The Changing Landscape of B2B Finance Marketing

The B2B finance sector has traditionally relied on conventional marketing approaches like direct sales, display advertising and industry events to generate awareness. However in recent years financial institutions have transitioned to digital channels to reach target audiences.

Influencers are part of what’s become known as the Creator Economy and is powered by platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Its scale is now undeniable with Goldman Sachs projecting it reaching a staggering US$500 billion by 2027. 

This opens up new opportunities for B2B finance brands to leverage relevant influencers who can credibly convey financial concepts to their followers. 

Financial institutions should take note that 75% of B2B brands currently use influencer marketing according to a global report by advertising and public relations agency Ogilvy.

The Ogilvy report also found 93% of B2B Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) are planning to increase their use of influencers. 

“Carefully selected Influencer partnerships now play an integral role in how businesses consume, verify and act on information. “ Titus said.

It is also now clear that finance influencers are relevant at all levels of the industry, from the obvious adoption by retail finance brands and fintech, right through to the sophisticated investor environment of institutional investing.

As reported in the Financial Marketer, a Brunswick Digital Investor Survey found that 88% of institutional investors have made recommendations or decisions based on digital or social media information. 

This statistic underscores the growing importance of digital channels in institutional investment decision-making, with LinkedIn rated just under corporate investor relations websites as the most important source of information.

Further, LinkedIn’s Research indicates that 44% of institutional investors consume content based on the individual who produced it, while 24% connect with leading voices to help shape their views. 

This personalisation of financial information consumption demonstrates how individual influencers have penetrated even sophisticated institutional investment processes.  

So what makes a B2B influencer? While B2C is about trendsetting in the B2B space an influencer needs credible expertise and proven experience so they can contribute to professional industry opinion.

They come in the form of thought leaders, subject matter experts, academics, business leaders, and from finance companies own staff such as chief investment officers (CIOs).

However, the Ogilvy report points out B2B brands need to choose talent wisely and carefully select influencers whose “voice and values” fit with the brand.

Further, the CMO of Schroders, Beth Saint, highlights individualism is important for finance brands to stand out in a world swamped with content.

“Whether your Influencers are your employees, or your customers, the individual is critical for brands to be recognised now.” Saint said.

The rise of financial influencers

Unsurprisingly, LinkedIn has emerged as the hub for B2B financial thought leadership, hosting a diverse ecosystem of finance professionals who have built substantial followings through their specialist knowledge and insights. 

These influencers range from corporate executives, industry experts, and chief investment officers, each bringing informed perspectives to the financial arena.

Oana Labes stands out with more than 375,000 LinkedIn followers and is known for her ability to create detailed infographics that break down complex financial matters for a broad audience. 

The Chief Commercial Officer at the Business Partnering Institute, Anders Liu-Lindberg, has amassed more than 410,000 LinkedIn followers by providing actionable advice to finance professionals.

Prominent venture capitalist Hunter Walk, with more than 870,000 LinkedIn followers, shares funding strategies and start-up culture with entrepreneurs and investors alike.  

But LinkedIn is not the only place for finance influencers with other social platforms catering to other audience demographics.

Instagram has become home to several mega-influencers, including Vivian Tu with 3.3 million followers, Tori Dunlap 2.2 million followers, and Haley Sacks, known as “Mrs. Dow Jones” 1.2 million followers. 

While these influencers often focus on personal finance, many have successfully crossed over into B2B partnerships, bringing financial literacy concepts to business audiences.

Successful B2B finance influencer partnerships

Several financial institutions and fintech companies have pioneered innovative approaches to B2B influencer marketing, creating campaigns that demonstrate the evolving sophistication of these partnerships.

For example, global alternative investments asset manager Man Group partnered with Eddie Donmez of Creative Capital with more than 265,000 LinkedIn followers.  During a few months campaign Donmez created videos and content posts highlighting Man Group with each post attracting at least hundreds and up to thousands of audience interactions and comments.

[Full disclosure: Man Group is a client of finance marketing group The Dubs Agency and is the publisher of Financial Marketer]

Another example comes from financial services technology provider, FIS, which created the #Finpact program which paired internal FIS subject matter experts with reputable industry leaders such as American fintech industry banker Theodora Lau to develop thought leadership content on securities & investments, insurance, and financial institutions. 

