Every AMC knows SEBI’s 0.02% rule – the mandatory Investor Awareness and Protection (IAP) allocation every mutual fund must set aside to educate investors (not promote its own schemes). On paper, it’s straightforward – but most AMCs struggle to make real use of it. After all, how do you turn an awareness budget that can’t mention your products into something that still builds brand trust and draws in future investors?
Well, a few smart players have figured it out. They’ve used the same 0.02% mandate to build large-scale mutual fund awareness – and in the process, created a steady pipeline of ready-to-invest audiences – all without crossing a single SEBI line.
In this blog, we’ll break down exactly how they’re doing it – and how you can use your IAP budget ethically to turn compliance into a powerful mutual funds marketing strategy
Contents
The Two-Phase Funnel Model: Awareness – Conversion
Phase 1: Awareness (Powered by IAP)
The awareness phase is where your IAP marketing budget should do what it was meant to: educate investors clearly and consistently. The goal is straightforward: reach as many potential investors as possible with factual content that explains how mutual funds work and why investing matters.
For this, you can focus on topics such as:
- How SIPs work and why consistency matters
- The importance of diversification across asset classes
- The power of compounding in long-term wealth creation
The goal of your messaging in this phase should be awareness, and the communication must remain neutral. This means no product names, no performance claims, and no CTAs. To put this into action, choose platforms that give you both scale and measurable engagement. You have three main options:
- Television for national reach
- YouTube for targeted educational video campaigns
- Meta ads for building brand familiarity through everyday conversations
While television helps reach diverse demographics, YouTube and Meta stand out for their ability to track performance and audience behaviour. You can measure who engaged with your content, how long they watched, and which topics generated the most interest. This awareness-first approach is the foundation of effective mutual funds marketing strategies, where education builds trust before promotion begins. Now that you’ve caught their attention, it’s time to guide them toward action.
Phase 2: Conversion (Powered by Regular Marketing)
Once your IAP campaign has built awareness and trust, the next step is conversion through your regular performance marketing budget.
This phase targets the same audience that engaged with your IAP-funded awareness content. These people already understand the basics of investing and are familiar with your brand so they are more likely to take action.
Here’s how you do it:
After your IAP campaign runs on Meta or YouTube, create a custom remarketing audience from the users who interacted with those videos or visited your educational landing page. Both platforms allow you to build audience lists based on engagement data.
For example:
- Open Meta Ads Manager and create a Custom Audience using the “Video Views” source.
- Select the IAP awareness videos you ran earlier.
- Filter for “people who watched at least 50% of the video.”
- Now, create a new ad campaign using your regular marketing budget. This time, you can include your AMC’s name, scheme details, and clear CTAs like “Start your SIP with ₹500 today.”
This way, you’re engaging a warm audience built through your awareness efforts – but you’re doing it ethically and within SEBI’s rules. You can follow a Google Ads strategy: build a remarketing list of viewers who watched your IAP videos, then target them with conversion-focused campaigns funded through your standard marketing budget.
Once again, because this is so important, you cannot use the IAP budget for any kind of product promotion or remarketing campaign. The IAP phase ends with awareness; everything that follows must be funded separately from your marketing budget.
The Legal & Ethical Line (And How to Stay on the Right Side)
The IAP budget comes with clear boundaries, and staying within them is non-negotiable. SEBI and AMFI have both outlined what qualifies as investor education and what crosses into promotion.
Here’s what you shouldn’t do:
- Do not mention or promote any specific scheme.
- Avoid using fund names, product details, or past performance numbers.
- Do not include any direct calls to action such as “Invest Now,” “Start SIP Today,” or similar language.
- Do not display fund logos or visuals that make the creative look like an advertisement.
Here’s what you should do:
- Focus on investor education topics like goal-based investing, compounding, diversification, and risk management.
- Use informational language – not urgency language
- Design campaign assets that follow AMFI or SEBI-approved messaging standards.
- Conduct awareness sessions or webinars where the discussion is limited to general investing concepts.
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Strong heading for htis one – 5alternaives Sample Campaign Blueprint
Imagine you’re actually planning an IAP campaign: what would it look like in practice? How would you structure it so it’s effective and flows naturally into your regular marketing later on? Here’s how:
Step 1: IAP-Funded Awareness Campaign (TOFU)
Start with an awareness campaign fully funded by your IAP budget.
- Goal: Build awareness and investor understanding.
- Content theme: Simple financial concepts like “How SIPs Work,” “The Power of Compounding,” or “Why Diversification Matters.”
- Creative format: Short and neutral videos (15–30 seconds) in multiple languages get broad reach.
- Platforms: YouTube and Meta so you can measure engagement.
- Example: A 30-second YouTube video titled “How SIPs Help You Stay Consistent” that explains disciplined investing without mentioning any specific fund or scheme.
This phase is designed purely to build awareness. The messaging remains educational and product-neutral, aligning with SEBI’s IAP guidelines.
Step 2: Meta Ads Mutual Fund Marketing Strategy for Remarketing
Once your IAP campaign has generated awareness, use your regular marketing budget to reach the same audience again – but this time for conversion.
Here’s how to set it up on Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram):
- Go to Ads Manager → Audiences → Create Audience → Custom Audience.
- Choose “Video Views” as the source and select your IAP videos.
- Filter for users who watched at least 50% of your awareness videos.
- Create a new campaign (funded by your regular ad budget) and serve these users targeted ads promoting your SIPs or mutual fund offerings.
- Example 2: HDFC Mutual Fund
Headline: “Small Steps. Big Future.”
Body: “Turn your monthly savings into an investment habit. Start your SIP with HDFC Mutual Fund and work toward your financial goals.”
CTA: Invest Now
Recommended reading: Want to make your ad messaging more effective? Read our Facebook Ad Copywriting Playbook blog for practical tips on writing ad copy.
Note: The remarketing campaign must be funded entirely from your regular marketing budget. IAP funds cannot be used for promotional or product-specific ads.
Conclusion
The 0.02% rule isn’t a restriction – it’s an opportunity. And if you use it the right way, your IAP budget can do far more than tick a regulatory box; it can shape how the next generation of investors thinks about mutual funds. By building awareness through neutral, educational content and then strategically following up with conversion campaigns from your regular marketing budget, you’re creating a funnel that’s transparent, compliant, and built for real results.
Once awareness is built, the next step is performance. That’s where our team at Brandshark, a digital marketing agency in Bangalore, helps brands plan and execute data-driven Meta and YouTube campaigns that turn engagement into measurable growth. We’ve partnered with startups, D2C brands, large enterprises, and financial institutions, helping each turn their marketing vision into tangible outcomes.
If you’d like to see how we can do the same for your brand, get in touch with us today.How to Strategically Use IAP Budget to Market Your Mutual Funds
