As generative AI platforms become essential tools for work, research, and consumer queries, marketers in financial services are asking the question: Can you buy your way into the conversation on AI engines? 

This potential shift for finance brands could disrupt established digital ad strategies and offer early-mover opportunities—or force a rethinking of how to gain AI visibility.

Are paid ads available on mainstream AI platforms?

ChatGPT
As of 2025, traditional display or search-style pay-per-click ads are not available within ChatGPT. You cannot pay to have your brand featured explicitly in responses or to appear in the answer feed. 

ChatGPT’s answers are driven by its training data, live web integrations (for pro users), and references to trusted online sources, not sponsorships or paid placements in the Google Ads sense. 

The focus is on not breaking user trust and ensuring answers remain neutral and data-driven.

However, there are indications ChatGPT’s maker OpenAI will include ads in 2026. OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, has shifted from calling advertising a “last resort” to stating, as reported in Mashable “We haven’t done any advertising product yet… I’m not totally against it… I think ads on Instagram are kind of cool… It would take a lot of care to get right,” Altman said.

Reports indicate OpenAI is forecasting major new revenue from “free user monetisation” with ads targeting non-subscription users. The model is expected to borrow mechanisms from Google Ads and Facebook, featuring familiar bidding, targeting, and creative tools.

Google
Google has a couple of approaches being trialled right now. Its AI Mode is similar to ChatGPT where users applying conversational prompt. Inclusion in answers is governed by the model’s algorithms, which reference trusted sources and sites with high topical authority.

At present, advertisers cannot purchase ad placements or sponsored responses directly within AI Mode. There is no bidding system and no ad auction—meaning brands must rely on organic visibility driven by quality content and recognised authority.

On the flipside, AI Overviews appear within the standard Google Search results as summaries generated by AI at the top of the search page and are determined by the algorithm for now.

However, Google has confirmed it is experimenting with sponsored answers inside AI Overviews, blending paid listings with AI summaries.  According to Search Engine Land, Google is running pilot programs where sponsored products or services appear contextually within AI answers, marked with clear labels. 

This hybrid model could redefine paid search by merging generative responses with ad placement, potentially creating the most influential paid media real estate in digital history.

Claude (Anthropic)
There is currently no direct ad product, paid search, or traditional sponsorship within the Claude platform. 

Claude instead has piloted an influencer marketing program, supporting sponsored posts from creators showing how to use Claude for things like LinkedIn workflow tutorials or solving industry challenges. 

These influencer partnerships are shaping how the brand is perceived by professionals, allowing brands to influence conversation indirectly via “influencer adjacencies” rather than direct platform placements.

Anthropic recently launched a web search API for Claude which some marketers are using for search strategy and trend monitoring, but not for paid listing or ads.

Perplexity AI
Perplexity is the first mainstream AI search engine to offer direct, in-platform ad opportunities. In 2025, it’s testing two primary formats:

• Sponsored questions: Appear as follow-up prompts to a user’s query, labelled as “sponsored.” Clicking generates a new response tied to the partner brand’s message.

According to Perplexity’s VP Business Development, Ryan Foutty, “Sponsored follow-up questions are a really incredible brand advertorial. It’s additive because you’re helping users figure out the next question, … (not) just putting something in their face.”

• Media ads: Video placements in the app’s sidebar, visible but not interruptive.

Perplexity’s ad model is built for contextual relevance and charged on a CPM basis. Targeting is based on keyword associations, but ad content cannot alter the platform’s neutral AI-generated answers. 

The system is still in closed beta, but it signals the direction conversational advertising is heading.

Microsoft Co-Pilot, Gemini, and Others
As of September 2025, these platforms do not offer commercial paid sponsorships or native ad placements. Like ChatGPT, they are exploring influencer/ambassador programs and are likely watching Perplexity’s early-mover tests closely.

