SEO
Digital PR
GEO / AI Search
Social
Positioning a mutual society as a trusted voice in UK financial literacy
How reactive PR and data-led campaigns generated 500+ pieces of coverage and a 49% growth in referring domains
500+
pieces of coverage
49%
increase in referring domains
60
Average DR
The Brief
Shepherd’s Friendly is a mutual society, established in 1826, offering straightforward savings solutions such as ISAs, Over 50s Life Insurance, Income Protection.
The Plan
Our work was about getting them in front of the right people at the right moment and making sure they came across as a brand worth listening to.
From there, we set out to position Shepherd’s Friendly as a leader in financial literacy, the kind of brand that makes personal finance easy to understand for everyday people, not just those who already know their way around an ISA.
We built a PR programme with two things running at once.
Spotlight Campaigns
The first was a reactive quote bank. When the spring budget landed, when ISA rules changed with the new tax year, when rising inflation pushed savings back into the headlines, we had expert commentary ready to go. Finance desks move quickly and the brands that get coverage are the ones that can respond on the same day.
The second was the annual Money Literacy Report, a proper piece of research that surveys thousands of Brits on what they actually know about personal finance. ISAs, investing, income protection, pensions. The 2025 edition surveyed 2,001 people and found that only 23% passed the quiz, down from 49% the year before. Just 9% of 18-24 year olds passed. Seven in ten Brits said personal finance should be taught in schools.
That data gave journalists something concrete to write about and gave Shepherd’s Friendly a credible, consistent angle to own throughout the year.
the results
Over the past year the programme generated over 500 pieces of coverage across national, finance, lifestyle and regional publications. Referring domains grew 49% year on year, reflecting consistent presence built across twelve months rather than a single campaign spike.
Quality was strong too. The average Domain Rating across linking publications came in at 60, with coverage in The Times, The Independent, inews, FT Adviser and the Financial Times.
The Times ran two pieces closely tied to the financial literacy positioning, one on learning about money in your twenties and another on how gaps in financial education affect children’s futures. The Independent covered Shepherd’s Friendly commentary on ISA tax year rules and UK Savings Week. FT Adviser extended the brand’s presence into the adviser community as well as the consumer market.
Why It Worked
Finance PR is a very crowded space, as every bank and comparison site is pitching to the same journalists. What tends to cut through is original data and a genuine point of view, and the Money Literacy Report gave Shepherd’s Friendly both.
The reactive side worked because the infrastructure was already in place before the news broke. When a story landed, we could respond with a relevant expert comment in hours. Do that consistently over a year and you build the kind of journalist relationships that generate 500 pieces of coverage rather than a handful.
The two tracks also reinforced each other. The annual report established Shepherd’s Friendly as a brand worth quoting, and the reactive programme kept them showing up in the stories people were already reading throughout the year.
