From forex brokers targeting a B2C audience, to a Fintech SaaS targeting B2B execs, you need a steady pipeline of prospects. A strong flow of financial services leads doesn’t just fuel sales goals; it supports long-term growth, improves revenue forecasting, and strengthens market positioning. However, generating high-quality leads in this sector is challenging. Prospects are cautious about who to trust, and strict regulations govern how data can be processed. In this article we’re showing you how we generate leads for financial services.
Why Can’t You Just Buy Lead Lists?
It’s tempting to try buying lists of contacts and blasting them with offers. But in reality, purchasing lead lists often creates more problems than it solves, and there are a number of hidden pitfalls!
Firstly, quality is a major issue. Bought lists typically contain outdated or irrelevant contacts who have never expressed interest in your services, leading to low engagement and poor conversion rates. This wastes time and can harm your sender reputation when outreach bounces or is marked as spam.
More importantly, privacy laws like the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) impose strict rules on using personal data for marketing even for B2B contacts. Under GDPR, organisations must have a lawful basis for processing personal information and must often demonstrate explicit consent before contacting someone for marketing purposes.
Regulators enforce these rules vigorously. For example, in 2020 the Italian Data Protection Authority fined telecoms provider Wind Tre €16.7 million for unlawful marketing practices, finding that users hadn’t given valid consent and were repeatedly contacted against their preferences.
Penalties and reputational damage from non-compliance are real risks. So, even if a list is purchasable, using it without clear consent can expose your firm to fines and client distrust. The smart approach isn’t buying lists, it’s earning leads directly through channels where the prospect has willingly engaged with you or your content.
What Constitutes a Financial Services Lead?
Before you start building campaigns, it’s important to define a lead. A lead isn’t just any contact or email address, it’s a person who has shown genuine interest in your services and opted in to receive further communication with your firm.
In financial services, typical definitions include:
- Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs): Individuals who have engaged with content (e.g., downloaded an eBook or attended a webinar) and fit your target audience criteria.
- Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs): Prospects who have taken a clear action indicating buying interest, like requesting a consultation or pricing information.
- High-Intent Leads: Contacts who search for specific services (e.g., “trusted brokers to trade with”) or interact with targeted ads.
True financial services leads have permissioned data (email, phone, or consent to contact) and a documented engagement history that signals interest, making them far more valuable and legally compliant than a purchased list.
How We Generate Financial Services Leads
Now let’s look at the methods we use to generate leads for financial services. Each of these approaches attract prospects who are genuinely interested and is compliant with privacy laws.
#1 Gated Content (eBooks, White Papers, Research, Guides)
One of the most effective ways to attract qualified leads is by offering high-value content that requires users to submit their contact information in exchange for access.
These “lead magnets” might include:
- eBooks (e.g. “The Ultimate Guide to Forex Trading”)
- Whitepapers (e.g. “2026 Forecast: Emerging Investment Trends”)
- Worksheets or checklists (e.g. “Your pre-trade, during-trade and post-trade checklist”)
- Exclusive Research (We surveyed 1000 forex traders and this is what they said)
Check out eBooks and white papers we have created for our fintech, forex and PSP clients here.
Research consistently shows that well-designed lead magnets can increase email capture rates by up to 50%, particularly when they offer clear, practical value to the audience. Interactive tools such as financial calculators, risk assessments, or scenario planners often perform even better, as they actively involve users and deliver personalised insights rather than static information. When executed and promoted effectively, a single high-quality free download can generate hundreds of qualified financial services leads each month through a combination of organic visibility and paid promotion.
The effectiveness of lead magnets depends largely on relevance, usability, and trust. Prospects are more willing to share their details when the content directly addresses a specific problem they are trying to solve and when the process feels simple and transparent.
Best practices include:
- Focus on clearly defined pain points your audience experiences, such as retirement planning uncertainty, investment risk, regulatory complexity, or cash flow management
- Present the content in a visually engaging format, breaking up text with charts, infographics, and short sections to improve comprehension and completion rates
- Use concise, low-friction forms that request only essential information, typically name, email address, and any legally required consent, to maximise conversion rates
- Include clear and transparent consent language that complies with GDPR and other relevant regulations, reinforcing trust and ensuring users understand how their data will be used.
When these elements are aligned, lead magnets become a scalable and compliant way to build a high-quality email list while positioning your brand as a credible source of financial insight.
#2 Email Funnels and Nurturing Sequences
Once you have your contact details with consent, email marketing lets you nurture those relationships over time. Email remains one of the top channels for lead nurturing delivering $42 in ROI for every $1 spent when done right.
Drip campaigns are particularly effective for financial services, as they allow you to automatically deliver a sequence of personalised emails based on a prospect’s behaviour. For example, when someone downloads a guide, completes a calculator, or registers for a webinar, they can be enrolled into a tailored email journey that responds directly to their interests and stage in the buying cycle.
