TLDR;
- Search is saturated: Google Search CPCs for UK finance keywords are astronomical (often £20-£50+). YouTube offers a way to bypass this auction price while building trust.
- Trust is the currency: In the UK, nobody buys a financial product from a faceless brand. YouTube allows you to put a human face on the compliance.
- Custom Segments are key: Forget generic demographic targeting. We use search term intent (e.g., people searching "best ISA rates") to target video ads.
- Creative over Polish: "Ugly", authentic ads often outperform high-production TV-style commercials in the financial sector.
- Interactive Assets: I've included a Lead Cost Calculator and a Targeting Strategy Flowchart below to help you plan your budget.
If you're running a financial services firm in the UK—whether you're a challenger bank in Shoreditch, an IFA in Manchester, or an established wealth management firm in Mayfair—you are probably painfully aware of one thing: Google Search ads are becoming prohibitively expensive.
I've audited accounts for fintechs where they are bidding £40, sometimes £60 for a single click on keywords like "consolidate pension" or "business loan". It's madness. Unless you have a massive LTV (Lifetime Value) and deep pockets, the math just doesn't add up anymore. You're fighting over the same 3% of the market that is ready to buy right now, along with every major bank and aggressive startup in the country.
This is where YouTube ads come in.
But here is the problem. Most financial companies treat YouTube like TV. They take their shiny, compliance-approved brand video, slap it on YouTube as a skippable ad, and then wonder why they burnt through £5k with zero leads to show for it. I've seen it happen time and time again.
The strategy I'm going to lay out here is different. It's based on running campaigns in complex, high-trust sectors where we focus on performance, not just "brand awareness". We're talking about generating qualified leads, booked appointments, and funded accounts.
Why YouTube is the Arbitrage Opportunity for UK Finance
The UK financial market is built on trust. We are a cynical bunch. We don't trust banks (especially after 2008), we're skeptical of "get rich quick" schemes, and we are heavily regulated by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority).
Text ads on Google Search are great for capturing intent, but they are terrible at building trust. A text ad is just words. Anyone can buy words.
Video allows you to look the prospect in the eye. For high-ticket services—like wealth management, corporate finance, or specialized lending—that "face time" is critical. You can explain complex concepts, debunk myths, and demonstrate expertise before asking for the click.
If you are looking for a broader view on how this fits into your mix, you might want to read our Fintech Ads UK growth framework, but for now, let's stick specifically to the video side of things.
The "Un-Ad" Creative Strategy
The biggest mistake I see? Trying to look like HSBC.
When users are on YouTube, they are in a "content consumption" mindset. They aren't there to be sold to; they're there to watch a review of the new iPhone, catch up on Premier League highlights, or watch PensionCraft explain the latest budget.
If your ad looks like an ad—slick stock footage of people shaking hands in glass offices, upbeat corporate music—the user's brain instantly filters it out. It's called "banner blindness", but for video.
The contrarian approach that works: Make your ad look like content.
We often find that a polished, expensive production doesn't necessarily outperform a simple, authentic video. In fact, a video shot on an iPhone of a founder simply talking to the camera about a specific pain point—like why banks are rejecting loan applications—can often crush a generic corporate ad. Why? Because it feels like advice, not a sales pitch.
Targeting: The Secret Weapon (Custom Segments)
If you set up a campaign and target "Males, 35-55, interested in Finance", you are going to lose money. It's too broad. In the UK, that includes everyone from a day trader to someone who just likes watching The Apprentice.
The most powerful feature in Google Ads for YouTube is Custom Segments based on Search Terms.
This allows you to show video ads to people who have recently searched for specific keywords on Google. This is intent-based video advertising. It bridges the gap between the high intent of Search and the low cost of Video.
Example Strategy:
Let's say you are an investment app. You create a custom segment of people searching for:
"Best ISA rates 2024"
"Hargreaves Lansdown fees"
"Vanguard vs Aj Bell"
"How to invest £10k UK"
These people are actively in the market. When they go to YouTube to watch a video, your ad pops up saying: "Stop paying high platform fees on your ISA..."
It's incredibly potent. We've used this to help clients execute expert strategies that steal market share from major competitors by targeting their brand names as search terms.
Navigating the FCA and Google's Verification
We can't talk about UK financial advertising without addressing the elephant in the room: Compliance.
Google has introduced strict verification for financial services in the UK. You must be authorized by the FCA (or meet specific exemptions) to even run ads. I've had clients panic because their accounts got suspended overnight.
You need to ensure your "Capital at Risk" warnings are visible. On YouTube, this is tricky because the video player controls can obscure text at the bottom. We always recommend placing risk warnings in a "safe zone" (usually the top right or clearly in the audio track) to ensure you don't get flagged.
Also, don't make claims you can't substantiate. "Best returns in the UK" will get you banned. "Targeting 5-7% returns p.a." (with caveats) is safer. If you are struggling with this, we have a detailed guide on getting UK fintech ads approved.
Bidding Strategies & Costs in the UK
What should you expect to pay?
In the UK, YouTube views (CPV - Cost Per View) are generally cheaper than the US, but more expensive than the rest of Europe.
