What is the best platform to get financial adviser leads in the UK?

The "best" platform depends on your advice niche, client profile and how quickly you need results. Below is an honest breakdown of the four main paid channels UK financial advisers use to generate leads, drawn from real campaign data across the Platinum Prospects benchmark dataset.

Google Search

Google is the strongest channel for existing-intent enquiries. Someone searching "pension transfer advice near me" or "equity release calculator" already knows they need help. That intent makes Google leads easier to convert, which is why most advisers start here.

Typical all-adviser CPL range: £35–£140 (varies significantly by niche).

Strengths:

• Captures demand that already exists — the prospect is actively looking for advice
• Works particularly well for pension, mortgage, equity release and IHT searches
• Highly measurable with offline conversion tracking
• Scales predictably once you find profitable keywords

Limitations:

• Higher cost per lead than Meta in most niches
• Search volume is finite — you cannot create demand that does not exist
• Competitive niches (pension transfer, equity release) push CPLs above £100
• Requires FCA-compliant ad copy and financial services verification

Google is usually the foundation of a multi-channel strategy because it captures people closest to taking action. See the full Google vs Meta comparison for a side-by-side breakdown.

Meta (Facebook and Instagram)

Meta is the volume and awareness platform. It reaches people who are not actively searching but match the demographic and behavioural profile of your ideal client. Creative quality matters more here than keyword selection.

Typical all-adviser CPL range: £10–£38.

Strengths:

• Lowest headline CPL of any major platform for financial adviser leads
• Enormous reach — scales well beyond the ceiling of search demand
• Powerful targeting: age, income indicators, life events, interests and lookalike audiences
• Strong for awareness-led niches such as retirement planning, protection and later-life care
• Retargeting capabilities turn website visitors and video viewers into warm leads

Limitations:

• Lower intent than search — leads require stronger qualification and nurture sequences
• Creative fatigue means you need a regular pipeline of fresh ad variations
• Lead quality can drop if targeting or qualification questions are not tightly controlled
• Compliance review of image and video ads adds production time

Meta works best when paired with a lead qualification step (a short form, a fact-find question, or a calendar booking page) that filters out casual clicks before they reach your diary.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the precision platform for reaching business owners, directors, high-net-worth professionals and corporate decision-makers. It is not a volume play — it is a quality play.

Typical all-adviser CPL range: £75–£320.

Strengths:

• Unmatched targeting for job title, seniority, company size and industry
• Strongest channel for corporate advisory, group pensions, employee benefits and B2B referral generation
• High-value clients — a single HNW conversion can justify months of spend
• Professional context means prospects are in a business mindset

Limitations:

• Highest CPL of the four platforms by a significant margin
• Lower volume — the financial advice audience on LinkedIn is smaller
• Fewer creative formats compared to Meta
• Organic content and InMail can be more effective than ads for some firms

LinkedIn is worth testing if your minimum case size is above £250k or your practice focuses on corporate clients, business owners or professional connections.

Microsoft Ads (Bing)

Microsoft Ads captures incremental search demand from Bing, Edge, Yahoo and partner networks. It reaches an older, higher-income demographic that many advisers overlook.

Typical all-adviser CPL range: £25–£102.

Strengths:

• Lower CPCs and CPLs than Google for the same keywords
• Older user demographic aligns well with pension, retirement and wealth management niches
• Easy to import existing Google campaigns
• Less competition means your budget goes further

Limitations:

• Much lower search volume than Google — typically 10–20% of Google traffic
• Should complement rather than replace Google
• Fewer automation and bidding features than Google
• Some niche keywords may have too little volume to sustain a campaign

Most advisers add Microsoft Ads once their Google campaigns are profitable, using it to extend reach at a lower marginal cost.

Which platform should you choose?

The right answer depends on your niche and priorities:

For most IFA practices, the strongest results come from running Google and Meta together: Google captures people already searching, Meta builds the pipeline of people who will search later. Add LinkedIn if your client profile is corporate or HNW, and layer Microsoft Ads on top once Google is performing.

Explore the full lead generation approach or use the lead forecasting and benchmarking tools to model costs for your specific niche.