Producing viral content and mastering notoriously dubious algorithms is a demanding task for any marketing team.
Doing so within strict brand guidelines, with business objectives in mind, and while keeping track of the numbers has come to be a crucial part of marketing strategies for financial services companies – and the possibilities are only going to grow.
While most financial marketers did not previously see a place for their messages on social platforms, a commercial transformation has taken place. With half of the world’s population having at least one social media account, according to agency Smart Insights, every marketer wants a piece of the virtual pie.
A whole new world
The burst of financial information across social media has piqued the industry’s interest into the capabilities of the space, says Jonathan Franklin, global head of social media at Janus Henderson Investors.
“The evolution of platforms like LinkedIn, where networking for business is actively encouraged and has been shown to drive results, has made financial brands sit up and take notice of the potential of social media as a tool to generate returns,” Franklin says.
As the digital environment remains firmly in flux across the globe, establishing a strong social media presence successfully is the current challenge amongst financial marketers.
Ambreena Budaly, group head of digital marketing and media planning at Zurich Insurance, explains the importance of keeping up with this shift.
“While social media used to be an option for brands in financial services, we know now that, in order to remain relevant, we have to be present.
“Initially, it was mainly utilised for brand reputation or broadcasting purposes. However, there has been a noticeable shift in recent years towards using social media to address customer needs and provide real-time support,” she tells Financial Promoter.
Budaly’s explanation leans into an important aspect of any industry, but certainly of marketing: adaptability.
Social media presence is not only a platform to deploy informative content and drive sales – consumers also now expect financial brands to maintain interactive platforms.
The stand-out sector for combining an entertaining yet informative message across media platforms is banking.
Online bank Monzo, for example, challenges the traditional social media model used by high-street banks by posting content entirely unrelated to banking.
The bank makes use of current pop-culture trends and memes to pull in audiences and encourage engagement across LinkedIn, Instagram, and X.
The posts, dotted between informational pieces, position Monzo as a strong social-facing and digital-first brand.
Anthony Barter, social media manager at Metro Bank, says the need for financial advice has created online communities that are located on popular platforms and accessed often – particularly by a younger audience.
“The social media landscape in financial services has seen a huge shift over the years, with users increasingly turning to trusted faces instead of brands for financial guidance,” says Barter.
“Consumers online have also favoured creators who take advantage of the latest social media trends to communicate in a way that is engaging and allows followers to ask questions in the comments in a way that fits their needs.”
Fears of misinformation
While some more traditional brands have generally stayed clear of social media previously, brands that fail to leverage social media will fall short when attracting the next generation of customers.
It’s worth noting that 2023 research by Deloitte concluded that 25% of 18–24-year-olds use social media for money advice. In December 2022, the Financial Times reported FCA figures showing just 8% of UK consumers took advice from an independent financial adviser – and just consider the budget spent on marketing to that sector.
One way to leverage social media is rooted in the general rule that “people buy people.” Influencer marketing – whether through an external influencer or utilising strong voices already within an organisation – is often a more engaging approach than writing a static post.
Financial influencers – “finfluencers” – have come under scrutiny for being either unclear or (worse) unregulated, but avoiding this whole sub-sector of marketing risks burning a useful bridge to an important community.
Research from CFA Institute reveals that the main barrier facing young people seeking financial advice is cost. The appeal of influencers being their source of information is effectively that it is free.
Elisabeth Stanmore, senior digital marketing manager at Quilter, says financial influencers are currently the biggest development in the social media landscape.
“Some of the content is genuinely good and helpful, and understanding finances should help people make better decisions, but there’s also a lot of content that is somewhat incorrect at best and outright bad (or even fraudulent) at worst,” says Stanmore.
“As the financial services industry, we have to make sure our content is always of the highest standard and compliant, but I believe most misinformation is coming from non-regulated individuals, and often talking about non-regulated products.
“It might therefore be helpful to have a more prominent campaign to engage those (f)influencers who are perhaps the intended target of this guidance but who are not receiving it.”
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published finalised guidance in March 2024 – months after it was expected – setting out its expectations for financial promotions on social media.
“Firms working with affiliate marketers, such as influencers, should take proactive responsibility for how their affiliates communicate financial promotions,” the report says.
With the onus on firms to ensure they remain the right side of the line and the volume of regulation, reports, and research, organisations hoping to leverage social media will do well to employ social media specialists, with an enriched understanding of the landscape.
Reaching and engaging
Although providing concrete evidence, data such as impressions, engagement, and click-through rates are not necessarily conducive to successful campaigns – there is more to measurement than that.
Objectives consisting of brand exposure will require a completely different approach to those deploying a targeted message or product. Similarly, a post intended to refresh relationships with current customers will differ from one looking to engage new customers.
Jonathan Franklin explains to Financial Promoter that a “successful” post is subjective to overarching marketing goals.
“Success will always come down to what your goal is. Is it a brand awareness piece? Then you’re going to hope for more impressions,” he says.
“Driving people to your site? Then how many people clicking on a link in the post will likely be a more important metric. It will change from post to post, but if you need a vague definition, as long as the numbers show equal or improved performance, you can consider it a success.”
In the absence of a linear formula for a viral post, digging into different marketing methodologies may provide insight into some overlooked ideas.
Franklin’s personal formula for a successful post comes in the form of the “KISS” method.
“I always try to adopt the KISS method. Keep It Simple Silly. In the world of finance, it’s easy for people to use convoluted jargon,” he says.
Franklin actively steers away from jargon and overly complex messaging, as even on a place like LinkedIn, social media is a tool of leisure, “and no one wants to be operating at that high level all the time”.
With any digital progression, forecasting what’s next is nearly impossible.
Budaly says we are likely to see a shift in content consumption – not only in preference, but also in the location of online communities.
“It’s not all short attention spans and hyper-edits like we see on TikTok. There’s a big rise amongst younger audiences in the ‘video essay’, which indicates a desire for in-depth learning and drawing focus to the topics they care about, which could be very interesting and useful for brands in financial services,” she explains.
“We can also expect to see a growing trend on more private digital platforms, like WhatsApp or Discord, where people want to build more focused or niche communities.”
It’s clear that the landscape is changing from all angles, and the onus is on marketers to keep up.