The impact of regulation
Financial technology (FinTech) companies play an important role in the digital transformation of financial institutions across all sub-verticals – whether they offer blockchain based solutions for treasury functions, accounting software for small businesses or digital engagement platforms for banks.
UK FinTech – State of the Nation
When it comes to marketing their solutions, FinTech firms face some specific challenges and constraints:
- Stringent regulations: From know-your-customer and GDPR to cybersecurity, FinTech companies often have highly stringent industry regulations to follow, and processes and procedures to adhere to. These regulations are in place to protect consumers and investors, as well as prevent money laundering.
- Risk-averse customers: For an industry that’s so dynamic and complex, buyers are surprisingly risk averse and prone to long purchase cycles. This is rightly so – you would want a bank, insurance provider or pension fund to ensure all due diligence has been completed before they migrate to more digital ways of working – but has a strong bearing on the type of content marketing strategies that will work and drive leads.
- Security and fraud prevention: FinTech companies need to demonstrate more so than any other sector how robust the defences of their systems are against hackers and cyber criminals: especially if it’s a cloud-based solution.
With so many considerations and constraints to consider, it might seem like a daunting challenge to even launch content or a content marketing campaign. But FinTechs’ are increasingly looking to content marketing to help them scale business growth, drive leads and engage appropriately with various stakeholder groups.
Stepping back – and into the customer’s shoes
Asking fundamental questions can help clarify the value proposition that forms the foundation of all your marketing efforts. These could include:
- Why was the product or solution created in the first place?
- What problems does it solve for the end-user?
- How will it make their lives easier?
- And what is the best way to communicate this to drive leads?
Taking the time to understand your value proposition and the benefits you are looking to take to market can help you achieve your strategic objectives. The second fundamental step is to understand your target audience. With large financial institutions in particular, purchase decisions are rarely linear. There are often committees involved that analyse these solutions from different perspectives, and marketing to them requires a balance between high-level messaging and technical detail.
Once your audience has been identified, create a bank of key messages and proof points which you can use to create an appropriate suite of content specifically tailored to your segmented audience(s).
Broken down into the relevant points within the sales cycles and for the specific mediums used as part of your go-to-market strategy, ensure that the content is created with the prospect at the forefront. Capitalising on their specific areas of interest and targeting them with the right messages, at the right time will gently mould them into conversion – you can learn more about how to do this in more detail here.
Measurability
To ensure your content is generating the right results, it is advisable to take an agile data-based approach to measurement. Agree KPIs upfront to benchmark and measure your campaign goals in-line with your overall business strategy. Check your metrics consistently as you go along and refine your messaging and content to optimise your results every step of the way. We looked at the benefits of proposition agility within the traditional financial sector more fully in our previous blog from last year which you can gain further insight from here.
In summary, as a content marketing agency, we of course recognise the importance of well-crafted content, across all sectors. But the niche of FinTech requires another level of skill – experts who not only appreciate the intricacies and complexities within your offering, but who are able to communicate these benefits effectively to the end user at the right level of technical granularity.
To learn more about our content marketing offer for fintech companies, click here.
