Written by Fiona Hart, Integrated Client Lead

In an era where customer expectations are higher than ever, financial services marketers must balance creativity, compliance, and technology to deliver engaging and effective content. However, many organisations struggle with siloed teams, slow production cycles, and an overwhelming volume of content demands. 

This is where connected content comes in. By integrating data, technology, and creativity into a seamless content ecosystem, financial services brands can accelerate production, personalise engagement, and ensure regulatory compliance - without sacrificing innovation. 

What is connected content? 

Connected content can be defined in two key ways. First, it refers to content ideation and delivery, where businesses create highly relevant and personalised content that truly connects with customers. Second, it speaks to the technical and operational interconnectivity that ensures content is produced efficiently, compliantly, and at scale. 

For financial services organisations, where regulations are strict and customer trust is paramount, a connected content strategy offers a framework to ensure consistency, agility, and impact across all marketing efforts. 

Bridging the gap between data and content 

Traditionally, financial services brands have invested heavily in data infrastructure by building single customer views and advanced analytics capabilities. But unfortunately, content has often lagged behind, failing to take full advantage of these data-driven insights. A connected content strategy closes this gap, ensuring that content production is informed by real-time data, audience insights, and performance metrics. 

By integrating data into the content process from the outset, marketers can ensure that every piece of content is aligned with customer needs, regulatory requirements, and business objectives. This not only improves personalisation but also enhances content performance by ensuring it reaches the right audience at the right time. 

With 98% of consumers expecting brand content to become AI-personalised in real time based on their entertainment choices, location, and online behaviour (Merkle CX Imperatives: Engagement to Empowerment), leveraging AI-driven insights is no longer optional - it’s essential. 

Ensuring compliance without slowing down creativity 

For financial services marketers, regulatory compliance is non-negotiable. However, outdated processes often create bottlenecks, slowing down content production and limiting agility. A connected content strategy streamlines compliance workflows through automation and AI-powered checks, ensuring that legal approvals are fast, efficient, and error-free. For example, instead of running every piece of content through the same slow compliance process, connected content allows brands to harness an intelligent approval process for assets utilising pre-verified elements. This not only reduces time-to-market but also frees up creative teams to focus on high-impact storytelling rather than administrative tasks. 

Leveraging AI to enhance efficiency and scale 

Artificial intelligence is revolutionising content production, making it easier than ever to create, repurpose, and optimise marketing assets at scale. In financial services, where content is often complex and information-dense, AI tools can assist by: 

• Extracting insights from vast data sets to inform content strategy. 
• Automating repetitive tasks like video editing, compliance reviews, and asset tagging. 
• Enabling hyper-personalisation, ensuring that content is tailored to individual customer needs. 

With AI-generated recommendations expected to drive 50% of content engagement within the next five years (Merkle CX Imperatives: Engagement to Empowerment), financial brands must integrate AI-powered personalisation to remain competitive. In fact, 41% of CX leaders are investing in real-time, dynamic content adaptation, ensuring that their messaging remains relevant and engaging (Merkle CX Imperatives: What CX Leaders Do Differently). 

Accelerating speed-to-market through integration 

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, financial services brands must respond to market shifts quickly. Yet, many struggle with fragmented workflows, where content production, compliance, and distribution operate in silos. 

A connected content approach brings these elements together, creating a single, integrated workflow. By ensuring seamless collaboration between creatives, compliance teams, and data analysts, brands can dramatically reduce production times while maintaining high-quality outputs. 

For example, our upcoming Merkle Connected Experiences report will reveal that 85% of CMOs plan to maintain or increase investment in short-form content, while 81% are investing in live-streamed content as part of their strategy. These real-time content demands require a connected infrastructure that enables rapid production and deployment. 

Enhancing sustainability in content production 

Sustainability is an increasing priority for financial services brands, and connected content can play a crucial role in reducing waste and energy consumption. By focusing on content reuse and repurposing, organisations can significantly cut down on unnecessary production efforts. 

Many financial brands already have vast content libraries, yet they continue to create redundant assets due to poor visibility and organisation. A connected content system ensures that existing materials are easily searchable, adaptable, and reusable, preventing unnecessary duplication and reducing the environmental impact of content production. 

The future of financial services marketing: smarter, more connected content 

Throughout 2025 and beyond, connected content will continue to evolve, with emerging trends set to transform financial services marketing: 

• Personalised and interactive video: AI will enable hyper-personalised video content at scale, allowing brands to engage customers in more dynamic and relevant ways. 
• Real-time content adaptation: Financial services marketers will be able to create, test, and optimise content instantly, responding to changing customer needs in real time. 
• AI-driven customer interactions: As AI-powered virtual assistants become more sophisticated, financial services brands must ensure their content is optimised for AI discovery and interaction. 
• Seamless omnichannel integration: Consumers expect omnichannel content, yet 31% of brands still struggle with disconnected online and offline experiences (Merkle CX Imperatives: Engagement to Empowerment). Ensuring consistency across touchpoints will be critical. 

Why dentsu? 

At dentsu, our Connected Content solution leads the way in helping financial services brands bring together data, technology and creativity to deliver truly impactful marketing 

We have a proven track record of working with global financial brands to build efficient, scalable, and compliant content ecosystems. Our Connected Content offering brings together the best of Dentsu Creative, Tag, Merkle and our partnership with Adobe - integrating creative expertise, data-driven insights, and advanced production capabilities. This ensures that content delivers both business impact and customer value. 

By partnering with dentsu, financial services organisations can move beyond outdated and siloed content strategies and embrace a more agile, intelligent, and customer-centric approach to marketing. 

Ready to transform your marketing? 

Contact us to discover how our Connected Content solution can help your brand deliver hyper-relevant content at speed and scale to engage banking and insurance customers. 

Learn more about the transformative power of connected content by watching our recent panel discussion for financial services here.