Average CPV: £0.03 - £0.08
Average CPM (Cost Per Mille): £8 - £15 (depending on how niche the targeting is)
However, we don't care about views. We care about conversions.
For a lead generation campaign (e.g., "Book a Consultation" or "Download a Guide"), you should be looking at a Cost Per Lead (CPL) of anywhere between £20 and £80 depending on the friction of the form and the niche. High Net Worth (HNW) leads will naturally cost more. That said, deep optimization can shift these numbers. For a Medical Job Matching SaaS—another complex B2B sector—we managed to reduce the CPA from £100 down to £7. While every market is different, the principles of intent targeting apply.
I've built a calculator below to help you estimate what your returns might look like based on UK market averages.
Est. Cost Per Lead (CPL): £150.00
The "Boring" Truth About Account Structure
I see a lot of messy accounts. Agencies that create 50 different campaigns, one for each video, one for each keyword. It's a nightmare to manage and the algorithm hates it.
Modern Google Ads (and YouTube fits under this umbrella) relies on machine learning. It needs data density. If you split your budget across too many campaigns, none of them get enough data to exit the "learning phase".
My recommended structure for a UK Finance Client:
- Campaign A: Cold Traffic (Prospecting)
- Ad Group 1: Custom Intent (Competitor Keywords)
- Ad Group 2: Custom Intent (Generic High-Intent Keywords e.g. "Invest in gold", "Small business loans")
- Ad Group 3: In-Market Audiences (e.g., "Financial Planning", "Business Services")
- Campaign B: Retargeting (The Money Maker)
- Targeting people who visited your site but didn't convert.
- Targeting people who watched >50% of your video ad in Campaign A.
Don't overcomplicate it. Let the creative do the heavy lifting. If you are a larger organization looking for a specialized partner to handle this complexity, you might find our guide on vetting UK FinTech PPC specialists helpful.
Placement Exclusions: Saving Your Budget
Here is a tip that will save you thousands of pounds. By default, Google will show your ads on "Google Video Partners". This is a network of third-party websites and apps.
In my experience, the quality here is often garbage. I've seen B2B finance ads showing up on mobile gaming apps where kids are clicking them by accident to get extra lives. Turn off "Video Partners" and stick to YouTube core inventory if you want quality.
Also, exclude "Content suitable for families" and specific kids' topics. You don't want your ad for a pension drawdown service playing before "Peppa Pig". It happens more often than you'd think if you don't check your settings.
Advanced Strategy: The "Review" Hijack
This is a tactic we use specifically for challenger brands.
There are huge YouTube channels in the UK that review financial products. If someone is watching a review of your competitor, they are deep in the consideration phase.
You can target specific YouTube channels (Placements). However, Google has limited this capability recently for performance campaigns, pushing broad targeting instead. But, you can still influence this via Custom Segments by targeting people who search for those specific channel names or review terms.
Measuring Success: Beyond "Last Click"
This is the hardest part for Finance Directors to grasp. They look at Google Analytics, see zero conversions from YouTube, and want to cut the budget.
But YouTube is often an "assist" channel. Someone sees your video, they get interested, but they don't click. Three days later, they Google your brand name and convert via a search ad.
If you pause YouTube, your Search volume drops. I've seen it happen. You need to look at "View-Through Conversions" in Google Ads, and also measure the "Brand Lift"—is the search volume for your brand name increasing since you started running video ads?
Local nuances: London vs The Rest
Don't just target "United Kingdom". The financial behavior in London is vastly different to the rest of the country.
If you are selling high-risk investment products, London and the South East usually have higher intent and higher disposable income. But the CPMs are also higher.
We often split campaigns: "UK - London" and "UK - Rest". This allows us to bid differently. If London is too expensive, we can pull back without killing the volume from Manchester, Birmingham, or Edinburgh.
I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:
| Strategy Component | Recommendation for UK Finance |
|---|---|
| Creative Style | Authentic, direct-to-camera, educational. Avoid stock footage. Use UK accents/locations. |
| Audience Targeting | Custom Segments (Competitor Search Terms + Intent Keywords). |
| Bidding | Start with Maximize Conversions (with a tCPA) to force the algo to find leads, not just views. |
| Exclusions | Exclude Mobile Apps, Kids Content, and "Google Video Partners" network. |
| Compliance | Ensure FCA authorisation is linked to the ad account. Place risk warnings in audio and visual safe zones. |
Conclusion
YouTube ads are not a silver bullet. They require patience, good creative, and a solid funnel behind them. But in the UK market, where Search is saturated and trust is low, they offer a unique way to build a pipeline of qualified leads at a cost that still makes sense.
Don't be afraid to be a bit "boring" or "ugly" with your ads. In finance, boring often equals stable, and ugly often equals authentic. Focus on the customer's nightmare—their fear of inflation, their confusion about taxes, their rejection by banks—and offer a clear, compliant solution.
If you are spending over £5k/month on ads and aren't seeing the results you want, or if you're struggling to get your financial ads approved in the UK, it might be worth having a second pair of eyes on your strategy. We offer a free consultation where we can look at your current setup and identify where you might be leaking budget.
Hope this helps!
