While CEOs are frequently the star of their company’s marketing and communication programs, they’re not the only ones who can be effective storytellers for their organization. People naturally think of the Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Operations Officer as natural spokespeople in the C-Suite, but the Chief Financial Officer—often overlooked—may be the best choice to communicate a company’s expertise and vision.
A good CFO is not just there to step in when the CEO is unavailable. They can utilize their financial expertise to highlight compelling economic data that supports storytelling and broaden the range of topics that the company can speak about. With tariffs and interest rates dominating the headlines nearly every day, CFOs are at the forefront of the most pressing business challenges, and compelling news stories. Properly prepared and trained, CFOs can expertly position their company as an industry leader.
Below are several ways that CFOs can engage with the media to showcase their knowledge, while still communicating their organization’s key messages and value proposition.
Leverage Financial Data
One of the core tenets of PR, is that “data is king.” It’s the most valued currency when pitching reporters and preeminent means of communicating your organization’s strategic narrative. The office of the CFO is a treasure trove of data, offering direct visibility into the drivers behind a company’s decisions. As a result, CFOs are well positioned to share with reporters contextualized, industry-specific insights on the challenges they face, along with the strategies they use to navigate them.
Specifically, CFOs can frame and highlight their company’s investments in technology, people, real estate, and equipment as indicators of their organization’s broader growth priorities. Even when this data is not the primary story, reporters often seek it out to supply context and source material for other pieces in development, extending the shelf life of those observations.
Forecasting the Economic Headwinds & Tailwinds
In addition to leveraging their organization’s internal insights, CFOs can provide perspective on the external economic trends affecting their businesses, including supply chains, workforce availability, liquidity, and pricing dynamics, framing these factors in a way that is applicable across industries. This allows CFOs to insert their organizations into the high-profile news conversations of the day, providing timely yet objective perspectives that the media is always seeking to highlight.
Capitalize on Leadership Skills
Corporate culture and leadership stories are evergreen media topics, relevant across any news cycle. CFOs of larger organizations often manage sizable teams, giving them a valuable perspective on effective management strategies and current workforce dynamics. Today, roles within the office of the CFO are among those that are being most impacted by the broader adoption of AI, which can automate routine tasks such as auditing, compliance, and transaction reconciliation. CFOs can provide perspective on the evolution of these roles and the shift in departmental responsibilities toward higher-level financial analysi, modeling, and predictions.
Audit the Message Before It Goes Public
If you’ve secured buy-in from your CFO to begin a media campaign, preparation is essential before any reporter engagement. Regardless of how polished or confident a CFO may be, a full media training session is necessary. This should include a refresher on the company’s messaging and positioning, along with a practice Q&A. Interviews with live or recorded responses, such as webinars, podcasts, and broadcasts, will require more comprehensive preparation to ensure responses are clear and ready for recording.
It’s also essential that the company’s compliance and legal teams are involved throughout the entire media engagement process, clearly defining which financial information and data can be publicly disclosed.
For organizations looking to start proactive media outreach or expand an existing program, the CFO can be a powerful resource for attracting media attention. Ambitious CFOs can promote their own professional brand while raising their organization’s reputation as an industry leader. Ultimately, elevating the CFO from the back office to the front page can turn their technical, financial expertise into a powerful driver of corporate credibility.
By Will Link, Senior Account Supervisor at Stanton