How can brands get visibility now?
Since direct advertising may not be generally available, most brands are focusing on:

• Building digital authority: Earning mentions in reputable articles, news, and databases that AI models crawl for citations.
• Optimising for AI mentions: Cleaning up schema, ensuring consistent entity linking, and earning references in industry news and expert lists.
• Influencer/integrated content programs: Partnering with thought leaders, creators, and professionals who publish workflows and tips that trigger model responses.

The Head of Paid Media at The Dubs Agency, Tara Cimino, said while finance brands can’t run broad advertising yet on AI search platforms they can optimise their brand to show up in answers.

“Gaining AI visibility should absolutely be a focus of finance brands right now,” Cimino said. “Key to this is prioritising top quality content that gets you trusted mentions and builds brand reputation.”

“Going forward marketing strategies will change too. Pure placement approaches driven by just bid price will have to make room for authority built by authentic content,” Cimono said.

So what comes next?
Paid placement within generative AI is emerging, but the open, self-service ad ecosystems marketers know from Google and Meta remain 1–2 years away for most platforms. 

Perplexity is forging ahead with contextual ad experiments, while OpenAI is preparing to monetise free user ad units by 2026. 

The lessons for financial marketers right now should be to focus on building authoritative, reference-worthy content and exploring influencer partnerships that align with AI discovery models. 

Those who learn to ethically earn AI mentions will have the biggest head start as the new paid media channels mature.

If you liked this article and want to know more contact The Dubs Agency we’d love to help.

[For full disclosure: The author used Perplexity to research this article while the podcast was created using ElevenLabs] 

The post Can marketers run paid advertising on AI platforms? The state of play in 2025. appeared first on Financial Marketer.

The rise of programmatic advertising

Programmatic advertising has emerged as one of the vanguard of precision marketing with 86% of overall digital advertising revenue forecasted to be from programmatic ads by 2026. Gone are the days of blanket campaigns and mass outreach efforts; instead, the focus has shifted towards granular audience segmentation and hyper-personalised messaging.

At the core of programmatic ads lies its ability to leverage vast amounts of data. From financial behaviours and demographics to nuanced interests, every data point serves as a pixel in the portrait of the affluent investor.

Real-time optimisation

One of programmatic advertising’s advantages is its capacity for real-time optimisation. This agility enables you to adapt your strategies on the fly, refining targeting parameters and message positioning to maximise relevance and resonance.

Programmatic advertising supports your asset management firm to overcome the limitations of traditional media channels. With the proliferation of digital touchpoints—from social media platforms and websites to mobile apps and connected devices—the opportunities for engagement are boundless. By seamlessly navigating digital touchpoints, you can create cohesive campaigns that cover diverse platforms with continuity.

The MVPs of programmatic advertising in the wealth management sector

1. Retargeting high-value prospects at BlackRock

BlackRock utilises programmatic retargeting to re-engage high-value prospects who have previously interacted with their brand. Through dynamic ad creative and strategic messaging, BlackRock reignites interest and prompts prospects to re-enter the sales funnel.

2. Segment-specific thought leadership at J.P. Morgan Asset Management

J.P. Morgan Asset Management disseminates segment-specific thought leadership content through programmatic advertising, establishing itself as a trusted advisor within the industry. By curating content that speaks directly to the interests and concerns of each demographic cohort, J.P. Morgan Asset Management strengthens its brand authority and fosters deeper connections with its target audience.

Programmatic advertising represents the best of precision targeting. By harnessing data-driven insights and automation, you can forge deeper connections with your target clients and thrive in an era defined by personalisation and precision.

The post The evolution of programmatic advertising appeared first on Financial Marketer.

Understanding regulatory frameworks

The financial services industry operates within a tightly regulated environment, with agencies like the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, The Council of Financial Regulators (CFR) in Australia, The European Banking Authority (EBA) in Europe, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US setting stringent guidelines to protect consumers and maintain market integrity. These regulations extend to advertising and marketing activities, requiring financial firms to adhere to strict rules regarding promoting their products and services.

