It’s that time of year when people ask us our marketing prediction for 2026. Drawing on industry data and our experience in the sector, these 10 financial marketing predictions for 2026 outline how marketers will adapt to stay ahead of the competition.
We used to get asked to generate thousands of forex leads for brokers. But now it’s all about quality with 83% saying they prioritise quality over volume. This means focusing on high-intent micro-audiences such as professional traders, prop-funded challengers, or institutional allocators where engagement is measurable and content relevance drives conversions.
Action Plan: Identify your top three audiences and regularly create the content that will get them signed up and retained.
#2 Newsletters Become Conversion Engines
Newsletters in finance are rapidly evolving from simple, passive updates into highly effective performance channels. Across finance and wealth management, average email open rates range from 45% to 50%. That is substantially higher than engagement rates on most social media platforms, which often hover below 2% for organic posts. Wealth management newsletters in particular have proven that targeted, curated content can drive measurable action, from portfolio sign-ups to event registrations. Firms such as UBS, J.P. Morgan, and Fidelity have leveraged their newsletters not only to educate clients about market trends and investment strategies but also to convert readers into product users, advisory clients, or participants in exclusive webinars.
Looking toward 2026, newsletters will become increasingly interactive and conversion-focused, integrating educational content, engagement tools, and actionable offers all in one channel. Embedded calculators, simulators, personalised scenario analyses, and event-based calls to action will allow readers to explore financial decisions, test assumptions, and act directly from the inbox. This shift transforms newsletters from mere communication tools into full-fledged conversion engines, combining trust, insight, and convenience to move subscribers from learning to action.
Action Plan: Redesign your newsletters as mini-funnels that guide readers from education to conversion without leaving their inbox. Integrate interactive widgets and include clear, in-email calls to action that connect readers to products, events, or advisory services. Leverage segmentation and personalisation to tailor content to different investor profiles and interests. By combining education, interactivity, and direct offers, your newsletters can drive measurable business results while reinforcing trust and authority.
#3 Long-Form Content Will Build Credibility and SEO Moats
Despite the popularity of short-form content, finance brands need authoritative long-form guides, whitepapers, or research reports to establish credibility. These assets will serve as lead magnets and sustain search visibility over time. Long-form content generates 77% more backlinks than shorter pieces. For finance firms, in-depth guides, structured learning modules and expert series build authority and SEO equity. As user intent deepens, these evergreen formats outperform transient content in lifetime value.
Action Plan: Develop a 2,000–3,000 word flagship guide or report on a key problem or focus area that will interest your audience. Do this at least every quarter and use it as a gated asset for lead capture and community growth.
In finance, trust is increasingly measurable and demonstrable rather than claimed. Research shows that 68% of readers are more likely to engage with content that cites credible data sources or is authored by credentialed professionals. Search engines and social platforms have also evolved to prioritise authority and trustworthiness. Content that includes verifiable sources, author qualifications, and clear citations consistently ranks higher in search results, receives more social engagement, and drives higher conversion rates. In financial services, where decisions carry significant risk, credibility influences everything from account sign-ups to investment decisions. The trend toward quantifiable trust also extends to metrics and reporting. Consumers increasingly expect brands to back claims with transparent outcomes, such as performance data, verified testimonials, or audit-ready disclosures. Platforms and algorithms are rewarding content that demonstrates expertise and reliability, creating a feedback loop in which brands that invest in proof-based content gain both consumer confidence and discoverability advantages.
Action Plan: Integrate a structured proof layer into all major content initiatives. Include references to authoritative research, professional certifications of contributors, or verifiable outcome data where relevant. Make transparency a visible and consistent feature in blogs, videos, social posts, and landing pages. We ensure every claim is backed by evidence so your finance content will earn consumer trust, improve search performance, and strengthen your brand authority over time.
#5 TikTok Continues To Lead On Finance Content
TikTok surpassed 1.6 billion monthly users in 2025, with users spending over 55 minutes daily. Younger investors increasingly consume bite-sized financial education there. In 2026, smart finance brands will use TikTok for awareness, storytelling, and personality-led credibility rather than direct acquisition. Brands that provide structured, actionable education outperform by up to 67% more leads per month than those relying on traditional ads.
Action Plan: Be wary of overusing influencers as this can stack up compliance concerns for regulated finance brands. Instead, invest in a high quality TikTok strategy and scripting to guide your fintok direction.
#6 Gamified Onboarding Continues To Boost Activation
Onboarding systems that incorporate interactive, game-like elements consistently outperform traditional static forms. Across fintech and neobanking, gamified flows have been shown to drive 30–40% higher completion rates, largely because they transform tedious steps like KYC, identity verification, and initial funding, into an engaging, narrative-driven experience. Instead of feeling like paperwork, users perceive onboarding as a challenge, a checklist to complete, or even a mini course where each step teaches them something valuable about the platform. This reframes friction points as progress moments, keeping motivation high while reducing drop-off.
Action Plan: Rebuild your onboarding flow into a clear, milestone-based journey. Give users a visible progress tracker, rewarding animations, and micro-achievements for each completed step. Introduce short educational modules that explain the “why” behind actions like verification or funding. Add unlockable incentives like “Funding Unlocked” or access to advanced features, once key steps are completed. This not only increases completion rates but also strengthens early product understanding and trust.
