R&Co attended the UK’s biggest conference dedicated to financial marketing professionals this week – Financial Promoter’s FP Live! 2026, held in the City of London.
We left the CodeNode venue with plenty of food for thought about what the future holds for marketeers working in this space, and how storytelling remains at the heart of it all.
We were privileged to be part of the expert panels offering insight to delegates throughout the day – account director and professional services marketing specialist Ian Gallagher joined the discussion on From Suits to Selfies, looking at how financial brands can build trust and stand out in an increasingly noisy (and AI-driven) landscape.
Among all the panels held throughout the day, the themes of authentic storytelling and how we can harness AI for good came up time and again.
What we learned about financial marketing
To quote Financial Promoter editor Niamh Smith, “Storytelling came up again and again, with a clear focus on authenticity, values, and real-life relevance. And of course, AI was a major talking point this year with a real shift towards how it’s being used in practice, not just what’s possible.”
This resonated clearly with our experiences.
On our panel, we discussed how the market is becoming flooded with fake “experts” – both in mainstream media outlets and on socials. Brands chasing clout or a quick backlink are increasingly able to sneak their AI-generated comments past time-poor journalists and trust is damaged as a result.
We discussed how that can be countered with one key focus – authenticity. If people buy into a brand and a lifestyle, that resonates much more with audiences than the hard sell, particularly in such a closely-regulated sector.
Some top takeaways from our discussion:
- Authenticity and trust go hand in hand – remember the key idea that people buy from people. Content doesn’t have to be super-polished or uber-corporate for it to engender trust – if anything, the opposite is true. Don’t be constrained by financial marketing being a regulated sector – instead, look at what works well in other sectors and what kind of content resonates with audiences. Your people are your biggest asset, so empowering them to be front and centre of your brand can resonate really well with audiences. Remember the same goes for influencers, too – if you’re working with one, make sure they’re someone whose personal brand is credible, trusted and authentic.
- Thought leaders are influencers too – Trust isn’t just built on social media. In a sector governed closely by rules and regulations, real people build trust via search, websites and the good old–fashioned printed press. Google closely governs any content on matters that could affect your health and wealth – so sending it trust signals that your experts are real will elevate that content above the AI swamp. Simple steps such as including website and LinkedIn bios in PR outreach can help you gain visibility in traditional and large language model search. Read our guide to digital marketing for professional services for more tips.
- Show, don’t tell – Regulated sector? No problem! Trust isn’t about someone telling you what to do – it’s about showing you what worked for them, or sharing their expertise, then encouraging audiences to make an educated decision. To shoehorn in a popular financial mantra, ‘Past performance is not an indicator of future results’ – good advice for one individual may be bad advice for another. Share knowledge, but advise people to seek counsel on the most important decisions.
Talk to our team about financial marketing campaigns
Are you looking to develop a PR strategy for your business? Talk to us to find out more and see how we help financial brands get found.
