Financial services dictate our lives, affecting how we live, work, and relax. From online banking to mortgage rates and pensions to savings accounts and investments, your average person is probably not fully aware of all the financial services available to them.
A recent study discovered that 40% of people have had the same bank account for more than 20 years. Getting customers interested in financial services is therefore not easy.
Thankfully, social media marketing is helping financial services companies, institutions, and advisors engage with a new audience. Sites like X, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are now platforms where these businesses can build brand awareness, generate leads, and educate potential clients on the world of finance.
Social media campaigns play a crucial role in leveraging current trends within the financial services industry. However, to really connect with the right audience and handle any crises that might come up, they need to be smart and strategic.
How do you grow a social media presence in this competitive industry? Read on to find out.
In this guide:
Why social media is essential for the financial services sector
Levels of trust in the financial sector have been steadily recovering since the 2008 crash and, in recent years, banks and other institutions have found social media to be the perfect place to connect with a new generation.
Trust in the financial sector grew 9% between 2019 and 2023 in the UK, despite a period of uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Amazingly, the highest levels of trust around the world come from millennials and Gen Z (34% and 32%, respectively), perhaps because they didn’t experience the 2008 crash.
But it also has a lot to do with financial services entering the social media world. By embracing social media for business, financial institutions can build brand awareness and generate leads while providing helpful educational content on personal finance and financial literacy. Utilizing various social media channels to engage with audiences on topics like retirement planning and financial services is essential for growth and connection.
In doing so, a mortgage lender or pension provider can speak directly to audiences they otherwise would struggle to connect with.
Benefits of using social media for financial service brands
- Humanize your brand: This is a really important facet of financial service marketing. In a sector where financial decisions have lifelong impacts, using social media marketing enables you to share inspirational stories, educational videos, and informative content that speaks directly to your target audience. Wells Fargo is particularly good at this. Whether you’re a boutique financial advisor or a large bank, your social media posts can help demystify complex products and services – especially to younger generations.
- Discover potential customers: With a solid social media strategy, you can use a mix of social media platforms and channels to target both traditional clients and a younger audience looking for innovative solutions. Since different demographics use social media in different ways, it's important to focus on the right social platforms. For financial services companies, using social media effectively is key to attracting new business and securing clients.
Ask yourself: What is your strategy?
Businesses that offer financial services often face the same issues when seeking to make an impact on social media: how can we make our services interesting? After all, who really wants to talk about savings rates, investment portfolios, and cryptocurrency when scrolling through social media?
Well, quite a few people, in fact – you just have to know how to attract them. There are many ways you can connect to audiences interested in financial services. There are also plenty of ways to reach those who don’t consider themselves to be interested.
As a financial services brand, you need to understand who you want to talk to and how you’re going to do it. A tool like Brandwatch for the financial services industry is a great place to start.
By better understanding public opinion, you can use consumer intelligence to predict behavior before the markets open, change your products to align with audience preferences and manage your response to reputational threats.
You can also build your brand’s reputation on social media from scratch, becoming a leader in your industry and developing trust with your audience. Just take a look at UK bank Natwest, which describes itself on Facebook as “a safe space for everyone.” This sentiment comes from listening to audiences about what they want from a bank and weaving the subsequent messaging into Natwest’s social media strategy.
Choosing the right social media platforms
There is no one‑size‑fits‑all approach when a financial services company chooses the right social media platforms. It all depends on your target audience. If you’re a B2B company, then you might decide to steer clear of TikTok. Meanwhile, a start-up home insurance provider aimed at students could thrive on the same platform.
Every social media platform offers unique advantages. Here’s a breakdown of the main ones to consider:
- LinkedIn: This is the place for professional networking and sharing thought‑leadership content. Financial advisors can use LinkedIn to their benefit by becoming thought leaders and sharing knowledge. Read our guide on what to post on LinkedIn to connect with decision‑makers and industry peers.
- X: This platform excels at real‑time engagement, and banks often use it to direct complaints to their customer service department. X is also a place to spread social media ads strategically. Your social media strategy can spark conversations around financial information and industry trends. You can then use a tool like Brandwatch to understand what people are saying about your brand.
- Facebook and Instagram: These platforms are part of Meta, which means you can post on both at the same time. While Facebook is still a go-to platform for targeted ads and community engagement – with insights available in our Facebook marketing guide – Instagram shines for sharing short videos and visual content. Facebook’s target audience is older than Instagram’s though, so you might want to check if sharing the same content on both platforms is best for your brand.
- YouTube: If you’re looking to produce long‑form content and educational videos, YouTube should be a cornerstone of your digital marketing efforts. Many financial services companies now use YouTube not only to share video ads but also to provide informative content that helps potential clients make better financial decisions.
- TikTok: Start-ups and brands targeting younger generations can thrive on TikTok. Since audiences connect with financial products that feel relevant to them, it’s important to present topics like insurance or pensions in a way that's engaging and exciting. Learn how to boost your engagement on TikTok using these tips.
