B2B marketing in Zurich: what a campaign for your company would look like
I plan and run B2B campaigns for companies in Zurich: as a one-day workshop, a project of 4 to 12 weeks with your team, or monthly advisory. I'm based near Zurich and work on site or remote. Below is what such a campaign looks like, built on one fictional company and real local numbers.
Zurich is small enough to follow your buyers street by street, and crowded enough to swallow most budgets.
A fictional example: a Zurich compliance software company
A fictional example, so it gets concrete. Muster Compliance AG is invented; "Muster AG" is the Swiss shorthand for a sample company. It has 25 people in Zurich West and sells software for client onboarding and audit documentation to independent asset managers in German-speaking Switzerland.
The industry is real. According to the Canton of Zurich, more than 103,400 people worked in the financial sector of the Zurich region in 2023, and roughly one franc in six of the region's value added depends directly on it. Independent asset managers have needed a FINMA license since 2020; the transition period for existing firms ended in 2022. By the end of February 2025, FINMA had approved 1,532 asset managers and trustees.
That number shapes the whole plan. About 1,500 licensed firms across Switzerland is a small, known market. FINMA's figures have no split by canton, but its public list of authorized asset managers and trustees names every firm with its location: about 1,500 entries in the version of 28 October 2026, roughly 370 of them in the city of Zurich by my count. That list is where the plan starts. Mass reach would be waste.
- Goal for the scenario: 30 first meetings with owners, COOs or compliance officers of licensed asset managers within 12 weeks.
- Anchor: FINANZ27, the next edition of the finance event at the Kongresshaus Zürich on 17 and 18 March 2027.
- Offer: one useful thing a busy firm takes away, here a checklist for onboarding files that hold up in an audit.
Where Zurich's finance buyers actually are
Zurich's hubs are huge, and that's the problem for a niche. SBB counted an average of 449,800 travelers a day at Zürich HB in 2025, and Zurich Airport handled 32.6 million passengers. For 1,500 target firms, both are broadcast media.
The out-of-home market here is concentrated. APG|SGA markets the advertising at SBB stations, and it remains the exclusive marketing partner of Zurich Airport from 2027 until at least the end of 2033. Since April 2025 it has also been the exclusive agency partner of VBZ TrafficMedia for ads on and in Zurich's trams and buses.
| Touchpoint | Fact | Use in this plan |
|---|---|---|
| Zürich HB | 449,800 travelers a day, average 2025 (SBB) | Fair week only, digital screens on the routes to the trams |
| Zürich Enge | 15,300 a day (SBB); trams 7 and 10 to the Kongresshaus | Yes, fair week; cheap and on the way |
| Trams 7, 10 and 13 | Run from HB to Stockerstrasse, about 5 minutes on foot to the venue (Kongresshaus) | Route in the invitation; no separate media buy |
| Zurich Airport | 32.6 million passengers in 2025 | No; the audience is national and international, the target list is not |
| Messe Zürich, Oerlikon | FINANZ was held in Oerlikon for nine years and moved to the Kongresshaus in 2026 (finews.ch) | No; for finance it's the wrong address |
Zurich West is only the company's address. Hardbrücke station sees 52,900 travelers a day, a general commuter crowd. The office is for demos, not media.
Which Zurich events fit a finance campaign
For financial services, the room that counts in Zurich is the Kongresshaus on the lake. All four events that fit the scenario take place there. Oerlikon drops out: FINANZ ran there for nine years and moved to the Kongresshaus in 2026, according to finews.ch.
