There are plenty of places to hear predictions about the future of financial services marketing.
The CMO Collective is different.
We created it to give senior marketing leaders across wealth management and fintech a place to talk candidly about what’s actually working, where new challenges are popping up, and where they’re investing next.
At Future Proof Festival in Huntington Beach, that conversation continued with a packed room of more than 120 marketing leaders discussing some of the issues shaping growth right now: how brands build credibility, the growing role of reviews and third-party validation, the changing economics of video, AI-driven discovery, marketing talent, and the pressure to prove ROI.
This year, the Collective took an important step forward.
The CMO Collective Is Becoming More Than an Event
Since launching the CMO Collective, our goal has been simple: create a community where financial services marketing leaders can learn from each other.
The conversations at Future Proof reinforced why that matters.
Marketing leaders are being asked to do more than ever. They’re responsible for brand, demand, client experience, recruiting, AI adoption, technology, growth strategy, and, increasingly, proving how all of it connects to business results.
Those are hard problems to solve alone.
That’s why we were excited to announce the next evolution of the community at Future Proof: the new CMO Collective app.
The app gives members a place to continue the conversations that happen at events throughout the year, connect directly with peers, ask questions, share ideas and tap into a community of marketers who understand the unique challenges of growing financial services firms.
The goal isn’t to create another place to scroll.
It’s to create a place to solve problems.
Visibility Is No Longer Enough
One of the strongest themes from our conversations was the difference between being visible and being believable.
Financial services firms have more ways than ever to get in front of prospects. The harder challenge is giving people a reason to trust what they see.
That means reviews, client stories, earned media, executive thought leadership, and third-party validation are becoming increasingly important parts of the marketing mix.
This matters even more as AI changes how people research firms.
Prospects aren’t necessarily moving neatly from a Google search to a website anymore. They’re reading reviews, consuming content, checking social profiles, seeing media coverage, and asking AI platforms to help them make sense of it all.
Marketing leaders have to think about the full body of evidence their brand creates.
Video Keeps Moving From “Nice to Have” to Core Infrastructure
Video was another major part of the conversation.
For years, many firms treated video as a special project: something produced occasionally for a campaign, executive message or product launch.
That model is changing.
Marketing teams increasingly need to produce video consistently and at scale, while still protecting quality, brand standards and authenticity.
And as AI makes content creation easier, the human side of video may become even more important.
People want to hear from real advisors, executives and subject matter experts. The technology should make those voices easier to capture and distribute, not replace them.
Reviews Are Becoming Part of the Growth Engine
Client reviews and testimonials also played a major role in the discussion.
Their value goes well beyond reputation management.
Reviews can help prospects validate a firm, reinforce positioning, strengthen conversion and give search engines and AI platforms more independent evidence about who a company serves and what it does well.
That changes the way firms should think about review programs.
The question is no longer simply, “Should we ask clients for reviews?”
It’s: How do reviews fit into our broader growth, content, search and credibility strategy?
Our Sponsors Help Make This Community Possible
The CMO Collective would not be what it is without partners who believe in the value of bringing financial services marketing leaders together.
We were proud to have the support of Amplify Reviews, StreetCred PR, Allspring Global Investments, WiserAdvisor/Indyfin and YT Era for this year’s Future Proof experience. Intention.ly highlighted all five as CMO Collective sponsors ahead of the event.
Each brings a different perspective to the challenges marketers are navigating, from reputation and earned media to advisor discovery, content and investment management.
More importantly, their support helps us create the kind of environment the Collective was designed for: candid conversation, useful ideas and relationships that extend well beyond a single conference.
Thank you to all of our sponsors for helping us continue to grow the CMO Collective. We couldn’t have made this possible without their support!
The Conversation Doesn’t End in Huntington Beach
The best part of the CMO Collective has never been a single panel or event.
It’s what happens when smart marketers who face similar challenges start sharing what they know.
That’s why the launch of the CMO Collective app is such an important next step for us.
Future Proof gave us the opportunity to get everyone together in one room.
Now we have a way to keep that room open all year.
If you lead marketing, growth or communications for a wealth management, fintech or financial services organization and want to be part of the conversation, we’d love to have you.
Join the CMO Collective by applying through the app.