Implications for programmatic advertising strategies

Programmatic advertising offers unparalleled efficiency and precision in targeting audiences, but it also introduces complexities when it comes to regulatory compliance. This is especially transparent when learning that 69% of programmatic advertising buyers feel that they lack transparency. Financial marketers must navigate a maze of rules to ensure their programmatic campaigns comply with regulations governing financial promotions, including:

1. Transparency: Disclosing accurate and relevant information about financial products and services. Ensuring transparency in ad placements and targeting criteria to avoid misleading consumers.
2. Suitability: Tailoring ad content and targeting to match the suitability of financial products for different customer segments. Avoid targeting vulnerable or unsuitable audiences with complex financial products.
3. Data privacy: Adhering to data protection regulations such as GDPR or CCPA to safeguard consumer data collected through programmatic advertising. Implementing robust data management practices to protect customer privacy and comply with regulatory requirements.

Navigating compliance requirements for programmatic advertising

To navigate the regulatory landscape effectively, you must adopt proactive compliance strategies:

1. Comprehensive compliance review: Conduct thorough reviews of programmatic ad campaigns to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. Establish clear guidelines and procedures for approving ad content and targeting parameters.
2. Collaboration across departments: Foster collaboration between marketing, compliance, and legal teams to align programmatic advertising strategies with regulatory obligations. Ensure compliance considerations are integrated into the planning and execution of programmatic campaigns.
3. Ongoing monitoring and adaptation: Implement robust monitoring mechanisms to track ad placements and performance metrics in real-time. Continuously assess and adapt programmatic advertising strategies to address emerging regulatory concerns or changes in the legal landscape.

Mitigating risks and enhancing transparency

In addition to compliance efforts, you can mitigate risks and enhance transparency in programmatic advertising through:

1. Ad verification technologies: Leveraging ad verification tools and services to ensure ads are displayed in brand-safe environments and comply with regulatory requirements.Monitoring ad placements for fraudulent activity or non-compliant content.
2. Transparency initiatives: Embracing transparency initiatives such as ads.txt and sellers.json to provide greater visibility into the programmatic supply chain and enhance trust with consumers and regulators. Partnering with reputable ad exchanges and publishers to uphold transparency standards and mitigate ad fraud risks.

Best Practices for regulatory compliance and campaign effectiveness

Innovative approaches and best practices can help you strike the delicate balance between regulatory compliance and campaign effectiveness:

1. Audience segmentation and personalisation: Utilise data analytics and machine learning algorithms to segment audiences effectively and personalise ad content based on individual preferences and financial needs. Ensure personalised ads comply with suitability requirements and ethical considerations.
2. Content optimisation: Optimise ad creatives and messaging to resonate with target audiences while adhering to regulatory guidelines. Conduct A/B testing to refine ad content and improve engagement without compromising compliance.
3. Continuous learning and adaptation: Stay abreast of regulatory developments and industry trends through ongoing education and participation in industry forums and associations. Foster a culture of compliance and innovation within the organisation to adapt to evolving regulatory requirements and market dynamics.

To use programmatic advertising effectively, follow the rules, be transparent, and engage consumers while keeping their trust.

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Understanding the dynamics of native advertising in wealth management

Native advertising has emerged as a powerful tool for brands in the financial sector to connect with their target audience. Unlike traditional advertisements, native advertising seamlessly integrates brand messaging into informative and engaging content, fostering trust and credibility among consumers. 25% of consumers are more likely to engage with native advertising over traditional banners and 53% of native ad engagement is positive. Relevant to both B2C and B2B brands, in the wealth management sector – where expertise and reliability are paramount – native advertising can play a pivotal role in building relationships with potential clients.

Speaking to the benefits native advertising offers, head of social media at The Dubs Agency, Tara Cimino says “Native advertising allows brands to integrate tailored content to placements where audiences are already active.”

“By placing native ads on high-traffic platforms or websites, finance brands can increase their visibility and exposure to prospect audiences.”

Examining successful native advertising campaigns

NatWest Invest: NatWest partnered with The Telegraph to create a native advertising campaign focused on personal finance and investment topics. The campaign included sponsored articles and videos providing valuable insights into investment strategies, retirement planning, and financial management. By aligning with The Telegraph’s editorial content and leveraging its credibility, NatWest effectively reached its target audience and captured the awareness of potential clients.