- FINANZ: calls itself the largest B2B event of the Swiss financial industry, with about 3,100 professional investors in 2026 (finews.ch). Early in the year: February in 2026, and the organizer lists 17 and 18 March 2027 for the next edition. Entry is for professional investors only, by personal invitation or CHF 250 at the door. Classic booths are replaced by sponsor walls, and sponsors can join curated panels. finanz-ch.ch
- EAM Days Zürich: run by SPHERE in partnership with finews, the meeting point for independent asset managers in German-speaking Switzerland. Free for Swiss independent asset managers, CHF 2,500 for other profiles. The eighth edition was in early September 2026; no 2027 date is published yet. sphere.swiss
- Finance Forum Zürich: several hundred decision makers from Swiss finance, organized by the Verein Finance Forum Zürich. Late September in 2025 and 2026; check the organizer for 2027. finance-forum.ch
- Point Zero Forum: run by GFTN with the Swiss State Secretariat for International Finance, aimed at regulators, central banks and industry leaders. The 2026 edition was in June. pointzeroforum.com
For this scenario I'd pick FINANZ as the anchor and EAM Days as the second wave in September. Point Zero Forum is the wrong room for this vendor: its audience is policy and international.
The combination is what makes an event pay. Book meetings four to six weeks before the fair, put screens at Enge and HB for those two days, host a breakfast for 15 asset managers near the Kongresshaus, and follow up within 48 hours. The biggest event I've organized myself drew close to 1,000 attendees, and what I took from it holds at any size: the meetings that matter are booked before the doors open.
The local digital layer in Zurich
The digital part of a Zurich campaign is narrow on purpose. LinkedIn targets the target list by company and job function, finews.ch reaches the finance crowd, and the Zürcher Handelskammer opens doors that ads can't. All copy runs in Swiss German spelling, with prices in CHF and the Swiss thousands separator.
- LinkedIn: upload the named list of firms, filter by job function and seniority, and add region targeting. An ad set only runs with an audience of at least 300 members, per LinkedIn's help pages. Owners, COOs and compliance leads of a few hundred firms can land near that floor, so widen by job function before you widen by region. More on this in the guide to LinkedIn B2B marketing.
- finews.ch: describes itself as the "intranet" of Swiss finance and explicitly writes for independent asset managers, per its own page. It is also the partner of EAM Days, so one conversation covers ads and the event.
- Zürcher Handelskammer: represents more than 1,100 member firms from Zurich, Zug and Schaffhausen, per its 2023 annual report. Useful for credibility and introductions, less for direct leads in this niche.
- Language: written German in Swiss spelling, "ss" instead of "ß", "CHF 4'200" instead of "4.200 CHF". Spoken Swiss German at the breakfast. My view: one ß on a landing page tells a Zurich asset manager you're from somewhere else.
Timeline and budget for 12 weeks
The scenario runs 12 weeks, from early January to the end of March 2027, with FINANZ27 in week 11. The table gives guide values in CHF. They are my estimates for planning, not quotes; media and event prices come from APG|SGA, LinkedIn and the organizers once the dates are fixed.
| Weeks | What happens | Guide value (CHF) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | Target list from the FINMA register, offer, messages in Swiss German | Part of the project fee, from 7,800 |
| 3 to 8 | LinkedIn to the named list, checklist as the offer, outreach by sales | 6,000 to 12,000 media |
| 9 to 10 | Meetings for the fair booked, breakfast invitations out | 2,000 to 4,000 for the breakfast |
| 11 | FINANZ27 presence, screens at Enge and HB on the two fair days | Prices from FINANZ and APG|SGA on inquiry; I hold 10,000 to 20,000 |
| 12 | Follow-up within 48 hours, meetings into the CRM | Sales time |
The reasoning: LinkedIn at roughly CHF 150 to 300 a day for six weeks, a room and catering for 15 people, and a wide fair line because FINANZ changed its format in 2026 and I have no published sponsor prices to plan with. In total I'd plan CHF 25,000 to 45,000 plus the project fee, and cut the fair line first if the list turns out smaller. For how to frame such a budget, see how to plan a marketing budget.
How to measure a Zurich campaign
Measure the campaign in meetings and pipeline from the target list, not in impressions. Before week 1, every firm on the list gets a CRM record. Every meeting, demo and opportunity is tagged with the source. After week 12 you know which share of the list you reached and what it produced.
