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AI Tools That Actually Move the Needle for Financial Services

Posted on by Zohray Brennan

AI solutions are saturating the fintech and financial services space. But which are worth implementing and which fail to deliver on their efficiency, data management, and personalization promises?

At localhost:10008/, we cut through the noise to find the tools that genuinely transform how financial services firms operate. Here's what we've tested, vetted, and actively recommend:

For Finding the Right Prospects

Fintrx remains the gold standard for investor intelligence. This platform aggregates comprehensive profiles across family offices, institutional investors, and RIAs. Instead of spending months researching potential capital sources, you get immediate access to the most complete investor database available.

AdvizorPro takes a different approach, focusing specifically on B2B financial services leads. The database prioritizes quality over quantity; every contact is verified, which means fewer bounced emails and more meaningful conversations with financial professionals.

Clay functions as your prospecting Swiss Army knife. It pulls data from multiple sources to enrich prospect information, then helps create personalized outreach campaigns that actually generate responses. Complex workflows become surprisingly manageable.

For Timing Your Outreach

Trigify.io captures buyer intent signals at the individual contact level, showing you exactly when prospects are actively researching solutions like yours. This real-time intelligence lets you reach out when prospects are looking, not when it’s convenient for you.

RB2B identifies organizations actively researching your website and provides actionable insights for account-based marketing. Instead of guessing which accounts to prioritize, you can focus efforts where they’ll actually pay off.

For Emails That Get Opened

Smartlead.ai handles automated email sequences while managing inbox rotation and warm-ups, all while staying compliant with financial services regulations. The platform scales your outreach without sacrificing deliverability.

Instantly.ai manages high-volume email campaigns with detailed deliverability controls and performance analytics. The interface is intuitive enough for non-technical team members to run sophisticated campaigns.

For Multi-Channel Relationship Building

Lemlist coordinates outreach sequences across email, LinkedIn, and phone calls, creating cohesive campaigns that feel personal rather than automated. Prospects hear from you through their preferred channels.

HeyReach specializes in LinkedIn automation across multiple profiles and team members, designed with compliance requirements in mind. You can scale custom outreach without losing the personal touch that drives relationships in financial services.

For Adding the Human Element

Sendspark creates custom video messages that help firms stand out in crowded inboxes. Video content cuts through digital noise; prospects pay attention when they see a real person addressing them directly.

Fathom records, transcribes, and summarizes client meetings automatically. You can focus entirely on the conversation while AI captures every detail.

For Making Calls Count

Trellus provides real-time conversation intelligence during cold calls, helping reps navigate objections and close more meetings. Think of it as having a sales coach providing guidance throughout tough conversations.

Kixie streamlines phone outreach with local presence dialing, call recording, and CRM integration. Local numbers and smart dialing features dramatically improve answer rates.

For Keeping Everything Organized

HubSpot manages the entire customer lifecycle with built-in marketing automation and compliance tracking designed for financial services. Everything stays in one place instead of scattered across multiple systems.

n8n connects your various fintech tools and automates complex workflows like client onboarding and compliance checks. The open-source platform gives you complete control to customize automation for your exact processes and requirements.

Want More?

We continuously evaluate new AI solutions as they emerge, testing them against the real needs of the fintech and financial services firms we work with. Stay tuned for more coming soon!

Feeding Your AI Future: Why Data Enrichment is the Path to Success

Posted on by Zohray Brennan

We’ve all been there: you’ve got a lead or a contact, but all you know is their name and company. Are they really the decision-maker? What’s their asset size? Do they even come close to fitting your ideal client profile? 

Without enriched data, you’re basically throwing darts in the dark. In today’s HIGHLY competitive world, that’s a recipe for missed opportunities.

Successful, efficient B2B marketing isn’t about casting the widest net possible. It’s about being smart about where you cast it. Data enrichment is the weapon that separates advisors who are constantly chasing lukewarm leads from those who consistently connect with high-value prospects who are ready to do business.

The Foundation of Smart Decision-Making

Enriched data turns basic metrics into actual business intelligence. Instead of deciding whether to invest in estate planning content just because you see website traffic, you can see that 40% of those visitors are executives at companies with 500+ employees. Suddenly, you’re not just looking at numbers, you’re seeing real opportunities for executive estate planning services.

Data enrichment means pulling information from everywhere—databases, social media, company filings, industry reports—to build a complete picture of your prospects. For financial services marketers, this intel is what transforms cold outreach into warm conversations.