Betterment: Betterment, a leading robo-advisor platform, sponsored a podcast series called “The Better Off Podcast” hosted by Jill Schlesinger, a well-known financial expert. The podcast covers a variety of personal finance topics, including retirement planning, investing, and wealth management. Through authentic conversations and expert interviews, Betterment subtly integrates its robo-advisor services into the content, positioning itself as a valuable resource for listeners seeking financial advice.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA): CBA collaborated with news.com.au, one of Australia’s largest news websites, to create a native advertising campaign titled “Financial Fitness Challenge.” The campaign featured interactive quizzes, articles, and videos to improve financial literacy and empower consumers to make informed financial decisions. By providing practical advice on budgeting, saving, and investing, CBA subtly promoted its banking and financial services to a wide audience pushing clients through the awareness and consideration stages of the marketing funnel.

DBS Bank: DBS Bank launched a native advertising campaign titled “DBS Asian Insights” in partnership with CNBC. The campaign featured sponsored articles, videos, and webinars discussing market trends, investment opportunities, and economic insights in Asia. By leveraging CNBC’s platform and credibility, DBS Bank positioned itself as a trusted advisor for investors seeking information on Asian markets and financial strategies.

Strategies for subtle brand placement

To effectively integrate brand messaging into financial content, your finance brand must employ strategic tactics that prioritise authenticity and relevance.

• Focus on value: Prioritise providing valuable financial insights and expertise to your audience, positioning your brand as a trusted advisor. By addressing the needs and concerns of consumers, your finance brand can establish credibility and build trust over time.
• Seamless integration: Integrate brand messaging naturally within the content without disrupting the flow or appearing overly promotional. Avoiding overt advertisements and focusing on providing value ensures that your brand’s message resonates authentically with the audience.
• Thought leadership: Position your brand as a thought leader in the industry by sharing unique perspectives and insights. By offering innovative solutions to complex financial challenges, your brand can differentiate itself from competitors and attract the attention of potential clients.
• Audience relevance: Tailor content to address the specific needs and interests of your target audience, enhancing engagement and resonance. By understanding the demographics and preferences of your audience, brands can create content that’s both informative and compelling.

An expert’s advice

Continuing our discussion with Cimino she shares her top insights and tips for finance brands wanting to nail native advertising.

“Specific targeting should be implemented so content presented to audiences resonates with them effectively.

“As with all digital advertising, speak to the audiences’ needs, whether it’s financial advice or insights into investment strategies; provide content that adds genuine value to your audience.

“It is also key that your native ads are optimised for mobile. This includes responsive design, fast loading times, and user-friendly formats that cater to mobile users.”

Cimino speaks to the importance of data and tracking, “Implement tracking tools and metrics to monitor the performance of your native advertising campaign.

“Analyse key performance indicators such as engagement rates, click-through rates, and conversions against other platforms. Use this data to optimise your campaign and make necessary adjustments to improve results over time.”

Her final piece of advice for finance brands is about the importance of placement and brand association. “Placement and brand association is the key to implementing a native strategy. Therefore being able to layer and control placement is essential.”

She explains, “In terms of financial services brands, Dianomi brings us closer to this by having a finserv only ad placement. Recognising the sensitivities in a B2B advertising world and ensuring content is not just present where our audience is, but that our brand is only associated with other brands on that placement is paramount.”

Where native advertising sits in the marketing funnel

At each stage of the marketing funnel, native advertising plays a distinct role in guiding potential clients towards conversion:

• Top of funnel (awareness): Utilise native advertising to increase brand awareness and capture the attention of potential clients. By providing valuable insights and thought-provoking content, your finance brand can attract interest and establish itself as a credible source of information.
• Middle of funnel (consideration): Provide valuable insights and educational content to nurture leads and establish trust and credibility. By offering in-depth analysis and expert advice, your brand can further engage with potential clients and position itself as a trusted advisor in your field.
• Bottom of funnel (conversion): Incorporate subtle calls-to-action within the content to guide prospects towards conversion. Whether signing up for a consultation or exploring financial products, providing clear pathways for action can help drive leads towards conversion and achieve your marketing objectives.