Even traditional financial institutions like American Express have embraced influencer marketing. But rather than relying on finance experts, American Express selected influential bloggers from the design and lifestyle sectors to support small enterprises in promoting AmEx credit cards through video tutorials.

Future trends in B2B finance influencer marketing

B2B influencer finance marketing is being led by several emerging trends that deliver authenticity, strategic relationships, and multi-platform engagement.

Authenticity is the bedrock of any successful B2B influencer campaign. B2B finance decision-makers quickly filter out overt promotional content but do respond to real expertise and useful insights according to B2B content-creator platform MarketScale. 

In B2B marketing long-term relationship building is more important than one-off campaigns as finance brands recognize the compound benefits of sustained influencer partnerships. 

These enduring relationships also help finance brands weather market volatility and regulatory changes by maintaining consistent, trusted voices in the marketplace.

Multi-platform content distribution strategies are key as different social channels serve distinct purposes in the B2B buyer journey. 

While LinkedIn remains the dominant platform for professional thought leadership, Gartner marketing research indicates YouTube influences up to 65% of B2B purchase decisions. 

This has prompted finance brands to develop integrated influencer strategies that leverage the unique strengths of each platform – LinkedIn for professional credibility, YouTube for detailed explanations, and where relevant, Instagram or TikTok for broader awareness.

This all means finance brands are focused on addressing the challenges of B2B influencer marketing in their sector. These include navigating regulatory environments, maintaining compliance standards in influencer content, and measuring the business impact of influence beyond vanity metrics. 

Leading finance marketers are developing specialized frameworks for influencer selection, content oversight, and performance measurement that account for these industry-specific considerations.

Do you need help with finance influencer marketing? 

Navigating the complexities of finance influencer marketing can feel daunting for marketing teams that have not done this before. Even marketers who have started using influencers in some form may be unsure if they are using the right influencers effectively for their finance brand.

If you relate to either of these statements, then The Dubs Agency finance marketing experts would love to speak with you because we can help. Contact Us to start a conversation.

The post The evolution of B2B finance influencer marketing appeared first on Financial Marketer.

Asset managers are responding with content marketing to build brand trust and differentiate their offerings with diverse investor target groups. The market environment now requires integrated marketing strategies with asset managers scrutinizing which digital platforms best deliver and localise their thought leadership content throughout Asia to actively engage clients. 

Be where your clients are online 

As a result, Asian asset managers are creating content specifically for digital platforms that closely align with regional user behaviour. For example YouTube dominates in markets like Singapore, where 90% of the population uses the platform daily.

Fidelity Investments Singapore has tapped this opportunity and generated more than 2.6 million views since 2021 through market update videos that blend macroeconomic analysis with actionable investor insights. These videos cater to financially sophisticated audiences seeking real-time investment guidance, positioning Fidelity as a trusted source amid market volatility.

Meanwhile at the entry-level of the investor scale, Instagram’s younger demographic (85% of Singaporean users are aged 16–24) has prompted Singaporean bank UOB Group to adopt visually driven, educational content. UOB’s “ASEAN story” campaign simplifies complex financial topics, targeting first-time investors with bite-sized tutorials. This strategy builds brand affinity and kickstarts long-term client relationships by addressing the financial literacy gap among younger audiences.

Let AI crunch the data to hyper-personalise client content

Generative AI is reshaping content marketing by enabling hyper-personalised client interactions. Accenture’s 2024 analysis highlights 50% of Asian investors seek tailored content such as AI analsyed client portfolios to generate customised reports. 

A great example of this is HSBC leveraging tokenization to create personalized investment strategies for high net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and show this with dynamic content that adapts to individual risk profiles.

Innovation like this better serves the client while reducing operational costs by automating routine communication.

Other advice for financial marketers can be found closer to home with Aberdeen Investments senior digital marketing manager in Singapore, Jave Lin, explaining how he has fused the power of AI with video marketing to become a marketing industry influencer in his own right while taking these key learnings back into his day job at Aberdeen.     

Lin says video marketing and AI are two of the hottest trends shaping the future of marketing. As these two powerful forces converge, marketers are exploring innovative ways to leverage AI to streamline and enhance their video marketing efforts. But he cautioned AI is not the universal problem solver.

