Your new savings account launches in a fortnight. The campaign has been with compliance for three weeks, the headline has been rewritten four times and the version that’s left says roughly what every other bank’s savings page says.
Financial services marketing asks a lot of a small team. You’re selling products people find hard to compare, to customers who are wary of the industry, under rules that require every claim to be fair, clear and not misleading. A lot of firms end up with marketing that’s safe and forgettable, because that’s the version that gets signed off fastest.
This guide is for marketing teams at banks, building societies, lenders, insurers and wealth managers. It covers what financial services marketing is, how to build a strategy, how to work with compliance, which channels work for each type of firm and how to measure the results.
What is financial services marketing?
Financial services marketing is how a bank, lender, insurer, wealth manager or other financial firm attracts customers, wins their trust and keeps them. It covers brand, product marketing, content, search, social, email, paid media, partnerships and the work that helps advisers and relationship managers sell.
The tools are the same ones any business uses. What changes is the weight on trust and the rules around every message. People hand over their savings, their pension or their mortgage to a financial firm, so they need to feel sure about who they’re dealing with. And every promotion has to meet regulatory standards before it goes anywhere public.
Why marketing financial services is different
Four things set marketing for financial services apart from other industries.
Trust comes first
A customer choosing a bank or a wealth manager is making a decision that’s hard to undo and easy to regret. They look for signs that a firm is safe, competent and on their side and they’re quick to walk away from anything that feels like a hard sell.
Products are hard to compare
Rates, fees, terms, risk and protection all vary and most people don’t enjoy working through them. Marketing that makes a product easy to understand has a real advantage, because confusion usually ends in the customer doing nothing.
Regulation shapes every message
In the UK, financial promotions have to be fair, clear and not misleading. The FCA’s Consumer Duty also expects firms to help customers understand products and make good decisions. That affects what you can say, how you say it and how long approval takes.
Relationships last for years
A current account, a mortgage or an investment portfolio can stay with one firm for a very long time. That makes retention and cross selling as important as acquisition. It also means the experience after someone becomes a customer is part of your marketing.
Building a marketing strategy for financial services
A marketing strategy for financial services should be short enough that people read it and clear enough that your marketing, product, compliance and sales teams can all repeat it. It needs to answer four questions.
Who do you want most?
Choose the customers who are most valuable to you and most likely to choose you, then describe them properly. “First time buyers in their thirties with a deposit and a self employed income” gives you far more to work with than “mortgage customers”. For B2B firms, name the roles and the types of business you sell to.
What do you want to be known for?
A lot of financial firms sound alike because they describe themselves in the same terms: trusted, secure, customer focused. Pick one thing you do noticeably well, whether that’s speed, specialism, service or a particular customer group. Then make sure every channel says it.
Where will you reach them?
Look at where your customers already spend their attention and how they research financial decisions. That’s often search, comparison sites, word of mouth, advisers, LinkedIn for B2B and email for existing customers. Do a few channels well before adding more.
How will you know it’s working?
Agree measures before you start. Applications, accounts opened, assets under management, qualified leads, cost per acquisition and retention all tell you more than reach or clicks on their own. We help firms work through these questions in our content strategy service.
Working with compliance
Across the industry, the relationship between marketing and compliance is one of the biggest reasons campaigns run late or lose their edge. It usually happens because compliance sees work at the very end, when every change is expensive and the safest edit is to cut anything specific.
A few changes make a big difference:
- Bring compliance into the brief, so they help shape the message from the start
- Build a library of approved claims, disclaimers and product descriptions you can reuse
- Write in plain English, because clear copy is easier to approve and easier for customers to understand
- Agree turnaround times for different types of content, so urgent work has a route through
- Keep a record of what was approved and why, so similar work moves faster next time
Consumer Duty has made clarity a regulatory expectation as much as a marketing one. Content that helps customers understand a product, its risks and whether it suits them is good marketing and good evidence that you’re meeting the Duty.
AI tools can speed up drafting, but they don’t know your products or your obligations, so every AI assisted piece still needs an expert review. We’ve written about why AI doesn’t understand compliance and what that means for your content.
Content marketing for financial services
Content is how financial firms build trust before someone is ready to buy. It answers the questions customers already have, shows that you know what you’re talking about and makes the next step feel easy.
