Since the financial crash of 2008, and more recently in the wake of Brexit, the fintech industry has boomed as small companies everywhere fight to reinvent how finance works, with a focus on placing the customer at heart.
“Over the last several years we’ve seen investments in fintech skyrocket from just $3 billion to over $40 billion in 2015. It’s easy to understand why.”
– Nasdaq.com
At this point in time, the future of banking could go in one of many ways.
Disruptions are coming from all angles, with progressions in block chain, crowdsourcing, payment gateways, digital currencies, e-commerce (amongst many others) constantly changing the conversation.
This is the current state of fintech. A new world of new businesses, each bearing a slightly different outlook on what the future of finance should look like. Despite this, one thing all fintechs share is the need to be seen, understood and valued.
In today’s digital and mobile marketplace, the most effective way to attract customers and investors is by adopting an inbound marketing strategy.
In this article, I’ll explain the top benefits of inbound marketing for fintech, illustrating its transformative effect in creating and engaging your ideal audience and investors all at the same time.
First up…
How inbound marketing will boost awareness and bring in leads
Getting heard and generating leads for your sales funnel is crucial for the growth of any business. For fintechs – given the highly competitive nature of the industry – this is especially true, yet can be especially difficult.
That’s where inbound marketing can help.
While many fintechs may claim to have the most disruptive software solution, without the right kind of marketing to back it up, even the most revolutionary product or service can fail to live out its potential.
Adopting an inbound marketing strategy within the fintech space will not only boost awareness of your brand, but it will engage prospects with you directly, generating leads and converting new business.
Fintech is all about understanding the user, offering products that meet their needs and make their lives easier by simplifying a complicated part of their day to day experience.
Inbound marketing hits right at the core of this methodology.
Developing an understanding of the types of audience you want to attract, and then building a content marketing strategy aimed at adding value to their lives through education is the key to boosting organic traffic, website traffic and lead generation.
If you’re not quite convinced – Here’s 2 case studies of leading fintechs who experienced huge growth after adopting an insight-driven inbound marketing strategy.
Paytrail
Paytrial – a Finnish SaaS Ecommerce payment company – turned to the HubSpot inbound marketing software after a period of going it alone in inbound marketing. With inbound, the right tools and insight for your business really can make all the difference – Paytrail were able to increase their organic web traffic by almost 50%, their generated leads by 235%, all leading to a huge 18% rise in customers.
Intelliflo
Intelliflo – a market leading SaaS company aimed at disrupting the efficiency of financial services with its on demand management systems – turned away from outbound marketing, to adopt an inbound marketing strategy that would make their more in tune with their clients, provide a better service and ultimately (by integrating with the right marketing automation platforms) bring in more leads through a clinical and refined marketing and sales approach.
Since making the switch to HubSpot, Intelliflo has increased their organic traffic by 83%, their website traffic by 174%, and generated 165% more leads.
The effectiveness of inbound cannot be denied, with data at the heart of everything, transformative results are almost guaranteed.
Plus, it’s equally effective at attracting investment.
How inbound marketing attracts investors to fintechs
Attracting leads is hugely important for fintechs, arguably though, attracting investors is a more critical issue, especially when getting started in such a turbulent marketplace.
Luckily, the core concerns of inbound marketing strategy – to build awareness, credibility, and trust for your brand – are not only key to establishing a consumer base, but are essential to securing investors for your fintech business.
Credibility & Audience
“We’re witnessing the creative destruction of financial services, rearranging itself around the consumer. Who does this in the most relevant, exciting way using data and digital, wins!”
– Arvind Sankaran
Whether pitching or presenting for investment, you need to establish the credibility of your USP and the ways it resonates with your audience(s). Then, it’s all about ROI.
Any decent inbound marketing strategy will address these issues, placing you in a strong position for initial or further investment.
Crucially, everything is underpinned by audience. Get this understanding right, and your content marketing output will be spot on, reflecting the needs and issues of your demographics.
Plus, by learning the ins and outs of the marketplace of which you are a part, the way in which you position your business can become highly responsive, ensuring you’re on top of trends and front and centre within the industry.
Measure & Adapt
Inbound marketing platforms such as HubSpot offer a vast selection of key metrics that you can use to measure and alter your approach as you go.
For investors, certain key metrics will trump others. Selecting those that allow you to prove the worth of your company, both financially and culturally, will capture investors imaginations, making them more likely to get involved.
Remember, it’s all about ROI. These metrics serve as data-backed assurances that you know what you’re talking about and that you can offer a good return.
Creative Content
Don’t be afraid to have a philosophy or creed. Through your content, you need to construct your own narrative. Your origins, your beliefs, your vision of the future. You need to tell a story that will captivate.
With a detailed understanding of your buyer personas, you can use this creative brief to excite and engage audiences and investors alike.
To hit both sides, you need a content strategy that shows off your innovative side, as well as your understanding of the marketplace. Get this right, and you’ll cement your USP in the minds of both, demonstrating your expertise and creative prowess within the burgeoning industry.
Customer Retention
Importantly, inbound marketing strategy is geared as much toward retaining customers as it is attracting them. Your content plan should show this.
What types of content can be used to keep existing customers engaged? How should it differ to initial-awareness content? And what type of preferential treatment/offers could you provide to your early adopters?
This type of strategy will prove to clients that you value their custom, and illustrate to investors that you have the longevity of the business in mind.
For fintech, this should all be geared around the central concern of trust. This is what traditional banks still have on their side, despite the crash.
To fully take off in the public consciousness, you must prove your service is completely private and completely secure – only then will the awesome UX and customer oriented features come into play as a long term equivalent to traditional high-street banking.
And there you have it…
It’s for these reasons that inbound marketing for fintechs will soon be the done thing across the industry. Adopting early and getting ahead of the competition can put your business in a very strong position as people continue to move away from their old habits to new financial routines.