 

The transformative benefits of enriched data

Enriched data gives you three game-changing advantages:

  1. Useful targeting: Goodbye spray-and-pray! You can segment by company size, industry, and role, then spot the companies experiencing rapid growth (hello, sophisticated financial planning needs) or executives who just switched jobs (perfect timing for retirement plan conversations).
  2. Better conversion rates: There’s a huge difference between messaging someone who manages a $10M portfolio versus someone handling $100M. When you know the details, your pitch becomes less generic.
  3. Shorter sales cycles: When you walk into conversations already knowing the prospect’s situation, you skip the awkward discovery phase and jump straight into solving their actual problems.

Why AI agents are powerless without quality data

Everyone is excited about AI agents—those automated helpers that can qualify leads, book meetings, and handle initial consultations. But AI agents are only as smart as the data you feed them.

Picture this: you deploy your AI agent to handle inbound leads from your website. Sounds great, right? Except without enriched data, that agent might waste time pursuing a solo practitioner when your minimum client size is $5M in assets. Or it could completely miss a high-net-worth individual because their contact form didn’t scream “I’m wealthy.”

AI agents are amazing at spotting patterns and crunching through massive amounts of information fast. But they need rich, contextual data to make smart decisions about which leads matter, how to talk to prospects, and what to do next. 

When you properly fuel AI agents with enriched data, magic happens:

  • They instantly spot prospects that match your ideal client profile
  • They personalize outreach based on company size, industry, and role
  • They trigger the right follow-up sequences based on how prospects engage
  • They flag high-priority leads that need immediate human attention

Think of enriched data as premium fuel for your AI engine. Sure, regular gas might get you down the road, but premium fuel makes everything run smoother, faster, and more efficiently.

HubSpot-Friendly Tools for Financial Services Data Enrichment

As a HubSpot Platinum Partner, we’ve tested pretty much every data enrichment solution out there to see what actually works with our clients’ existing marketing automation. Here’s our honest take on the tools that deliver real results for financial services marketers:

HubSpot’s Breeze Intelligence

HubSpot’s built-in AI enrichment tool does the basics pretty well, automatically filling in company details, job titles, and social profiles right inside your HubSpot contacts. It’s also ridiculously easy to use, PLUS they’ve given accounts that are not legacy free credits to play with.

Best for: Getting your feet wet with data enrichment without adding another tool to your tech stack.
Reality check: It won’t enrich phone numbers or email addresses, and it’s pretty light on financial services-specific data like AUM, if they’re a BD or RIA, etc.

Fintrx

Built specifically for financial services, Fintrx knows wealth management firms, family offices, and institutional investors like nothing else. It’s a one-way sync to HubSpot, but the quality of financial services data is honestly unbeatable.

Best for: Advisors who target institutional clients, family offices, or other financial services pros
The advantage: Includes the stuff that matters, including advisor specializations, client types, and asset ranges that are specific to our industry

Discovery Data (Now ISS MI)

These guys specialize in financial advisor and wealth management data, with comprehensive profiles that include production info, client demographics, and firm details. The downside? You’ll need to manually upload to HubSpot instead of having automatic syncing.

Best for: Firms that specifically target financial advisors and wealth managers as prospects
The trade-off: It’s a manual process, but you get highly specific financial services data that you literally can’t find anywhere else. (But we’re not sure why their new name sounds like a Naval ship.)

Clay

This is for the DIY crowd. Clay lets you build custom workflows that combine multiple data sources however you want. It plays nice with HubSpot and gives you the most flexibility.

Best for: Marketing teams that like to tinker and want total control over their data enrichment
Perfect if: You’ve got someone technical on your team who enjoys building custom data combinations

ZoomInfo

The big player for enterprise-level data enrichment. Solid HubSpot integration, massive database coverage, and they’ve got pretty much everyone in their system.

Best for: Larger firms with serious marketing budgets who need enterprise-grade coverage
 What they’re good at: Huge database and reliable integration, though it’s not as financial services-focused as some of the specialized tools

Matching Tools to Your Strategy

The right data enrichment solution really depends on your firm’s size, who you’re targeting, and how technical your team is. Solo advisors might start with HubSpot Breeze and add Discovery Data when they’re going after financial services prospects. Bigger firms targeting institutional clients could combine Fintrx’s specialized data with ZoomInfo’s broad coverage.

The key is starting with a clear picture of the data points that matter for identifying your ideal clients and making smart decisions. Once you know that, you can pick the tools that give you the richest intel for those specific pieces of information.

The Ongoing Advantage

Data enrichment isn’t some nice-to-have. As AI agents become more common and clients expect increasingly personalized service, the firms that invest in solid data strategies and transform basic contact details into actionable intelligence are going to have a massive advantage.

5 Tools From 5 Brands to Turbocharge Your HubSpot Strategy

Posted on by Zohray Brennan

If you know localhost:10008/ then you know that we’re HUGE fans of shiny and new — but it has to work. We jumped on AI right away, cutting through the hype to get to the actual substance. Because we keep an eye out for trends that aren’t just hype; they have to yield results. Our industry — and its success — is not about just the brand and being cool. It boils down to actual results that translate into keeping customers engaged, converting prospects, and driving revenue, while also being perceived as cool. 

