who we help - sectors

Marketing Support for the Financial Services Sector

Helping financial firms modernise marketing, earn trust, and drive measurable commercial outcomes.

The Marketing Landscape in Financial Services

From wealth management to fintech, insurance to compliance-led B2B offerings — financial services marketing demands clarity, credibility, and compliance. Yet many firms are stuck with legacy brand positioning, unclear propositions, or underperforming marketing teams.

Challenges you might face:

  • Compliance and risk often block marketing agility and creativity
  • Many firms lack clear differentiation in a crowded, regulated space
  • Content output is high, but impact is low — especially for inbound
  • Sales and marketing functions are often misaligned or fragmented

What Financial Services Firms Are Trying to Achieve

At the same time, financial services providers are under pressure to:

Differentiate their proposition in a conservative or commoditised category
Build marketing that feels modern, professional, and measurable
Drive commercial performance — not just brand awareness
Launch new services or platforms with credible go-to-market plans
Strengthen cross-functional collaboration between sales, product, and marketing

free online audit

Marketing Capability Assessment for Financial Services Providers

Take our free online audit to assess your marketing performance across six core capabilities using our proprietary 'BANKSE' framework. It takes just 5-minutes.

What you'll get:

Instant marketing capability score
Personalised report sent to your inbox
Clarity on which marketing areas to prioritise
Complimentary consultation with our experts to discuss your results

marketing  solutions

How We Help Financial Services Clients

We help financial services firms balance compliance with creativity — modernising marketing, sharpening client strategies, and building credibility that earns trust, drives growth, and delivers measurable results in regulated environments.

Featured services:

Fractional CMO

Embed experienced leadership to modernise marketing, manage risk, and align activity with commercial outcomes.

Market Analysis

Understand competitive propositions, client behaviours, and referral/reflection patterns across segments.

Marketing Mentoring

Support for compliance-sensitive marketers or commercial teams tasked with executing brand and campaign strategy.

Meet Our Financial Services Marketing Expert

Paul has:

  • Led marketing for the UK’s market leader in legal expenses insurance through a period of transformation and cost reduction.
  • Built a marketing function from the ground up for a boutique corporate finance firm, driving revenue growth during Covid.
  • Successfully repositioned three financial planning firms, helping them win more high-value clients on limited budgets and with lean teams.
"Financial services demands precision, creativity, and agility — all under intense regulatory scrutiny and against fierce competition from undifferentiated brands."

Paul Mills - Chartered Fractional CMO & Founder of VCMO

Our project was to create a top-level marketing strategy which, once built, we could drive forward ourselves. And I can honestly say the work has been transformational for Yellowtail. After each workshop with VCMO, both Dennis Hall and I would be amazed at how much we'd achieved. We worked hard! But the results are worth it.

Sarah Steele
Operations Director, Yellowtail Financial Planning
Read the Case Study

Shout out to Paul Mills who bravely took on running a positioning workshop with us yesterday. Is there anything harder than doing the thing your client does for others for them?! Great work. Really thought provoking, and so important to have facilitated by someone with an external perspective!

Bryony Thomas
CEO, watertight business thinking

Paul is a professional strategic marketeer who is able to apply his expertise with marketing budgets large and small. The commercial impact of Shaw & Co's rebrand, which was initiated, designed and implemented by Paul, has been to differentiate us positively in a sector where few have succeeded. He delivers what he promises, on time and on/under budget, to a high quality. Paul made a positive impact on our business that will last.

Rod Leefe
chair, shaw & co

VCMO's audit brought clarity to a complex set of challenges. They cut through the noise and delivered a clear, prioritised roadmap that we could act on immediately. Their ability to engage across teams and translate insight into action was exactly what we needed.

Dr. Ross Burn
Co-founder, Catsci limited  
Read the Case Study

Lydia possesses a deep understanding of marketing strategies and has consistently delivered exceptional results. Her ability to analyse market trends, create engaging campaigns, and drive customer acquisition is truly impressive. Her dedication, attention to detail, and strong communication skills make her an invaluable asset to any organisation. I cannot recommend Lydia enough for her expertise, professionalism, and exceptional work ethic.

Alan Leckey
Business Consultant, CCO - the Collaboration Company  

Paul Mills wasn't just an outsourced marketing leader — he was a mentor. His support helped me enhance my technical marketing skills and shape a more strategic mindset, as well as build my  confidence with senior leadership and deliver higher-impact work. He is dependable and skillful, and his guidance has made me feel more capable and prepared for future challenges.

Caitlin Daniels
marketing manager, catsci limited
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VCMO brings knowledge, insight and practical experience to the table, but also something else, which is quite rare, the unwavering commitment to finishing the job without compromising on the quality of the output. Their work for Yellowtail has been exemplary and we're seeing the results already.

Dennis Hall
founder, yellowtail financial planning

Ruth brought great experience and insight to my firm over many years. Her considered and thoughtful approach to problem solving are a real strength and her experience of marketing and business development in the legal sector was invaluable.

Gavin Tyler
Managing Partner, Cripps

VCMO helped us think beyond our capabilities and reframe how we communicate the true value of what we do. Paul's workshop unlocked fresh ideas resulting in a more strategic approach to our content plan and go-to-market materials. The quality of the output and power of the messaging is really impressive.

Peter Ridgway
Business Development Director, Reach Separations
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VCMO has been instrumental in reshaping how we approach marketing at Lucent. Their strategic clarity, attention to detail, and ability to deliver at pace have been exceptional. Paul's embedded himself seamlessly into the team and quickly earned trust — not just from me, but from our wider staff and partners. The website and content strategy he led have already started delivering results, and I now feel far more confident in how we grow the business over the coming years.

Steven Rowe
Founder - Lucent Financial Planning
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VCMO helped me find the words and structure to communicate what I do — and who I do it for — in a way that finally connects. I’ve had more inbound enquiries since the website relaunch than in the previous two years.

Lee Spencer
aka The rowing marine
Read the Case Study

Ready to modernise marketing — without losing credibility? Let’s bring strategy, structure, and compliance-conscious creativity to your marketing function.

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