“It’s crucial to remember AI should be seen as a powerful tool to augment human creativity and expertise, not as a complete replacement.” said Lin.

What makes good thought leadership and how to use it

Thought leadership is the process of creating and sharing expert insights via innovative content to build credibility and authority. In the finance industry providing in-depth research remains a cornerstone of thought leadership. 

As reported in Asia Asset Management, Principal Asset Management’s Greater China Equity Fund, which has outperformed its benchmark by 86% since 2007, attributes its success to “thought leadership through early identification of growth prospects”. 

The firm publishes quarterly whitepapers analyzing sectoral trends, such as the impact of China’s regulatory reforms on tech equities, to position itself as a market authority. 

An example of award-winning thought leadership comes from Aviva Investors with it’s annually released “Little Book of Data” which uses beautiful data visualisations and charts to illustrate the forces shaping the investment landscape.

Aviva states while it’s critical to have the data necessary to arrive at the right outcomes. “But data is not enough on its own. To be valuable, it must be organised and presented clearly and accurately. Good data visualisation can help with this by illustrating important themes and highlighting overlooked trends.” 

[Full disclosure: “Little Book Of Data” is made by the publisher of this industry blog and finance marketing group – The Dubs Agency, using Aviva Investors research and data.] 

Turning regulatory compliance into educational content

Asset management as an industry is inherently soaked in complex regulatory compliance issues. Added to this Asia has pain points from fragmented regional regulations and cross-border enforcement issues. 

Groups such as Waystone, which provide institutional governance and compliance services to the asset management industry, turn their industry knowledge into thought leadership content to showcase their expertise and be recognised as industry leaders. 

An example of this is how Waystone uses webinars to demystify complex issues such as AML/KYC best practices to educate asset managers on how to build trust with institutional clients navigating Asia’s regulatory regimes.

Leading investor conversation on investment innovations

Asset managers can show genuine competitive difference by leading industry conversations around cutting edge investment innovations. For example, HSBC’s 2025 whitepaper in partnership with Calastone, Marketnode and Northern Trust, on tokenized portfolios illustrates how blockchainfractional ownership appeals to Asia’s HNWIs, by giving them ready access to illiquid assets like private equity. 

Content marketing around tokenization educates investors on benefits such as enhanced liquidity and transparency, differentiating HSBC in the market by demonstrating the benefit of being an early adopter in a competitive market.

Building Asian and global investment brands

According to the Global Head of Marketing & Sales at Korea’s Mirae Asset Global Investments, Blair Abbott, successfully building an investment brand in the highly competitive and constantly shifting landscape where capturing investor attention is the prize requires crafting a powerful story and articulating its value proposition.

The challenge was to take Mirae’s position as the leading Korean ETF provider and build it into a recognised global ETF major player. Mirae is now the world’s 12th largest ETF provider with US$140 billion in assets under management (AUM)

Abbott points out that as the battle for investor attention has increasingly shifted online, digital engagement with investors has become the new frontier. 

He said that by leveraging cutting-edge digital tools such as data analytics, targeted content delivery, and AI, asset management brands can engage with investors in meaningful and memorable ways.

“In 2025 and beyond, a firm must navigate the digital landscape cleverly, analyzing investor behaviours through sophisticated data analytics to craft strategies that effectively capture attention in a crowded marketplace. AI-powered tools enhance marketing efforts efficiency and creativity, enabling more dynamic and responsive interactions with investors.” Abbott. 

 What this all means for asset managers

Asian asset managers face equally important and competing challenges. They must navigate a fragmented regulatory landscape and capture investor opportunities in the world’s fastest-growing wealth market. 

Content marketing has emerged as a vital tool for asset managers to promote thought leadership and foster client trust through data-driven research and harness digital innovations like AI hyper-personalisation and tokenization.

Partnering with finance marketing experts: The Dubs Agency

Navigating the complexities of financial digital marketing is daunting. At The Dubs Agency, we specialise in helping B2B finance brands unlock the full potential of strategic digital marketing. From data-driven campaigns to personalised lead-gen strategies, we deliver results you can measure. Ready to transform your marketing efforts? Contact The Dubs Agency today to learn how we can help.

The post How Asian asset managers are mastering thought leadership content marketing in volatile times appeared first on Financial Marketer.