So it shouldn’t come as a shock that as a Platinum HubSpot Partner (humble brag) we are just as dedicated to uncovering the tools that will integrate well with HubSpot to drive efficiency, creativity, and ultimately, tangible business results. 

Before we get into the tools we use, I want to review how we pick them. Our selection process involves a mix of in-person research — like HubSpot’s annual Inbound conference — and we conduct extensive online research and stay on top of the latest tech trends.  

Our criteria for the tools is pretty stringent.

  1. Has to integrate with HubSpot
  2. Needs to have an intuitive and elegant interface (similar to HubSpot)
  3. Must have a low learning curve
  4. Has to integrate well with HubSpot

If you can’t tell, the emphasis on the integration is key. There are so many platforms, tools, and apps that say they “integrate” with a CRM but it’s not until you dive deep into the backend that you get to truly understand it. And even then, it’s sometimes challenging to understand all the nuances to get proper buy-in from everyone who uses HubSpot.

The List

Long story short: These are the 5 top tools from 5 startups that we at localhost:10008/ are using ourselves or planning to. 

 

1. Lead Qualification Tool: Chilli Piper

 

 

There is nothing worse than sales wasting their time on leads that us marketers pass on only to get them rejected. There’s also nothing worse than trying to figure out if your marketing dollars contributed to the sale. With Chili Piper’s platform that integrates within HubSpot seamlessly, we’re able to consolidate form routing, chat, lead distribution, AND scheduling for your inbound and outbound channels. We’re testing it out now and will share our experience and the results when we have them — but we are confident this will help our lean sales team in weeding out the time wasters.

 

2. Event Tool: Hapily

 

 

Running successful events is HARD. Fun but hard. Hapily is absolutely adorable and easy to use but — most importantly — it’s in HubSpot so you’re able to quickly see who’s scanned your event QR code, RSVP’ed or registered, and/or attended across both virtual and IRL events. Plus you’re able to recognize deal attribution automatically — something that is tough via the list uploads or Zoom integration. So having everything within HubSpot instead of the different platforms has been a Godsend.

 

3. Texting: SalesMsg

 

 

Salesmsg is a great, easy-to-use texting tool that integrates within workflows, and allows you to text prospects and clients within HubSpot, ensuring that all communications are captured within the contact record. We use Salesmsg and like it for its transparent pricing and ease of use. We’ve cut down on no-shows to meetings and the fact that we can incorporate it into a nurture workflow has also created efficiencies while still allowing us to be personable. And if you know us, we are nothing BUT personable!

Bonus Tip: If you need a sophisticated call and texting solution then Kixie should be your go-to.

 

4. Productivity: Asana

 

 

What’s not to love about Asana? It’s an easy-to-use project management tool that allows you to have one task across multiple boards: a critical feature when you are dealing with multiple teams. The integration with HubSpot takes it to another level: when a deal is closed with a sales rep it effortlessly creates a task within Asana, that notifies relevant team members via a workflow that also triggers off associate automation. You’re also able to integrate Asana tasks within HubSpot workflows so that no one has to “remember” to create a task.

 

5. Data Enrichment & ABM: HubSpot’s Breeze Intelligence

 

 

WE ARE SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS! For one thing, with Breeze Intelligence, you can enrich your contacts’ data immediately with a simple click of a button within the record — so adding a missing phone number, email address, etc. This was not super surprising as HubSpot had acquired Clearbit, a data enrichment tool last year. 

What was a nice surprise was the ABM tools that they layered on top of it via buyer intent which allows you to match the people who are on your site with your target accounts. In our opinion, this is critical to have if you do advertising, have a number of companies you are targeting to convert into customers or are trying to convert individual advisors that work at larger firms. There are more sophisticated tools such as Apollo.io, which we also love and handles outbound email marketing to protect your domain, but if you don’t need much more, this is perfect.

 

These features are currently in beta with the official launch slated for October but if you want to use them now, just click on your profile pic (upper right-hand corner) then scroll down to “product updates,” and search for buyer intent. Oh, and while you’re there, check out the slick new lead-scoring tool too!

 

Of course, not every tool is perfect for every company; it comes down to needs and budget. So feel free to reach out to me and let’s chat. Oh, and if you’re looking to jump to HubSpot learn more about our services here.

Intention.ly Earns Exclusive Spot on HubSpot Partner Advisory Council

Posted on by Grow Intentionly

As a HubSpot Solutions Partner, the Platinum tiered finserv and fintech marketing agency will play a contributing role in shaping the future of the platform.