The post A guide to native advertising for financial marketers appeared first on Financial Marketer.

Should your finance brand be on Threads?

New social media apps often come onto the scene, but none have made as big of an impact in such a short amount of time as Threads. Linked to Instagram, Threads broke records by reaching over 150 million users within two weeks before half of these users dropping off almost a week later.

In direct competition with X, Threads allows users to create and share short, ephemeral messages. Still in its early stages of development, this new social media app could be a valuable tool for financial marketers.

When any brand joins a social media app for the first they should always utilise test and learn content marketing at the beginning. As executive creative director of The Dubs, Tristan Fawley explains, “As Threads is currently organic publishing only, any brand presence will be to test and learn.”

He adds, “It’s an opportunity to test how audiences interact on a new platform but my recommendation would be to start small and scale over time once audience engagement data is available.”

Pros and cons for financial marketers

Adopting new social media platforms comes with potential risks as well as a variety of pros and cons. Fawley explains the first few months can be the most risky with new social platforms.

“It’s an opportunity to lead the field, but it comes with potential risk. The verification process is limited to ‘blue tick’ status (taken from Instagram) and doesn’t differentiate between individuals and brands. So, like any platform expansion, measures to minimise brand risk such as increased monitoring should be applied whilst in this early adoption phase.”

Pros:

• First mover advantage: By being an early adopter, your finance brand can gain a competitive advantage by establishing itself as a thought leader in the industry.
• Increased brand awareness: Being on a new platform can help to increase brand awareness and reach a new audience.
• Data-driven insights: New platforms can offer valuable data-driven insights that can help your finance brand to better understand its customers and target its marketing efforts more effectively.
• Testing and learning: New platforms can be a great way to test and learn new marketing strategies. This can help your finance brand to improve its results over time.

Cons:

• Platform failure: There is always the risk a new platform will fail. While Threads broke records for most user signups, engagement metrics plunged within one week, highlighting momentum may have stalled and gone backwards.
• Platform changes: New platforms are constantly evolving, which can make it difficult for financial marketers to keep up. This can lead to missed opportunities and ineffective marketing campaigns.
• Budget: Sometimes it can lead to wasted budget and ineffective use of spend.

What content will thrive on Threads?

According to Fawley X can be a great source of inspiration for Threads marketing content.

“As Threads is a competitor to X it makes sense to treat its content in the same way.” He explains, “Leverage X content first, test and learn what engages with audiences and then tailor it over time.”

Threads offers financial marketers another opportunity to adopt a multi-platform approach when it comes to content marketing. “A multi-platform strategy allows brands to reach audiences in different ways,” shares Fawley. “This leads to opportunities to blend niche and broader targeting, different targeting price points and different ad formats (editorial, video, carousels, etc.). This then allows the data to drive optimisation and increase engagement and cost-efficiency.”

X vs Threads

Amongst the recent controversy with X, Threads poses a nice opportunity for financial marketers to move to a ‘safer’ social platform that’s inherently the same. However, is this a good move?

Threads definitely hasn’t taken over X. X remains the dominant platform but this doesn’t mean financial marketers shouldn’t consider abandoning Threads. With the continued changes of X and controversies after Musk’s take over, Threads is a good option for financial marketers to utilise.

No one has missed the recent controversies at X, but how have they potentially impacted brands on the site? Fawley explains, “They have had an impact, but equally should be seen in the context of any social media platform.” He continues, “Hate speech, for example, isn’t unique to X and there are active ways brands can mitigate risk of their ads appearing alongside less desirable content. In addition, X is continuing to evolve how it downweights hate content.”

When it comes to other alternatives to X Fawley says, “Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram should be considered for B2B audiences. They can deliver very cost effective results and offer similar targeting options to LinkedIn.”

