Why relevance beats reach in bridging the FS trust gap

Go Live Data CEO Adam Herbert, discusses the trust gap in FS marketing and why relevance beats reach.

Trust has always been a major differentiator in financial services, but the conditions surrounding it have changed significantly. Customers nowadays are much more informed, regulation is tighter, and expectations on communication are higher than they were even five years ago. Financial brands are operating in a market where people expect interactions to be timely, accurate and relevant.

Despite this, many marketing strategies across the sector still prioritise volume over precision.

Large-scale outreach remains common, often driven by the assumption that broader visibility will naturally create stronger commercial outcomes. In practice, this approach is becoming less effective. Audiences are more selective with attention, less tolerant of generic communication and increasingly aware of how their data is being used.

The result can be a growing disconnect between the way many financial firms market themselves vs the way customers now expect to engage with brands.

This is particularly important in financial services because trust isn’t simply a reputational consideration. It directly affects customer acquisition, retention and ultimately long-term value. Whether someone is choosing a lender, insurer, investment platform or financial adviser, confidence in the organisation behind the communication, plays a significant role in decision-making.

Marketing therefore carries more responsibility than visibility alone, as it contributes directly to how credibility is built and maintained in the long term.

One of the challenges facing the sector is that marketing technology has made scale easier than precision. Businesses have access to larger datasets, more automation tools and more channels than ever before. However, increased capability does not automatically improve the quality of the communication being conveyed.

In some cases, it has had the opposite effect.

Many audiences can now receive large volumes of messages that feel disconnected from their actual circumstances or interests. Timing is often poor, messaging lacks context and communications can feel designed around the size of a database rather than accurate, customer relevance.

This creates fatigue quickly, particularly within financial services where communication is expected to feel measured and professional.

Outbound marketing however, isn’t the issue; remaining highly effective when used properly. The issue is poorly targeted outbound activity driven by weak data or broad assumptions about the behaviour of a specific audience.

The high-performing financial services firms are placing greater emphasis on who they contact, when they contact them and whether there is a genuine reason for doing so in the first place. This is where relevance becomes commercially valuable.

At Go Live Data, we spend a significant amount of time analysing how businesses engage with outbound communication. One of the clearest patterns we’ve seen, is how response rates improve when messaging aligns with a genuine point of interest or, needs of the business.

That may sound obvious, but it is surprising how much outreach still operates minus this level of consideration.

A business researching lending solutions, reviewing insurance arrangements or exploring financial software, presents a very different opportunity from a business with no active interest in those areas. Understanding those signals allows communication to become more timely and more useful.

This is particularly important in sectors built around long-term relationships. Financial services providers aren’t usually selling low-risk, short-term purchases. They are often asking customers to place trust in them over a period of years.

That in itself changes the standards expected from marketing.

Customers increasingly expect firms to demonstrate a level of understanding before communication even begins. Generic outreach may still generate some engagement through volume, but it rarely contributes positively to brand perception.

This is one reason why data quality has become such an important issue.

Poor-quality data leads to poor-quality communication. Outdated records, inaccurate targeting and weak segmentation reduce both effectiveness and credibility. Many organisations are still relying on data that’s refreshed infrequently or lacking in meaningful behavioural insight.

In contrast, businesses investing in accurate, regularly maintained data can communicate with far greater precision. Messaging becomes more relevant, conversion rates improve and unnecessary outreach reduces.

There is also a wider strategic issue emerging around trust and data usage, as financial services customers are increasingly conscious of transparency, privacy and responsible communication practices. They want to understand why they are being contacted and whether the communication is genuinely relevant to them.

It’s a reasonable expectation, which also creates a competitive advantage for firms willing to adopt more disciplined marketing strategies.

The strongest brands within financial services rarely generate the highest volume of activity. More often, they are the organisations building consistency in how they communicate and demonstrating a clearer understanding of customer needs. This applies equally across B2C and B2B financial markets.

Decision-makers are under constant pressure and receive large amounts of sales and marketing communication every week. Generic messaging is easy to ignore. Communication that reflects timing, context and relevance is more likely to gain attention because it demonstrates preparation rather than interruption.

This has heavy implications on efficiency and return on investment.

A highly targeted campaign directed at organisations or individuals showing genuine intent will typically outperform a much larger campaign built around broad assumptions. Better targeting reduces wasted spend, improves engagement quality and supports stronger long-term customer relationships.

That is becoming increasingly important as acquisition costs continue to rise across digital channels.

Financial services marketing is also moving into a period where brand credibility and communication quality are becoming harder to separate. Customers assess businesses not only on products and pricing, but on how professionally and responsibly they engage.

Every campaign contributes to that perception. And for this reason, relevance must be viewed as how trust is established commercially.

The firms building stronger long-term customer relationships are typically those using data with greater accuracy and discipline, while placing more importance on relevance, timing and context than simple outreach volume. Reach still has value, but relevance is what gives communication meaning.