 

PHILADELPHIA, September 2024–(BUSINESS WIRE)–localhost:10008/, the growth engine design consultancy firm transforming the way finserv and fintech companies go-to-market, has been chosen from the financial services industry to join the exclusive 2024 cohort of the HubSpot Partner Advisory Council (PAC), a global forum of HubSpot Partners directly influencing the program’s direction.

For growing businesses, managing the entire go-to-market strategy across marketing, sales, and customer service can be complex. HubSpot simplifies this process for over 200,000 customers globally, with a strong solutions partner network playing a big role in their success.

“Being one of the key financial services marketing agencies on the PAC is a tremendous honor,” said Kelly Waltrich, Co-founder & CEO, localhost:10008/. “This distinction reflects our deep understanding of the landscape and our ability to translate that knowledge into effective HubSpot implementations for our clients. Ultimately, we’ll have a hand in shaping the future of inbound marketing by elevating the needs of the industry directly to HubSpot’s leadership.”

localhost:10008/’s inclusion in the PAC signifies their proven expertise within the HubSpot ecosystem, as well as their success delivering results for their clients. Offering everything from HubSpot expertise to brand and website development to digital and content marketing, localhost:10008/ caters to a broad spectrum of fintech and finserv companies, including growth-stage startups and established firms. Their clients value innovative thinking and a collaborative partnership to help them achieve ambitious growth goals.

“Not only has localhost:10008/ showcased the HubSpot expertise required to successfully serve our joint clients by tiering to Platinum, but they have also emerged as leaders by being selected to join the 2024 Partner Advisory Council – a group made up of ‘expert solutions partners [tasked to help] shape the solutions partner program,” said Angela O’Dowd, VP, Solutions Partner Program at HubSpot.

To learn more about how localhost:10008/ helps fintech and financial services clients implement and maximize the impact of their HubSpot instances, click here.

Bridging the Gap Podcast Ep 143: Reshaping Financial Advice Through Marketing, Differentiation, and Technology with Kelly Waltrich

Posted on by Kelly Waltrich

Listen to the full episode here.

This week on Bridging the Gap, Matt dives into the intricate world of marketing with Kelly Waltrich, former Chief Marketing Officer at eMoney Advisor and Orion Advisor Solutions, now CEO and Co-Founder at localhost:10008/, Fintech and Martech Advisor, and Inaugural WealthManagement.com’s CMO of the Year. The conversation kicks off with Kelly’s journey from a thirteen-year-old entrepreneurially-minded individual selling ideas to her grandmother, to her strategic maneuvers through various financial sectors, ultimately leading to the launch of her marketing firm. The narrative chronicles her encounters with prominent fintech companies, emphasizing the significance of purposeful marketing. Her journey mirrors a commitment to continuous evolution and adaptability within the industry. Kelly’s story serves as a beacon for aspiring marketers and financial advisors alike, proving that a deliberate path combined with experience-driven growth is a compelling formula for success.

The episode further explores the common missteps in the financial advisory community’s approach to marketing, highlighting the reluctance to invest in what could be a business’s most potent growth engine. Kelly advocates for a customized approach, dismantling the myth of one-size-fits-all marketing solutions in favor of personalized strategies that resonate. She explores the hurdles encountered in her entrepreneurial path, highlighting the complexities of blending personal relationships with business. Her initial experience, where friends became her inaugural clients, became a pivotal lesson that reshaped her outlook on constructing a resilient business framework.

As the conversation continues, you’ll pick up valuable tips on how to match marketing plans with a company’s growth goals and set clear targets for smart marketing investments. Matt examines different marketing options, delving into how to attract clients and finding a balance between immediate successes and long-term strategies. The episode wraps up with a discussion about the future of financial advice. It touches on blending technology, understanding behavior, and creating customized experiences for different clients. 

Timestamps From This Episode

[00:02:47] Kelly recounts her path from the age of thirteen to the present day.

[00:07:19] Kelly unveils two lessons she had to confront, catching her by surprise with their unforeseen nature.

[00:15:31] Kelly outlines how advisors need to consider awareness versus conversion and how they can reframe their mentality. 

[00:21:44] Kelly shares the lessons she learned while collaborating with Daniel Crosby and the insights she has gathered in the past couple of years on integrating psychology and behaviors into marketing. 

[00:26:52] Matt asks Kelly, “Why do we need to change as an industry?”

[00:35:04] Kelly guides listeners through the implementation of AI in her firm, offering insights into how she envisions its impact unfolding.

[00:38:44] “So I think that people want to be involved in their finances. I think this generation wants to be really hands on and I think that we’re going to have to get creative around the ways that we’re delivering that service.”

[00:42:43] Kelly presents actionable advice for listeners.