Fintech Startup: Where to Search for Clients
Have you created a fintech product that has the potential to disrupt the market? Well done! The next step is to sell it. The fact that you are reading this post implies that you are probably searching for the best way to market your fintech brand. If that is the case, you have arrived at the right place on the internet. Therefore, relax and read on.
Gone are the days when startups relied on the idea that “a great product will sell itself” when introduced into the market. Nowadays, creating a great product is not enough, especially when you are in an industry like fintech. Only those who know the fundamentals of fintech understand the level of competition in this industry. In fact, it is very competitive! Since finding customers is one of the most difficult challenges for many fintech startups, we have provided this comprehensive guide to make the search easy and fruitful for you.
Fintech startups established by already existing big players can quickly market their new brands to the contacts in their databases. But that is not the case for new ones that will have to use more aggressive marketing strategies. They will have to do more than create a great product. In this article, we offer you the best strategies for finding customers for your fintech startup.
Have you created a fintech product that has the potential to disrupt the market? Well done! The next step is to sell it. The fact that you are reading this post implies that you are probably searching for the best way to market your fintech brand. If that is the case, you have arrived at the right place on the internet. Therefore, relax and read on.
Gone are the days when startups relied on the idea that “a great product will sell itself” when introduced into the market. Nowadays, creating a great product is not enough, especially when you are in an industry like fintech. Only those who know the fundamentals of fintech understand the level of competition in this industry. In fact, it is very competitive! Since finding customers is one of the most difficult challenges for many fintech startups, we have provided this comprehensive guide to make the search easy and fruitful for you.
Fintech startups established by already existing big players can quickly market their new brands to the contacts in their databases. But that is not the case for new ones that will have to use more aggressive marketing strategies. They will have to do more than create a great product. In this article, we offer you the best strategies for finding customers for your fintech startup.
Develop a Strong Brand
Building a strong brand is the first step in any marketing strategy. By creating and developing a great brand, you can position yourself effectively in a market like a fintech, which is always expanding. Your brand is a representation of who you are and enables customers to relate to and recognise your fintech business. For example, some of the well-known fintech firms, such as Square and Coinbase, have distinctive brand identities that are easy to recognize.
Your brand may be represented by anything, from the colours and fonts you use in all of your advertising and product designs to the tone of voice used in your digital copies and advertisements. So, you need to create something that will actually set you apart from the competition and stick in people's minds.
Clearly Define Your Potential Customers
The success of every fintech startup, whether it sells products directly to consumers or to other businesses, is based on its understanding of the needs of its customers. So, it is important to define who your target customers are so that you can improve your product to meet their specific needs.
Your target customers are people who have a need that your product or service can try to meet. However, you may not be able to satisfy them if you lack adequate knowledge of their circumstances and needs. Therefore, it is necessary to do market research and create a demographic profile of your prospective customers. Identifying your market in a disciplined and step-by-step manner enables you to efficiently target the proper audience and boost marketing efficiency.
Make Your Message More Visual Than Textual
It is much more likely that using complicated terminology in describing your fintech product or constructing your message to your potential customers will get them confused and turned off. Always keep in mind that when it comes to money, people are reluctant to take risks on something they do not fully understand.
Using more images than words is one of the greatest strategies to make sure your message is well understood. Additionally, an image can convey information to a diverse audience in what can be called a universal language (visuals). So, you need to think deeply about what you want to say to your audience and the most effective way to deliver the message.
Adding visual elements has often been helpful when you want to describe how your product works or how it will fit into the lives of your audience. Create visual information such as photos, infographics, charts, and graphs, or even films, to help communicate the idea in a straightforward and understandable manner.
Establish a Strong Connection with Your Audience
Today, online engagement is essential for creating brand-loyal customers from your followers. By interacting and communicating with your audience, you can set yourself apart from your rivals. For instance, you can respond to their comments on a post you made on your social media channel (like Facebook) or send them regular email messages that keep them informed about your brand and how much you care about their needs and values.
When your brand goes the extra mile to treat customers properly and please them emotionally, they find it easy to show loyalty and keep your company in their minds for a long time. Customers want to be convinced that they are more than just numbers in your database or sources of revenue in your accounting books.