- Reddit: Reddit is all about community-driven discussions, making it a great platform for financial services brands that want to build trust and credibility. Instead of traditional marketing, success on Reddit comes from participating in relevant subreddits, answering questions, and sharing valuable insights—without being overly promotional.
What content should you create?
Content is often the hardest thing for financial services companies to come up with. How do you show what you do, when your product or service is usually nothing more than complicated software?
Banks and insurance providers are great at creating emotional connections by linking financial security to the comfort and stability of home and family. For independent advisors, it’s a little more difficult. You have to create content that shows your value and the positive result for the customer.
Depending on your brand, you might choose to go down the following routes:
- Educational and inspirational content: You could opt for a mix of educational content and inspirational stories that showcase expert insights on financial topics that are relevant to your brand, such as retirement savings, financial situations, and personal finance strategies. Consider incorporating educational videos to explain complex ideas in a simple, digestible format. For more ideas, check out our guide on social media post ideas.
- Product-led content: If you have a product that needs marketing, think about the best way to capture people's attention. Creativity is key – you may need to tell a story that naturally incorporates the product. For example, a video ad showing Gen Z the exciting experiences they can enjoy while earning high interest on their savings.
- Brand awareness content: You might choose not to focus on your products at all, but instead push your brand. Lloyds Bank undertook a brand change in 2024 specifically to catch the eye and engage a fresh generation of customers.
Remember, if you’re involved in financial services, then you need to ensure your social media content plan is fully compliant with regulations. Be sure to cross-check all campaigns with regulators and plan your content with those guidelines in mind.
By balancing creativity with regulatory compliance, you can navigate the unique challenges of the financial industry while delivering content that positions your brand exactly where you want it to be.
Using social media advertising
It can be hard to reach the right audiences organically on social media when you’re a financial services brand. After all, financial services aren’t exactly “sexy.” However, advertising is a trusted way to penetrate target audience demographics that you might otherwise struggle to reach.
Now, the great thing about social media is you’re in charge of what you post. So, you can launch a new campaign that focuses on your new financial service and post it on your various social media profiles. You can then turn your posts into ads to reach further and draw users back to your profile.
Each social media platform has its own way of running ads, but they all help you target the right demographics.
What’s great is you can stay on top of all costs when running digital ads via social media sites. Set ad spend limits and experiment with different strategies to see what works best with the algorithm. You can also use a tool like Advertise to establish your strategy and develop your content before diving in.
Managing and optimizing your social media efforts
Managing your financial services social media output is no different from managing any other type of content. Your task is to ensure your content accurately reflects your company’s brand and drives engagement. Reaching your goals is difficult without the right tools and practices.
This involves creating, scheduling, and publishing social media posts, as well as monitoring performance and adapting to changes in social media algorithms.
Here’s what you need to consider when managing your accounts so that you optimize the performance of each post.
- Make data-driven decisions: It’s important to use robust social media marketing tools to strategize, schedule posts, monitor campaigns, and gather insights. Each social media site has its own in-house tools, like the Meta Business Suite or X Analytics. However, a tool like Brandwatch is great for elevating your financial services brand across all platforms, so you can create and monitor posts with ease.
- Ensure you deliver continuous optimization: Your social media strategy guides your early steps – but you should be willing to evolve and adapt your plan. Conduct social media audits and review them to refine your social media strategy at regular intervals. Look for opportunities to incorporate different social media platforms and run competitor analysis to see what your rivals are doing well.
- Champion team collaboration: It’s important to empower your internal team to manage and respond to your social media efforts effectively. Financial services companies need to follow strict guidelines on how they speak to audiences and advertise their products. It’s therefore crucial that everyone in your team is up to date with the latest regulations and work together to deliver collaborative campaigns. If you want to know more, here’s a guide to why having a social CRM can elevate your customer interactions and streamline your processes.
- Use analytics and reporting tools: Make sure you have access to social media analytics tools, so you can track performance and make data‑driven adjustments to your campaigns. Analytics software is often built into marketing tools, and a platform like Brandwatch is ideal for getting started.
- Be open to outsourcing your social media management: Managing social media accounts for financial services brands can be a big job, especially if you’re an advisor or freelance accountant. If you don’t have the time to do it right, consider exploring professional services for social media management to ensure your brand remains active and consistent across all channels.
Time to get started
The modern financial services sector needs social media more than you might realize. Younger generations access information via social media and want quick, easy-to-digest content. Because of this, financial services providers have to be smart about how they portray themselves online.
A pension provider needs to “sell” the idea of a fruitful retirement to a generation that can’t see past 40. An insurance firm needs to make a fairly mundane product interesting and relevant.
Older generations also use social media and are more likely to understand the products being advertised to them. However, with so much competition, financial services providers still need to create a hook to draw potential customers in.
No matter which products and services you provide, and which target audience you have, it’s crucial to deliver a holistic approach to social media marketing. You need to combine robust social media management, continuous optimization, and a commitment to compliance. This integrated strategy will not only help you navigate the unique challenges of the sector but also transform your social media accounts into a powerful engine for growth.
For more tips on crafting compelling content, explore our guide on social media content planning.