“In addition, blending social with alternative distribution platforms like Dianomi, Outbrain and Google Ads allows for budget optimisation whilst testing new ways to reach audiences,” adds Fawley.

Overall, the decision of whether or not to be an early adopter of any new social media platform is a complex one. There are a number of factors to consider, such as the size of your target audience, your budget, and your marketing goals. If you’re willing to take on the risks and are strategic, being an early adopter can be a great way to gain a competitive advantage and grow your organic audience.

The post What financial marketers need to know about Threads appeared first on Financial Marketer.

Where to begin

Whether you’re media planning for a large-scale always-on campaign or a small, one-off campaign, your finance brand should start by identifying your goals and target audience. These two steps are critical to ensure you don’t lose sight of exactly what you want to achieve.

“Start by identifying target audiences, and how the message will resonate with those audiences based on demographics,” Sadiye says.

“Use this information to consider how to encourage audiences to engage with the brand. Establish clear goals and key objectives that are realistic to ensure the goals are achievable and within reach.”

How to create a media plan from scratch

Media planning consists of building an efficient marketing strategy that is regularly evaluated and adjusted to ensure it’s optimised to achieve your finance brand’s targets. It’s all about finding the best combination of brand messaging and media channels to achieve your desired objectives.

At the minutiae, a media plan consists of identifying the right message, at the right time, and on the right channel and effective targeting methods that will be most effective in nurturing and converting leads. Combining a variety of media types – earned media, owned media and paid media.

“Once a finance brand has defined its objectives and has a clear idea of target audience, it’s time to determine the target audiences and social platforms, consider content frequency and reach, and analyse and optimise performance throughout the campaign duration,” Sadiye says.

It’s important financial marketers understand that a media plan isn’t a hard and fast document that can’t be altered. Instead, a media plan is designed to be upended. If a specific message, channel or even targeting avenue isn’t performing well, it should be optimised in real time.

“Ultimately, creating a media plan for finance brands consists of formulating a strategy, evaluating its effectiveness and adjusting the execution of the strategy,” shares Sadiye.

The benefits for financial marketers

There are numerous benefits to having and implementing an effective media plan. Ultimately, by creating a media plan your finance brand’s marketing strategy will be more effective in generating leads, nurturing potential clients and pushing them through the acquisition funnel. It can also help you broaden your organic reach and ensure you’re consistently improving brand awareness and achieving key performance metrics.

Sadiye notes, “Benefits of having a media plan for finance brands include improving efficiency, analysis and optimisation, and improved ROI.”

How can financial marketers improve their media plan?

As discussed, a core component of any successful media plan is ensuring your finance brand consistently evaluates it to maximise your success.

Sadiye shares some things to consider when you’re looking to improve your media plan: “Think about broadening and defining the audiences and demographics that are being targeted, and keep testing these audiences to ensure the reach is being utilised.”

She adds, “Consider redefining budget allocation based on performance throughout the campaign duration.”

Ultimately, by failing to plan you are preparing to fail.

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Benefits of each media strategy and when to use them

A paid, earned and owned media strategy balances three key marketing objectives: brand awareness, lead generation, and client acquisition and retention. Each strategy works together to ensure your finance brand has a winning shot at not only nurturing and converting clients but also retaining them.

Tara Cimino, Social Media Strategist at The Dubs, notes, “The benefits are endless when it comes to finance brands using paid, earned and owned media.” She explains, “Being seen as a thought leader in the industry will strengthen existing relationships and create new ones, reaching new audiences such as Gen Z, building brand awareness and developing community trust. All of these are key elements to building a social media presence as a finance brand.”

But what are the differences between the three?

