Newspapers and magazines: old school. Traditional news portals: boring. If you want to reach the next generation of bank customers and savers, you can't ignore a young and hip group of media makers. We're talking about finfluencers. With creative, audiovisual content, they inspire their audience on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms with topics such as money markets, ETFs, and real estate. In the "Jahrbuch 2025/26" of Finanzplatz Hamburg our agency director Susanne Wiesemann explains why this is an opportunity for financial communication—but one with the potential for missteps.

“Finanzfluss” has 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube alone: Founded by Thomas Kehl and Arno Krieger, the channel is the German-language platform with the widest reach outside the established media that deals with financial topics. But it is only the tip of the iceberg in a scene that is becoming increasingly important in financial communication: finfluencers – young, agile content creators who focus on topics such as stocks, investments, and real estate. In a survey conducted last year, the Leipzig Graduate School of Management identified 357 active finfluencers – on Instagram alone. Around two-thirds of them are nano- or micro-influencers with fewer than 10,000 followers, but the largest accounts achieve six-figure reach.

In doing so, they are achieving something that politicians and players in the financial sector have been struggling to do more or less unsuccessfully for decades: getting private investors – especially younger ones – interested in saving and retirement planning at an early stage. Over the past six years, the number of stock market investors under the age of 39 has more than quadrupled. Finfluencers are likely to have played a major role in this.

Financial content at eye level

Their recipe for success lies in a combination of authenticity, storytelling, and infotainment. And they are where we now spend around 50 percent of our media time: on social media. This is all the more significant because, according to a study by the Media Education Research Association Southwest, only just under 10 percent of 12- to 19-year-olds regularly read newspapers and magazines online. And there's something else that makes finfluencers special: they operate close to their target group. While financial journalists often seem unapproachable with their technical jargon and traditional financial advisors come across as aloof and sales-oriented, finfluencers communicate on equal terms. This factor is particularly appealing to Generation Z, which is already sceptical of the financial industry.

If companies in the financial sector want to attract younger customers, they will no longer be able to ignore finfluencers in the future. Providers with a strong B2C focus, such as retail banks, online brokers, ETF platforms, and neobanks, in particular, will have to address the question of how to integrate these new players into their communication strategy. Trade Republic, for example, shows how this can look. The Berlin-based fintech company works very successfully with over 15 talented finfluencers in Germany alone. Scalable Capital and many smart brokers are doing something similar and have already reached many young investors with corresponding campaigns, accelerating their growth in this target group.

Define the framework correctly

At the same time – and this should not go unmentioned – cooperation with finfluencers carries a certain risk. Scandals such as the one involving “ImmoTommy,” whose followers were talked into buying residential properties in poor condition, with non-transparent fees and risky financing structures, can also rub off on sponsors and partners. However, these are not new risks for communications managers. They are the same risks that are already known from working with testimonials. This makes it all the more important to plan collaborations with finfluencers carefully and to provide them with a professional, framework that fits the compliance rules.

Four pillars are particularly important for a successful campaign:

  • Selection: Not every influencer is right for every brand. Finfluencers thrive on their authenticity, just as successful brands thrive on their uniqueness. As a rule, finfluencers therefore create their own content within collaborations.
  • Monitoring: People change, especially in an increasingly fast-paced world with the excitement curves typical of social media. This makes it all the more important to ensure, through continuous monitoring, that the finfluencers with whom a brand cooperates still fit the brand's values.
  • Legal compliance: From advertising labeling and corporate messaging to data protection, there are a number of things to consider when it comes to finfluencer marketing. Professional advice is therefore a must.
  • Suitable topics: Finfluencer campaigns are mainly suitable for products aimed at end investors. Finfluencer campaigns are – at least so far – unsuitable for highly complex or risky investments or offers for institutional investors.

 

Professional campaign management is also advisable when working with finfluencers. There are now specialized agencies that bring companies together with suitable finfluencers and take care of the implementation. The industry will continue to professionalize, and sooner or later there will be regulatory intervention. The planned EU retail investor strategy will set standards and put a stop to dubious providers. But the basic trend is clear: finfluencers are here to stay.

The entire "Jahrbuch" (in German) of Finanzplatz Hamburg e.V. is available on the following page: Jahrbuch 2025/26