#7 Influencer Marketing Is Becoming Proof-Centric (and Riskier)
Influencer content in finance still outperforms traditional ads in terms of engagement. But today leading “finfluencers” are being judged less for their charisma and more for their credentials. Regulators around the world are cracking down too. The UK’s FCA has made it clear that unqualified influencers promoting financial products may be breaking the law. In fact, in a global week of coordinated enforcement, the FCA worked with multiple jurisdictions to issue warnings, send cease-and-desist letters, and even interview individuals under caution.
In the U.S., FINRA fined TradeZero America $250,000 after discovering that the brokerage paid influencers to promote its platform with unbalanced and exaggerated statements, without proper risk disclosures or content oversight. And under the FCA’s new social media financial promotions guidance, firms that partner with influencers must actively oversee affiliate behaviour. The law holds them responsible for any unlawful or misleading content. FCA Influencers themselves, even if unaffiliated, may require approval by an authorized financial entity before they promote regulated financial products, or risk criminal penalties. And lastly, China has introduced strict new rules requiring finance-related influencers to hold verifiable professional credentials. It will see platforms legally obligated to authenticate those qualifications and remove accounts that provide unlicensed market analysis or misleading investment guidance.
Action Plan: Don’t focus on influencers to build your finance brand. Influencer marketing should exist within a strategic and structured content marketing plan. Partner only with influencers who can demonstrate verified performance or formal credentials, not just a big following. Co-create content that’s value-driven, educational, transparent, and balanced about risk, not hype. Build a robust compliance framework that requires pre-approval of posts, clear disclosures, and ongoing monitoring to make sure everything is fair, clear, and legally sound.
The global content marketing industry is projected to grow to nearly US $2T by 2032, and finance brands are uniquely positioned to benefit. Evergreen financial education (investing basics, risk management, wealth-building frameworks) isn’t just top-funnel SEO anymore, it’s becoming a sellable product, with consumers increasingly willing to pay for structured learning, certification-style programs, and expert-led workshops. The success of major online finance education platforms, some generating hundreds of millions to over US $1B in annual revenue, demonstrates how powerful this model is when packaged well, consistently updated, and backed by credible expertise. In a market where compliance and trust matter, well-crafted educational products can differentiate a brand and convert learners into long-term users of core financial services, plus it can prove to be lucrative!
Action Plan: Begin by auditing your highest-performing educational content to identify topics with strong demand. Then package that material into structured learning products like paid courses, modular learning paths, certification programs, or expert-led cohorts. Create a clear monetisation tier that distinguishes premium content from what is available for free. Ensure all material complies with financial regulations by avoiding unlicensed advice and including appropriate disclosures. Finally, promote these offerings through your existing channels, including email, social media and in-app placements, and measure how effectively they convert learners into long-term users of your core financial products.
#9 Prop Trading Brands Face a Wave of Tightened Regulation
Proprietary trading firms have exploded in popularity, but this rapid growth is drawing the attention of global regulators. The regulators increasingly view retail-facing prop models as a grey zone between trading education, simulated accounts and de-facto brokerage activity. Several jurisdictions have already begun scrutinising funded account challenges, payout structures and marketing claims that suggest traders can “get funded” without clearly disclosing risks, pass rates or the simulated nature of most activity. As the sector matures, regulators are expected to impose stricter requirements around transparency, risk warnings, performance reporting and consumer protections, particularly for prop brands that market to retail traders. This shift will impact not only business operations but also the way these firms communicate. Flashy gain-focused messaging will become a liability, and compliance-first content will become essential for long-term survival.
For marketing leaders inside prop trading firms, the tightening landscape means preparing now rather than reacting later. Regulations are likely to demand clearer disclosure of challenge difficulty, probability of passing, trader failure rates, how simulated environments work, and what “funded” actually means in practice. Brands that rely on aggressive claims, selective success stories or vague income narratives will face scrutiny. Those that lead with education, transparency and empirically grounded content will build trust and withstand regulatory pressure.
Action Plan: Begin building a content marketing ecosystem that is already aligned with the direction regulators are moving. Focus on materials that clearly explain how your model works, including challenge structure, risk rules, payout mechanics and trader expectations, and reinforce these with prominent, understandable risk disclosures. Replace hype-driven messaging with educational guides, performance methodology explainers, transparent pass-rate data and honest discussions of trader discipline.
#10 The Contentworks Team Will Relocate to a Tuscan Villa (Manifesting Hard)
Congratulations, you made it to the final prediction. According to absolutely no data whatsoever, the Contentworks team is moving operations to a sun-soaked villa in Tuscany, complete with poolside strategy sessions, vineyard-side content brainstorming, and an abundance of fresh pasta. In reality we will continue to operate responsibly from Cyprus, the UK, and Greece, unless a generous benefactor, mysterious investor, or wildly successful crowdfunding campaign sweeps us off our feet and into Italian luxury.
Action Plan: Begin by enthusiastically pitching the “Tuscan Villa Operations Expansion Initiative” to unsuspecting strangers at expos. Produce highly persuasive content marketing materials showing the undeniable return on investment of sunshine, pasta, and Chianti-fuelled creativity. Launch a crowdfunding page and share glamorous mock-ups of the future villa to build momentum. If the campaign performs well, start scouting properties.
Ready to plan your marketing for 2026? Schedule a Zoom with our team to review your current strategies, identify opportunities, and create high performance financial content marketing.