AI Didn’t Create LinkedIn’s Content Problem. It Exposed It.

For years, financial services firms have been told they need to post consistently on LinkedIn. So, they created content calendars, established posting schedules and filled their feeds with company updates, industry observations, executive commentary and thought leadership. Some of it was useful. A lot of it was created because there was an empty space on the calendar that needed to be filled. Then generative AI came along and made filling that space much easier.

Now LinkedIn is pushing back. The platform has introduced a “Seems like AI slop” option that allows users to flag posts and comments they consider generic or low value. It is part of a broader effort by LinkedIn to prioritize content that offers genuine insight and professional value.

That might sound like LinkedIn is taking a stand against AI-generated content, but it isn't. LinkedIn has made it clear that AI can help refine language and improve content. Its concern is content that sounds polished but doesn't actually say much.

In other words, the problem isn't necessarily how the post was written. It's whether there was a worthwhile idea behind it in the first place. And that is a much more interesting problem for marketers.

Financial services doesn’t need more generic content

Generic corporate content is hardly new. We've all seen the posts where a company is “thrilled” to announce something, an executive repeats the same observations everyone else is making about an industry trend or a company publishes five best practices that its target audience already knows.

None of this required AI. What AI changed was the amount of effort required to produce it and, as a result, the amount of it companies can produce. A marketing team that once needed several hours to draft, edit and approve a post can now produce several versions in minutes. An executive who doesn't know what to write about can generate ten potential thought leadership topics. A company can turn one article into weeks of social content almost instantly.

Whether you’re marketing a wealth management firm, fintech company, fund administrator, asset manager or another financial services provider, clients are often evaluating the knowledge and credibility of the people behind the business. If the content sounds like something any competitor could have published, it does little to demonstrate either.

Start with the firm's strategy, not the content calendar

Content calendars still matter. They keep marketing teams organized, but they shouldn't determine what a company has to say. A stronger content strategy starts with what the business is trying to accomplish.

What markets does the firm want to enter? What capabilities does it want to be known for? Where does it see the greatest growth opportunity? What issues are clients asking about? What differentiates its approach? Where does leadership believe the industry is headed? Those questions can provide the foundation for a much more meaningful content program.

Consider a fund administrator looking to grow its private credit business. Filling its LinkedIn feed with generic posts about private credit growth isn't likely to differentiate the firm. Its professionals may, however, have valuable perspectives on the operational complexities they are seeing as private credit strategies evolve, the questions managers are asking during fund launches or the infrastructure firms need as they scale.

A wealth management technology company entering the family office market might take a similar approach. Rather than simply announcing that its technology serves family offices, its leaders could discuss the data, reporting and operational challenges they see those organizations trying to solve. The content isn't a sales pitch, but it supports the firm's strategic direction. It also helps build an association between the company and the areas where it wants to establish authority.

The challenge is that the people with the strongest ideas often aren’t sitting in marketing. They're running the company, talking to prospects, managing client relationships, overseeing operations, developing technology or working directly in the markets the firm serves. They also usually don't have time to sit down and write LinkedIn posts.

That's where marketing comes in. Instead of inventing topics for leaders, marketers can uncover the perspectives that already exist inside the firm. Ask what clients have been asking about recently, what came up repeatedly at the last conference or what has changed in the market over the past six months. Find out what prospects misunderstand or where a leader disagrees with conventional industry thinking.

Those conversations can uncover ideas from real experience rather than a prompt. Content generation becomes less about constantly finding something to post and more about identifying the expertise inside the firm that's worth sharing.

Personal credibility and corporate strategy can coexist

There is an important balance between executive LinkedIn accounts and corporate company page content. People follow people because they want their perspective. If every executive post sounds as though it went through several rounds of corporate approval, the credibility marketers are trying to build can quickly disappear.

At the same time, executive thought leadership doesn't need to operate independently from the firm's broader strategy. A CEO may speak about where the industry is headed. A COO might discuss operational challenges that firms underestimate. A head of sales may have a valuable perspective on changing buyer expectations, while a technology leader can explain where innovation is actually solving problems rather than simply adding another system.

Each person can have a distinct voice and area of expertise while collectively reinforcing what the firm wants to be known for. For marketers, the opportunity is to find the intersection between what the leader genuinely knows, what the audience cares about and what matters to the business. That's a much stronger foundation for thought leadership than simply handing an executive a prewritten post because Tuesday is their scheduled publishing day. It also gives leaders a reason to participate because the content reflects what they actually think and talk about in their work.

AI should accelerate the process, not become the source

AI has an important role in this model. Financial services marketers can use it to research topics, prepare interview questions, organize notes, identify gaps, improve structure, tighten drafts and adapt a strong idea for different audiences and channels.

Used well, AI can make the content process more efficient while giving marketers more time to understand client concerns, talk to executives, follow the market and identify ideas worth developing. The technology supports the process, but the expertise and perspective still come from the firm and its people.

As AI makes it possible to create more content faster, the temptation will be to increase output. For financial services firms, the better response may be to become more selective about what deserves to be published. Remember, clients aren't choosing an investment firm, service provider, adviser or financial technology platform because it successfully posted on LinkedIn three times last week. But what its people say can absolutely influence whether a prospective client views the firm as knowledgeable, relevant and worth talking to.

That makes authentic content more than a social media consideration. It's part of how a financial services firm builds its reputation, demonstrates its expertise and supports its broader growth strategy.