Here’s how to make your drip campaigns work:
- Provide additional, high-value content such as follow-up insights, practical tips, or market commentary that expands on the original resource
- Educate the reader about your services, explaining how your approach, expertise, and solutions address their specific needs without resorting to hard selling
- Encourage the next logical action, such as booking a consultation, requesting a personalised assessment, or signing up for a product demo
When combined with segmentation, personalisation, and performance tracking, email marketing becomes a scalable way to convert early-stage interest into qualified leads and long-term client relationships. Automation tools like Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, or HubSpot make this scalable and ensure compliance with opt-in consent records.
#3 Performance Marketing (Paid Ads)
Paid advertising channels, particularly PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns, are among the most effective and scalable methods for generating qualified leads in the financial services sector. PPC allows firms to capture demand at the exact moment prospects are actively searching for solutions, making it especially powerful for reaching high-intent users. Platforms such as Google Ads enable precise targeting based on search behaviour, location, device, and timing, ensuring your message appears when it is most relevant, such as searches like “financial advisor near me” or “wealth management services”.
When structured correctly, financial services PPC campaigns consistently outperform many other industries. Industry benchmarks indicate conversion rates exceeding 6%, driven by strong intent and clear demand for trusted financial guidance. Success, however, depends on thoughtful keyword selection, compliance-aware messaging, and frictionless user journeys.
Tips for performance marketing success include:
- Target keywords aligned with search intent, prioritising high-intent, service-focused queries while using negative keywords to filter out low-quality traffic
- Develop dedicated landing pages for each campaign or keyword group, ensuring messaging, offers, and calls to action are closely aligned with the ad copy and user expectations
- Implement robust conversion tracking and analytics, allowing you to measure form submissions, calls, and other key actions so budgets can be optimised towards the highest-performing segments and lowest cost per lead
- Continuously test and optimise ad copy, extensions, bidding strategies, and landing page elements to improve quality scores and reduce cost per click over time
In addition to search-based campaigns, retargeting ads play a critical role in increasing overall conversion rates. By serving tailored ads to users who have previously visited your website but did not convert, retargeting keeps your brand top of mind, reinforces credibility, and re-engages prospects as they move closer to a decision. When combined with strong PPC foundations, retargeting can significantly improve return on investment and shorten the path to conversion.
#4 Social Media Advertising
Social platforms such as LinkedIn, X , Facebook, and Instagram play a critical role in reaching clearly defined audience segments, ranging from high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and financial professionals to sophisticated retail investors. Each platform serves a distinct purpose within the broader marketing mix, but LinkedIn stands out as the most effective channel for B2B lead generation due to its robust professional data, advanced targeting capabilities, and business-focused user intent.
Rather than relying on overt sales messaging, the most effective social strategies prioritise educational, insight-driven content that addresses audience pain points, market questions, and emerging trends. When this value-led content is paired with highly targeted paid campaigns, it drives meaningful engagement and guides prospects into high-intent conversion paths such as gated research, whitepapers, webinars, or event registrations.
Best practices include:
- Leverage LinkedIn’s advanced targeting tools, like job titles, seniority, industry, company size, and geography, to reach decision-makers with precision
- Continuously test and refine ad creatives, headlines, and formats, ensuring clear and compelling call-to-action (CTA) buttons that align with the user’s stage in the buyer journey
- Blend organic content with paid amplification, using organic posts to build credibility and thought leadership while paid campaigns extend reach and accelerate lead capture
- Analyse performance data regularly, optimising budgets and messaging based on engagement, conversion rates, and cost per lead
When executed consistently, a social media strategy focused on education, relevance, and precision targeting becomes a scalable engine for high-quality lead generation rather than just brand visibility.
Read more on Financial Services Guide to Performance Marketing.
#5 Webinars and Virtual Events
Hosting live or on-demand webinars is a highly effective strategy for attracting and nurturing engaged leads while positioning your firm as a trusted authority in the market. Webinars provide a direct channel to educate prospects, demonstrate thought leadership, and build credibility in a format that encourages real-time interaction or flexible, self-paced learning.
Potential webinar topics include:
- Trading strategy sessions that walk participants through practical approaches, risk management techniques, and real-world use cases
- Market outlook briefings offering expert analysis of current trends, macroeconomic factors, and forward-looking insights
- Regulatory updates for B2B clients that explain new or evolving compliance requirements and their impact on operations and decision-making
Webinar registrants consistently show higher conversion rates than other lead sources because they are actively seeking education, clarity, and expert guidance. By engaging with in-depth content, these prospects are often further along in the decision-making process, making webinars a powerful tool for moving qualified leads toward meaningful financial commitments.
Start Generating Financial Services Leads
This has been a brief overview on how to generate leads for financial services. There are some links to longer reading within this article, but if you want to jump ahead and discuss the specific needs of your brand, reach out to the team at Contentworks Agency. We work closely with financial services brands looking to generate leads without breaking GDPR or regulator rules.