It isn’t as difficult as it may seem to develop a digital marketing strategy for a Fintech startup. I’ll walk you through the steps I take.
Having worked in Fintech marketing for a decade and a half, and having devised an implemented a large number of digital marketing services across Africa, the UK and Europe, I know what works and what this business requires. As a fintech marketing agency we have delivered significant results for our clients.
Only numbers and goals are important to these executives; this environment is unpleasant for some because of the constant pressure to meet those targets. One of the key bits of advice I provide to young marketers is that they should know their numbers and explain their marketing plan in numbers.
Creating a marketing strategy for a fintech startup
Your Fintech marketing plan won’t be as effective unless you start by conducting thorough market analysis: finding out who your target market is, what their needs are, and how to keep them interested in what you have to offer them as a product or service.
Current Status of the Business
Depending in how long the business has been going for, this first stage of devising a marketing strategy for a fintech startup also needs to establish very clearly where you are as a business at the moment. Some of the points to consider here are:
- What resources do you have at your disposal and what do you still need?
- What is the available cash runway of the business and how long will that last?
- What are the current skillsets of the team and where are the shortcomings?
- What are the results you achieved over the past 12 months and what can you learn from that?
- Were the goals you set previously achieved for instance?
- Has your data collection or market research indicated any opportunities or threats in both the current and future markets which you are hoping to target?
Businesses of course do not operate in isolation. The recent Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and high inflation rates globally fuelled by high fuel prices are good example. The great resignation trend we see in countries around the world is another fintech relevant example. Many of the fintech companies we speak to complain about the lack of access to skilled people to support their goth plan for instance.
During this process its important to understand as much about your market as you can. If you are developing a marketing strategy for a fintech startup already in business, you will have plenty of data on your existing customers already.
- How do they use your product, where did you acquire these customers/users?
- Are the price sensitive, what type of marketing and content do they respond to?
- Are there specific communication channels, and tactics on these channels that seem to work more effectively?
Accessing existing data is very impotent here. One of my previous clients identified to their surprise that the Friday and Sunday afternoons on Facebook and Tuesday and Thursday evenings on Reddit generated the best results for their social media campaigns. This type of insight will help you to maximise your marketing spend and increase your reach.
The current perception of the organisation.
It’s important to start your strategy presentation by describing the current condition of your Fintech, which you can do using the data you acquired from your SWOT, PESTLE, and competitor analyses before.
The three primary pillars of your Fintech should be identified, and these are the qualities that you should promote in the coming years.
After that, you’ll discuss the difficulties your Fintech is now encountering, as determined by the results of your market research.
In other words, what are the top three things that are threatening and preventing your organisation from expanding? As soon as you know what your Fintech is dealing with, you’ll be able to come up with solutions.
As an example, you may have realised that your environment is overly competitive; or that most customers have little faith in banks, which means that your problem is to be trusted.
All about business and marketing goals
Establish your business goals by identifying your rivals.
Developing a marketing strategy is as simple as figuring out who your competition and customers are and what opportunities exist.
Marketing solutions that are aligned with your company’s business objectives are critical to a successful strategy. Fintech challenges should also be included. Determine your 30-day and 60-day goals and stick to them a strategy for allocating financial resources
This is the best way to get the best outcomes from your brainstorming sessions.
Developing a marketing strategy for a business should start with the guidelines listed above. A company in any industry can benefit from these recommendations, not only Fintech.
Set your business goals once you have a clear image of who your firm is and where you are in the market. This will help you connect strategy with future plans and goals.
Business goals could be used in many ways. Some entrepreneurs categorise by Sales, Service customer service, website performance, while others divide objectives by customer stage, so reach, act, convert and engage (RACE)
Which ever way you do it its important to include a qualitative metric so that you can measure how well you are doing in achieving these and adjusting your actions if you are not meeting performance targets.
The ability to recognise groups of people with something in common.
Customers and supporters are the two types of people in your target market.
Direct communication can only be established when you have a clear picture of who your audience is, what they are going through and how they want to be reached. To be successful, you need to understand your customers and their needs, and you know just how to communicate that information to them.
A great way to figure out who your target market and customers are is to use the STP marketing model. Marketers can use this information to examine the characteristics of different target groups and determine how to best position their organisation and its products in relation to those groups.
Using buyer personas can help you figure out who your ideal clients are.
Promotional tactics
Proper planning and strategizing are critical to the success of a marketing strategy pitch or proposal. The importance of numbers cannot be overstated, as previously stated.
What can you do about it?
The promotion of products and services
Here, you outline your marketing approach for Fintech, as well as your recommended solutions.
Make clear what you think the company should be doing better and why.
Provide specific examples, such as how the company’s identity and position as a brand might be improved, if you advise this as a way to enhance their value proposition. In order to raise awareness of your business, consider using strategies like public relations (PR) and events.
It’s critical in your plan to acknowledge the significance of your audience and to offer suggestions for nurturing them. If you don’t have customers, your Fintech business won’t be able to exist.
- Content marketing, for example, should be considered.
- e-mail marketing via the newsletter.
- Search engine optimisation (SEO) with social media
- Consider the overall competitiveness of your market when developing your approach.
Determine your goals and key performance indicators (KPIs).
Targets and KPIs are always part of a Fintech marketing plan. Fintech marketing strategies.
When describing your marketing solutions, make sure to include data to back up your goals and desired outcomes.
As a result of KPIs, wise decisions can be made and processes can be directed. Knowing how your strategy is progressing and where your organisation is going is critical.
As an example, if you want to invest more in your Fintech, you may wish to raise your company’s revenue. KPIs should be as specific as feasible.
As part of your plan, set a deadline for yourself; if you want to achieve your goals within 30 or 60 days, do so! Include a concise outline of the next measures to be taken following the two-month timeframe.
Budget
Finally, a rough estimate of the budget is critical to the strategy. Stakeholders and investors will need to know the whole cost of the project when you offer your strategy.
What is working and what can work better?
One of the great opportunities we have in digital communication today specifically is the ability to measure results in real time. So this last part of the planning process is tonsure you have a clear idea of how you will be measuring the performance of your marketing tactics. For me there are four parts to this question;
1) what are the metrics you are measuring? Sales, websites visits, downloads?
2) How does what you are measuring compare to your initial KPI’s?
3) What do you know now that you have compared results vs goals?
4) what happens next – do you need to change some of your tactics, increase exposure on certain channels or leave things as they are for example?
Developing a marketing strategy isn’t rocket-science.
Research the industry and come up with business solutions that will help you attain your company’s goals.
Consistently include numerical examples to back up your arguments.
To help Fintech companies with their digital marketing plan, I utilise this digital marketing strategy template as a starting point. We use this approach in our digital marketing strategy short course, delivered upon request. My expertise in the Fintech and Financial services business teaches me that your approach must be precise, measurable, and imaginative….
To learn more about Fintech marketing or how we can support you, please feel free to contact me.