• Paid media strategy – This is a marketing strategy that involves advertising your finance brand via paid placements, such as pay-per-click (PPC) or social media advertising. The benefits of a paid media strategy is that it can be scaled quickly and easily.
• Earned media strategy – This is a marketing strategy that involves gaining engagement or promotion through organic means. The benefits of an earned media strategy are that it continues to improve brand awareness, gain leads and convert clients even when your paid media strategy is over.
• Owned media strategy – This is a marketing strategy that involves any content that’s created and distributed via channels your finance brand owns, like social media or your blog. The benefits of an owned media strategy is that your finance brand has full control over the content that’s produced, helping you to create tailored messages that are targeted at specific audiences. In the same way, an owned media strategy lets you respond to events as they happen, helping your content remain timely and useful.

How to get it right

Identifying both your short-term and long-term objectives is critical to finding the right balance. Ensuring you find an equilibrium between long-term brand building and short-term activation will enable your finance brand to create a sustainable marketing strategy that’s successful in generating, nurturing and converting leads. Overall, paid media strategies are overall more effective when supported by both owned and earned marketing campaigns.

“Finance brands can strike a balance between paid, earned and owned media by utilising all areas equally over a period of time.” asserts Tara. “Paid media will reach a large audience quickly, encouraging brand awareness on a larger scale. Earned media comes from recommendations, building credibility and trust which can help reach multiple potential customers. Finally, owned media allows brands to directly control their branding and messaging.”

How to measure the effectiveness of your media strategy

An important part of any marketing strategy is ensuring you are measuring it correctly to identify what’s working and what’s not. There are several things your finance brand can implement and analyse to understand if you’ve achieved a good balance between all three media strategies.

As Tara says, “Measurement of granular data and KPIs, analysis and goal attribution are key to achieving an ideal balance for finance brands.”

Paid media can retarget audiences, it’s easy to measure, and when used in conjunction with earned and owned media, can be more successful.”

Overall, striking the right balance between all three strategies can be difficult, but once achieved can make a huge difference in your overall marketing success.

The post How to balance a paid, earned and owned media strategy appeared first on Financial Marketer.

The value of social media advertising

Social media advertising is one area of a paid media strategy that can reap great rewards for finance brands looking to build greater brand awareness and generate new leads. A paid media strategy is particularly beneficial as it enables your finance brand to reach beyond its organic following.

Paid media buying is effective in amplifying your social content, enabling you to reach your target audience and nurture them down the customer acquisition funnel. At the end of the day, it can be difficult to be found organically on social platforms. This is why social media advertising can be your saving grace and a great tool in your overall financial marketing content strategy.

The dos and don’ts of social media advertising

While advertising is important to include in your overall content strategy, it can be difficult to get right. To truly nail your advertising content, you need to have an in-depth understanding of who your target audience is and what they will respond to. Additionally, you also need to understand the platform you’re advertising on and the types and styles of content that capture the user’s attention.

Here are three tips to help your finance brand nail its social media advertising content:

• Show a human face – Social media is primarily designed for people to connect with one another – whether that’s strangers, friends or family. By creating content that’s personable and relatable, you can begin forming an authentic relationship with your target clients.
• Tailor content to the platform – Each social media platform is different in regard to demographics, style of content and trends. Understanding what type of content performs best on each platform will help you create a tailored content program, that engages users from the beginning.
• Cater to your target audience – Different types of people respond to different types of content. Understanding what your target audience responds to will enable your finance brand to make a real impact and capture an interested audience.

How to get it right and convert leads

Social media advertising doesn’t stop at creating engaging content. Paid media strategies are effective in gaining a new audience and building brand awareness, but if your content strategy and website aren’t designed to nurture leads and convert clients it will all be pointless.

Optimising your website and content strategy to push clients through the customer acquisition funnel is vital to a successful advertising strategy. Adopting an always-on content strategy, ensuring your website has a great CX design and implementing personalisation strategies are all necessary to convert leads.

Don’t let your social media advertising go to waste, ensure your overall financial marketing strategy is aligned to nurturing and converting clients.

The post The value of social media advertising for finance brands appeared first on Financial Marketer.

The ins and outs of digital advertising

For finance brands, digital search advertising has an average click-through rate (CTR) of 5.07% making it an important aspect of any Singapore finance marketer’s overall strategy. However, while digital advertising is important it must be accompanied by a strong content marketing strategy.