- Meetings booked before the fair: the number that tells you in week 10 whether FINANZ will pay off.
- Meetings held and opportunities created: per firm on the list, tagged FINANZ27 or LinkedIn.
- Branded search and direct traffic: Search Console filtered to Switzerland, compared with the 12 weeks before. City level isn't available there.
- Coverage: share of the list that saw an ad, opened a message or met you.
The HB screens will report big impression numbers. They say little about 1,500 firms. More on choosing the right numbers in the guide to marketing measurement.
What this means for your company
Whatever you sell in Zurich, start with how many buyers there really are and where they already meet. Then pick the one event that brings them together, and only then the media. A big station in front of the wrong audience is still the wrong audience.
Another industry means other venues and other lists; the steps stay. For the bigger frame, read the go-to-market strategy guide and the guide to B2B lead generation.
The fastest way to your own version is a Momentum Workshop: one day, your team, a 90-day plan. All formats and prices are on the B2B marketing consulting page. Or book a 30-minute call: bring your target list, or the lack of one, and you'll leave knowing which Zurich event I'd build your campaign around.
Frequently asked questions
Do you work on site in Zurich?
Yes. I'm based near Zurich and work across Switzerland, Germany and Austria: workshops on site, projects and advisory on site or remote. For a Zurich campaign I'd want to be in the room for the workshop day and the fair week.
What does a B2B campaign in Zurich cost?
For the fictional finance scenario on this page I'd plan CHF 25,000 to 45,000 for media and events over 12 weeks, plus my project fee from CHF 7,800. Guide values. A smaller list or no fair presence cuts the media part a lot.
Is out-of-home advertising at Zürich HB worth it for B2B?
Rarely as a standing campaign. SBB counted 449,800 travelers a day at Zürich HB in 2025, so you pay for reach far beyond any B2B niche. It can work for one or two days, timed to a fair, on the routes your buyers take to the venue. Outside that window, put the money into the list.
Which Zurich events matter for financial services?
For this scenario, four events at the Kongresshaus Zürich: FINANZ early in the year (next on 17 and 18 March 2027), EAM Days and Finance Forum Zürich in September 2026, and Point Zero Forum, held in June in 2026. Check the organizer's site for the next date before you plan; months can shift.
Do I need a booth at FINANZ?
Not in the classic sense. Since 2026 FINANZ has replaced classic booths with sponsor walls, and sponsors can take part in curated panels. In my view a panel slot or a well-booked meeting schedule does more for a small vendor than a wall. Ask the organizer what is available for the next edition.
Sources
- SBB Open Data: Ein- und Aussteigende an Bahnhöfen (Passagierfrequenz), values 2025
- Flughafen Zürich: Zurich Airport reaches a new annual peak in passenger figures (January 14, 2026)
- APG|SGA: APG|SGA remains the exclusive marketing partner of Zurich Airport (June 2026)
- APG|SGA: APG|SGA is to become the new exclusive agency partner of VBZ TrafficMedia (March 2025)
- Kanton Zürich: Finanzdienstleistungen (figures for 2023)
- FINMA: Bewilligungspflicht für Vermögensverwalter und Trustees, Abschluss der Übergangsfrist (March 2025)
- FINANZ: Das Schweizer Finanzevent, FINANZ27 at Kongresshaus Zürich (accessed October 2026)
- SPHERE: EAM Days Zürich 2026 (accessed October 2026)
- Finance Forum Zürich (accessed October 2026)
- Point Zero Forum: FAQs, 2026 edition (accessed October 2026)
Thomas PohleB2B marketing advisor in Zurich. More than ten years in B2B marketing at Link11, Beekeeper and smino, most recently as Head of Marketing. CEO and co-founder of TEISENDA. Researched and drafted with AI tools, checked against the sources listed above. More about Thomas
