on your prep work before the conference for any pre-scheduled one-on-ones. Business cards with QR codes to your LinkedIn profile can be helpful with some old school participants, but newer technology allowing attendees to connect via the conference apps works well too.

After the conference

Post key takeaways. Create a blog post or longer LinkedIn post with your key takeaways from the conference. Be sure to tag any speakers you mention and the conference organizers. Be sure to include a photo as LinkedIn posts with photos to get better engagement.

Plan your follow-up. Add any new connections to your CRM, connect on LinkedIn if you aren’t already and be sure to send a personalized follow-up, either via email or LinkedIn, mentioning any areas of common interest or sharing promised information from your meeting.

Share media coverage of the conference. In the days following the conference, identify and share any event coverage tagging the author and adding a few sentences of your own observations.

Transform presentation decks into blog content. If you present at a conference, transform the content from your deck into an article. Include insights from other participants and Q&A discussion. Share on your website or LinkedIn.