Digital advertising needs to be supported by content marketing

Singapore finance marketers should accompany their digital ads with an always-on content program. Digital advertising alone isn’t enough to convert clients. While it’s a helpful strategy to generate leads and foster brand awareness, your finance brand needs to create meaningful relationships with potential clients.

Creating a content marketing strategy that’s tailored to your target audience, provides value and offers information clients need will help you push leads downs the acquisition funnel. Content marketing works for you, even after digital ad spending is complete. This is why it’s so important so your leads don’t go to waste.

But how can Singapore finance marketers nail digital ads?

Tips and tricks for Singapore finance marketers

Digital advertising is about capturing the attention of audiences quickly and incentivising them to click through to our website. Here are a few tips and tricks to help you get it right:

• Personalisation – With 72% of consumers saying they only engage with personalised messaging, your finance brand should create tailored ads for your target audience.
• Target specific market segments – Ensure your digital ads are targeted and caters to what consumers want to see.
• Create connections with the audience – Forming an emotional connection with your audience can foster brand loyalty, trust and awareness. In fact, customers who have an emotional relationship with a brand have a 306% higher lifetime value and will likely recommend the company at a rate of 71%, instead of the average 45%.

At the end of the day, digital advertising is an important component of any Singapore finance marketer’s overall strategy. While it can help generate leads when done right, it’s important every paid media campaign is supported by an always-on content program.

The post Digital advertising for Singapore finance marketers appeared first on Financial Marketer.

The benefits of a paid media

The benefits of a paid social media strategy are you can scale up to as many markets as possible, depending on your finance brand’s budget and buy-in. This means you can begin a campaign targeting a select UK audience, before then increasing the range to include other countries like Spain or Germany, for example.

“When scaling, we can start off small before expanding to reach more target audiences,” says Cimino.

Paid media in this regard enables your finance brand to reach beyond your organic following. “If you’re just putting organic content out, there’s no guarantee anybody else is going to read it beyond your organic reach,” explains Cimino.

To generate new leads and funnel potential clients through to your website, a paid media approach is not simply a nice-to-have but an essential element to an always-on content program.

A paid media strategy builds trust

“Running a paid media strategy helps to build your follower base and expand your audience,” Cimino says. “Your followers are what potential clients will see and are what establishes your brand as a trusted source.”

At the heart of it, gaining a following on social media platforms can offer a competitive edge as it builds trust with clients. It’s unlikely your finance brand will be able to build a following without paid media and an always-on content strategy. This is simply because an always-on strategy that favours timely content means your brand voice is regularly seen by clients. By improving brand awareness and offering a perspective on current affairs, clients are likely to push through the top of the funnel (your content) and continue through to your products and website.

“Because finance brands have built trust at the beginning, through their always-on content strategy, potential clients will begin looking through your products and offerings,” adds Cimino. “They’ll move down the customer acquisition funnel.”

Why optimisation is the key to success

In order to optimise your paid media strategy to fulfil your business objectives and drive results, you must consistently analyse your website and social metrics. Looking past platform metrics, like clicks or shares, ensures your finance brand gains a panoptic view of how successful your customer acquisition process is. Understanding how your media buying strategy influences web conversion rates is critical to understanding what strategy is successful and what isn’t.

“Focusing on the onward journey beyond the ad is critical,” Cimino notes. “The ad is the only thing finance brands can control, so optimising the creatives, content and website is important to ensure the user journey is completed successfully.”

While you could have the best paid media strategy out there, if your website is not optimised to convert clients it won’t be successful. Ensure it’s user and mobile-friendly, accessible and tailored to your audience to ensure the client acquisition process is seamless.

The essentials

At the end of the day, paid media is an essential part of any always-on content strategy. To convert customers and generate meaningful leads you need to move beyond your follower base, improve brand awareness and gain trust – these can only be achieved through a paid media strategy that has been optimised to reach your objectives and drive consistent results. Consider your target audience and tailor your always-on content strategy to match. Paid media is the competitive edge your finance brand may be missing.

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