The formats that tend to work best:
- Plain English guides that explain products, decisions and life events, such as buying a first home or planning for retirement
- Calculators and tools that help people work out what they can afford or how much they need
- Market updates and commentary from your experts, especially for wealth and investment firms
- Newsletters that give existing customers a reason to keep reading
- Case studies and research for B2B audiences, such as business banking or institutional clients
- Whitepapers and reports that show your thinking on a bigger issue in your market
Write for the customer’s question first and your product second. Someone searching for how to remortgage wants an answer and a firm that gives them a clear, useful one is a firm they’ll remember. Our whitepapers and ebooks service covers the longer pieces.
Consistency matters as much as quality. A steady flow of useful content builds search visibility, gives your social channels something to share and gives customers a reason to come back.
Digital marketing for financial services
Digital marketing for financial services covers the channels where most customers now start their research. Each one works a little differently in a regulated industry.
Search and AI search
Search is often the biggest source of new customers for financial firms, because people look up financial decisions before they make them. Build pages around the questions your customers ask, keep product pages up to date and make sure each page has a clear next step.
More people are starting their research in AI tools such as ChatGPT and Perplexity. Pages that answer questions directly, come from a named expert and are kept up to date have a better chance of being picked up there too.
Social media
Social media for financial services works best when it’s useful and human. LinkedIn suits B2B firms and wealth managers, especially when senior people and advisers post under their own names. Consumer brands can use Instagram, TikTok and YouTube for education, provided every post meets the same promotion rules as any other advert.
Email is one of the most valuable channels for existing customers. Use it to explain changes, share useful content and introduce relevant products at the right moment, such as when a fixed rate is about to end.
Video
Short video from your own experts is one of the quickest ways to build trust in financial services, because people can see and hear who they’d be dealing with. A two minute explainer on a rate change or a common question from customers is often enough. It also gives your social and email channels something worth sharing. Video needs the same approval as any other promotion, so plan it into your compliance process. Our video and social media service can help you get started.
Paid media
Paid search and social can bring in customers quickly, but financial terms are some of the most competitive in paid search and every ad needs approval. Paid works best when it sends people to pages that already convert. It’s often most efficient when it’s retargeting people who’ve already shown interest.
Marketing by type of firm
The principles are the same across financial services, but the emphasis changes with what you sell.
Banks and building societies
Banks and building societies compete hardest on trust, convenience and switching. Marketing tends to focus on product launches, rates, the app experience and moments like moving home or starting a business. Retention and cross selling matter as much as winning new accounts.
Lenders
Lenders need customers at the moment they need to borrow, so search, comparison sites and brokers play a big part. Clear information about eligibility, rates and repayments builds trust and cuts down on applications that were never likely to succeed. For B2B and specialist lenders, broker marketing is often the main channel.
Wealth managers and financial advisers
Wealth management is built on relationships and expertise. Market commentary, guides to financial decisions, newsletters and personal content from advisers on LinkedIn help prospects get to know you before they ever book a meeting. Referrals from existing clients and professional introducers are usually the strongest source of new business.
Insurers
Insurance customers often buy on price through comparison sites, which makes brand, clarity and claims experience the main ways to stand out. Content that explains cover in plain English helps customers choose the right policy and can reduce complaints later.
How to measure financial services marketing
Measure what matters to the business and agree it with leadership early. Useful measures include:
- Applications started and completed
- Accounts opened, policies sold or assets brought in
- Qualified leads passed to advisers or sales teams
- Cost per acquisition by channel
- Retention, cross holding and customer lifetime value
- Organic search visibility for the terms that bring in customers
The path to buying a financial product is long and often involves several channels, so look at how channels work together over time. Content that a customer read months before applying still played a part in that decision.
Common financial services marketing mistakes
A few mistakes come up across the industry. Most happen for understandable reasons, such as tight sign off, small teams and pressure to show quick results.
Sounding like everyone else
When every firm promises trust and security, none of them stand out. Find something specific you do well and say it clearly.
Leaving compliance to the end
Late reviews slow everything down and strip out anything useful. Involving compliance early saves time and gives you better work.
Focusing only on acquisition
Existing customers are often the easiest to grow and the most expensive to lose. Give retention marketing the same attention as new business.
Writing for the firm before the customer
Content full of internal language and product names is hard for customers to use. Start with what they’re trying to do and explain how you help.
Judging results too soon
Content, search and brand all build over time. A lot of programmes get cut before they’ve had long enough to show what they can do.
Need help with your financial services marketing?
Fintech Content is a London based content agency for fintech and financial services firms. We write guides, articles, whitepapers, newsletters and social content for banks, lenders, wealth managers and financial technology companies, all by writers who know the industry and work well with compliance teams. If you’d like help with your financial services content, we’d love to hear from you.