Over the last several years we have seen a rise in influencer marketing, with the tactic gaining traction against other digital strategies like sponsored content and display advertising.

On July 20th, the FCS partnered with SAM (sam.ai) to stage compelling breakfast panel “Influencer Marketing and Financial Services.”  FCS Board Director Greg Yates, CMO of RICG, moderated the discussion with Citi SVP, Head of Media & Integrated Marketing Christine DiLandro and VanEck’s Global Head of Digital and Marketing Strategy Anthony Vitalone.

The conversation focused on how influencer marketing is being utilized by the panelist's companies, what their execution process is, and what the impact has been so far.  While Citi deploys larger budget productions and VanEck employs a  scrappier, real-time approach, both brands are having amazing success with influencer marketing.

Some key takeaways:

• 82% of consumers trust recommendations from a marketing influencer
• Influencers can be anyone that would be publicly talking about an institution's content
• Influencer marketing must feel organic within the marketplace
• Financial services is highly competitive and people use crowdsourced information to make choices
• Marketers should create a framework to define what type of content you want to access/promote with influencers
• It's critical to vet your influencers

This article was reported by Joshua Estes, Expressible.