How to create content as a BFSI company in India

Let’s start with the obvious. BFSI content is boring. Or at least, that’s what people think. To an average reader whose attention doesn’t last very long, the numbers, compliance, and jargon often feel like it was designed to confuse. And yet, people spend hours scrolling through content on how to save more, invest better, or just feel a little less clueless about taxes. This disconnect is where the opportunity lies.

Whether you’re a new fintech startup trying to demystify personal finance or a traditional bank adapting to a digital world, your content has to walk a difficult line. Now, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Stick to the basics and build on that. How can you take a well-known topic and make it interesting? How do you make finance less “boring” while still respecting compliance and keeping your credibility intact?

Let’s break down how that’s done.

1. People don’t always think in numbers.

Most people don’t approach financial decisions with calculators in hand and spreadsheets open. They make choices based on fear, hope, and sometimes a half-remembered tip from a friend. Your audience isn’t just evaluating your services on their merit, but they’re trying to understand how your offering fits into their emotional landscape. 

Most of us, when we bought our first term insurance, it probably wasn’t because a calculator told us it was time. Instead, it could be that someone close to us faced a medical emergency and their family struggled for months. Suddenly, “return on investment” felt like the wrong metric here entirely.

The best content communicates value and resonates with a person’s phase of life or maybe some underlying concerns. Try to address those concerns with clarity. 

2.  Trim the fat, keep the meat

This is where a lot of content goes sideways. In an effort to sound authoritative, they end up writing like policy manuals. But when they try to simplify, they often sound very generic. The sweet spot lies in clarity, not simplification. The goal isn’t to dumb it down but to break it down.

Most people aren’t clueless – they’re just not fluent in financial-speak. You can talk about asset allocation using relatable metaphors or explain compounding with real-life scenarios. But skip the “money doesn’t grow on trees” lines. That’s been posted a hundred times before. 

Instead, think of your audience as smart and curious. Talk to them the way you’d explain something over coffee. Not a lecture. Not a sales pitch – just clear content that respects their time and intelligence.

3. Choose formats that do justice to the idea

There’s no shortage of channels. Blog posts, newsletters, short-form video, carousels – the options are endless. But each format comes with its own rules of engagement. 

If you’re trying to highlight spending behaviours among Gen Z, a data visualisation on Instagram might say more than three paragraphs ever could. If you’re explaining a nuanced income tax policy update, maybe a blog post with real calculations does more justice than a 60-second reel.

Sometimes it’s not the volume of content that matters, but the intent behind it. Every post must serve a purpose. That’s what moves the needle – not more noise.

4. Inform, don’t instruct

Nobody likes being lectured. Especially not when the subject involves decisions that carry personal stakes. It’s tempting to build content that says, “here’s what you should do,” but that tone often alienates people. Let people arrive at their own conclusions – with your help, not your instructions.

Instead, a more effective approach would be to provide the reader with options to choose from and reflect on trade-offs between different offerings. Give people the full picture. Not just the ideal path, but the detours too. What if they invest early? What if they don’t? What mistakes should they avoid? That level of clarity goes a long way in earning their trust. 

5. Why Demographics Aren’t Enough

Age, income bracket, and geography are some useful filters, but they only tell part of the story. Think beyond data points – look at behaviours, motivations, and life stages. Think about their financial intent and the context. 

A 28-year-old freelancer with variable income has different concerns than a 28-year-old in a salaried role with predictable cash flow. A couple planning a child has different goals than a single professional focused on homeownership. 

Instead of targeting “millennials in Tier 1 cities,” ask – who’s dealing with financial regret? Who’s trying to make up for lost time? Who’s worried they won’t be able to afford their kid’s education?

The more specific the context, the sharper and more personal your content feels. 

6. Compliance Can’t Be an Afterthought

In BFSI, content doesn’t go live until it clears compliance. That’s just how it is. The mistake many marketers make is bringing in compliance too late in the process, where they become the people who say “no.” 

If the first time your compliance team sees a piece is when you’re ready to publish it, you’re setting yourself up for rewrites, delays, and a whole lot of back-and-forth. Most teams treat compliance like a final hurdle, not a part of the process. 

A better approach is to treat compliance like a creative constraint from the start. It helps to bring compliance in early and share the intent behind a piece early on. Not to get approvals, but to understand the logic behind the rules. 

Some rules are fixed. Others depend on how you frame things. Take mutual fund marketing, for example: you can’t claim “safe investment with assured returns” – SEBI rules prohibit promises of guaranteed returns. However, you can say, “Aims to deliver long-term capital growth.” This approach highlights the product’s objective without overpromising, staying within the guidelines.

You don’t need to sacrifice clarity to stay compliant. When everyone is aligned from the beginning, the process runs more smoothly – there’s less back-and-forth.   

7. Track what works, double down, and iterate

Analytics are critical, but they need context. It’s easy to get excited about metrics – likes, impressions, reach. But what are those numbers telling you about how people actually process and act on your content?

Are readers staying through the whole blog post? Are they saving your carousel on “5 things to check before buying health insurance” or just liking it and moving on? Not every piece of content needs to grab attention. Some just need to be useful. It’s the kind that people bookmark and come back to when they’re actually ready to act. Build for that person, too. 

Final thoughts

Creating content as a BFSI company in India shouldn’t be about pushing products or hitting quotas. If you’re in the business of managing money, you’re also in the business of building trust.

It’s about decoding one of the most intimidating subjects in people’s lives and making it feel less overwhelming. That’s not something that you want to automate or rush into. And that only happens when your content feels thoughtful, honest, and unforced. People know when you’re trying too hard. They also understand when you’re trying to help. If your content helps people make one better decision with their money, it’s doing its job. Everything else is extra.