Ask 100 marketers why branding is important and, chances are, you’ll get 100 answers. Ask me, and I’ll say it’s because brand drives trust — and trust drives revenue.

Whenever a company asks customers to buy a product or sign up for a service, it’s essentially asking      for their trust. Brand trust isn’t built overnight, which is particularly true in financial services and in today’s macro-economic climate.     

Trust seekers

Consumer confidence levels in Australia have taken a hit as RBA tightens monetary policy amid a pessimistic global outlook. (Source: Deloitte, Forging ahead Australian major banks report FY22 results, November 2022).

As such Australians are gravitating towards sources of information they can trust. We’re seeing this play out with an increase in engagement up 200%* around topics like ‘volatility’ and related financial trends. Analysis of 13 million member searches finds top financial services-related keyword searches are currently “banking”, “superannuation”, “home/personal loans” and “insurance”.

This context provides a massive opportunity for financial services marketers looking to dial up brand perception, drive product consideration, and fuel business growth. Now, more than ever, financial services brands need to be present in the moments that matter.

Money talk

Brand building within financial services is always fluid, given the impact rate rises have on consumer sentiment and spending power. Given current headwinds, marketer bang for buck is top priority, locally and globally.

Custom research from Nielsen in North America for LinkedIn found that LinkedIn to be 2-5x** more effective in driving positive brand perception and consideration for financial services firms, compared to linear TV, online video, and other social channels.

The two-year study analysed the effectiveness and efficiency of B2C financial services campaigns on LinkedIn. Defining effectiveness as the amount of positive perception (brand sentiment) and consideration (propensity to buy) relative, the study showed that LinkedIn is:

• 5x more effective than linear TV
• 3x more effective than online TV
• 2x more effective than social

Considering unit cost, which links directly to the brand mileage that financial services marketers get for every advertising dollar investment, LinkedIn is also more efficient in driving consideration:

• 304 per cent more efficient than search
• 214 per cent more efficient than radio
• 57 per cent more efficient than linear TV

There’s one powerful reason for this: our audience.

Meet the ‘pro-sumer’

Behind every professional with business decision-making power is a consumer with purchase power. 2021 data from our consumer research partner Interpret tells us that this “pro-sumer” audience on LinkedIn has higher median household incomes. They are more likely to save for big ticket items, own more products, and buy more high-consideration products than members on other social platforms.

LinkedIn, as a trusted platform, also puts them in a more receptive mindset. While the same audience is active across other channels, they tend to visit LinkedIn in a more purposeful and aspirational frame of mind. They are more likely to feel safer participating or posting, trust what they learn from people and companies, and find both organic and paid content from companies to be more engaging.

The combination of these two qualities makes LinkedIn a powerful channel for financial services marketers to move the needle on brand perception and product consideration.

But that leaves us with one question: In a world where every dollar is scrutinised, is your current media distribution as effective as it can be to drive brand impact?

* Source: LinkedIn Internal Data, Growth of Company Updates and their Engagements on content mentioning topics such as volatility, turbulent market, recession, bull/bear market (Jan 2022 to Jan 2023)

**Source: Nielsen custom Media Mix Modeling Study, commissioned by LinkedIn for US Financial Services vertical, 2022