LONDON — Strategic communications consultancy Lansons has launched the Lansons Finfluencer Academy, an initiative to help UK and US-based financial services companies harness the reach and expertise of financial content creators to better connect with younger consumers.

The agency notes that personal finance content creators, or ‘finfluencers’, have become a trusted source of information for Millennial and Gen Z consumers in recent years, with many attracting hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of followers on social media for their ability to break down complex financial concepts into relatable content, as well as the attention of brands, news media, regulators and government.

Lansons Finfluencer Academy has been created with four leading UK finfluencers on board, and is designed to help financial services companies unlock the opportunities of collaborating with content creators through co-creating campaigns, enhancing brands’ content creation skills, and exploring long-term partnerships for better engagement.

The development of the initiative was developed by Tom Cook, Lansons head of digital, who joined the agency last summer from Teneo. He said finfluencers were driving much-needed change in how younger consumers engaged with financial services, from improving financial literacy to introducing people to investing earlier, and there was real value in organisations working with them rather than seeing them as a threat or a risk.

He told PRovoke Media: “Soon after I arrived we were starting to get queries from a range of financial services companies who have heard about financial influencers on social media and wanted to know more about who they are and what they are doing, and whether working with them is a risk. Finfluencers are capturing a huge amount of attention from younger audiences, and organisations want to know if they are friend or foe – there is curiosity coming from a place of uncertainty, because there’s been some negativity around ‘young people shouldn’t be getting financial advice from TikTok’.”

Since the financial services sector has been trying for many years to get younger audiences engaged, some of these conversations turned into live briefs for the Lansons team to develop strategy around the role of content creators, which have translated into partnerships.

“Agency and brand relationships can be purely transactional, but my approach is that it’s better to treat it like a real partnership, where both sides can learn from each other,” said Cook. “We wanted to tackle perceptions of finfluencers, who are often seen as seen as a threat rather than as advocates – and also how we move from ‘one and done’ campaigns and build out fully-pledged, long-term content creator partnerships.”

He said there was “real scope” for learning on both sides: “Brands can learn from content creators, but of course they need to be aware of risk, in a highly-regulated space where they are essentially handing over their reputation. We know there’s a lot of interest in this relatively new strand of the creator economy.

“The creators’ reasons for doing this come from a standpoint of improving their own financial situation; that’s why they have achieved a level of cut-through that’s hard for brands to do. The Academy will helping those creators to do what they are doing, in genuine collaboration with brands, while making sure brands can enter this space in a way where they feel it’s a benefit and not a risk.”

The four finfluencers who are leading the academy – with access to a wider network of financial creator talent – all have a track record of working with major financial services brands, regulators, and UK government departments.

Anna Brading, a Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI) with over 250,000 followers who is focused on helping her audience take control of their financial future, said: “Building trust and collaboration between financial services and creators is a powerful way to move the needle on financial literacy. The Lansons Finfluencer Academy is a brilliant step in that direction. When these two worlds work together, there is real potential to make financial education more trustworthy, more accessible, and more relatable for the people who need it most.”

Rotimi Merriman-Johnson, an award-winning financial content creator, podcaster, author, and founder of financial education platform Mr MoneyJar, added: “In recent years, finfluencers have fast become a trusted source of financial information, news and education. I am glad to be identified as a trusted expert in this space, and look forward to partnering with Lansons to help brands to educate and serve new audiences.”

Gabriel Nussbaum, also known as That Money Guy, is one of the UK’s biggest personal finance content creators focusing on financial education, with over 1.5 million followers. He said of the initiative: “I think it's a brilliant idea and something that's hugely necessary for the industry to help brands build out their best working practices with creators, bringing in Finfluencers from the start rather than just seeing us as an end point. I think this is the start of a revolutionary change within the industry.”

And financial coach Clare Seal, who specialises in the intersection of financial guidance and mental health, said: “Social media has played a huge part in making financial information and education accessible, as well as providing a place for more honest conversations about money, with finfluencers playing a big role - but there’s still a huge amount of untapped potential for brands. I’m so pleased to be joining the Lansons Finfluencer Academy team, to open up a dialogue about how we can work together to embrace these new opportunities and give personal finance the human face that it needs to make an impact in a digital age.”

Pictured L-R: Tom Cook, Lansons head of digital; Sorcha Hornett, digital account manager; Louise Vaughan, MD and senior campaigning adviser.