Building brand trust and loyalty will be easy if you take the time to connect and interact with your audience. You cannot afford to disregard this fact since people buy with their emotions.
Develop Your Website, seeing it as a Great Asset
Create a user-friendly, aesthetically pleasing website that potential clients may visit to learn more about you and your fintech business. See your website as your most valuable asset—after developing a great product, of course! So, do not hastily develop it; give it quality time and the best design you can.
At the very least, make sure your product is described clearly, honestly, persuasively, and enthusiastically on your website. Also, add your current contact information so that clients will know that you are ready to discuss their needs and respond to their inquiries.
Create Informative Content for Your Audience
Adding a blog to your website is a good way to strengthen your content marketing strategy. If rightly used, your blog can be a way for potential customers to find value in your brand. The principal thing is to make sure that your posts provide information about specific areas of your product, services, industry, and trends that can create value for your audience. For example, the website of Monzo includes a blog, where it informs its present and potential customers about its product updates, fintech trends, research efforts, and other relevant stories.
Apply Search Engine Optimisation Techniques
Your blogging efforts should include search engine optimisation (SEO), which is the best way to get traffic from search results as people use search engines like Google and Bing. Your first goal should be to write for humans to read and then for search engines to rank, and not the other way around. Give your audience what they are looking for or what they will find interesting.
So, once your blog is set up and ready to go, you need to start posting articles that are based on keywords that your target audience is looking for. This strategy will help your website rank well in search engines.
Aside from keyword targeting, another SEO technique is the use of relevant links. Try to link readers to previous posts on your site and other interesting content on external websites. It helps you gain domain authority. Remember that due to Google's algorithm changes, websites with a lot of external links perform better in search results.
Use Emails to Keep in Contact with Your Customers
After attracting clients, you must stay in touch with them and make sure your product remains in their minds. Everyone who subscribed to your updates gave you their name and email address. It is up to you to make use of these to boost the value of your brand and draw attention to the advantages of your products and services.
It is helpful to create a database of these contacts and send out regular updates through email regarding your most recent online publications (blog posts), changes to your business operations or financial products, and the promotion of new offers.
Also, do not forget to always include an unsubscribe option in your email so that anyone who no longer wants your updates can opt out. You do not want to give your company a bad reputation of any kind by forcing unwanted messages into people’s inboxes.
Maximise Social Media Platforms
Using social media, you can engage with all of your potential clients, showcasing the best that your business has for them. Facebook, Twitter, Medium, and a number of other social networking sites allow you to post content, respond to comments, and engage in conversations with your audience.
The number of individuals you can contact can significantly increase with paid social media advertising, especially on Facebook. The ability to tailor your sponsored posts means that you will have access to more qualified leads and that you do not need to spend so much money to have an effect.
Analyse Data to Improve Your Marketing Efforts
The best way to know what is working and what is not in your marketing efforts is to analyse data collected from your social media channels. This should be a continuous process to help you make the best use of customer data. You need to use a mix of art and science in marketing, otherwise, you might not be able to turn your data into a return on investment.
You should continually evaluate the impact of your website, blog, social media feeds, and SEO activities. Don't just put up with something not quite working and hope for the best. See what happens if you try something new.
Attend Fintech Conferences
The importance of attending professional meetings of experts and like-minded people in the fintech industry cannot be over-emphasised when it comes to marketing your company. At fintech conferences, you can easily attract the interest of prospective customers and start constructing a strong pipeline of promising leads by using a strong networking approach.
Furthermore, taking advantage of opportunities for face-to-face contact is far more productive than using platforms like email and LinkedIn. Businesses that place more priority on having in-person meetings with prospective customers generally produce more than double the number of conversions that those who do not can achieve.
Join Business Clubs
Business clubs are an excellent place to connect with colleagues, gain insight into how to build a customer base for your business, and even hear about conferences and chances for business travel. They provide you with access to a huge audience who could need your products and services.
Business clubs may occasionally be able to refer you to others they know who could be interested in your brand. Besides, if you actively participate in such clubs, you can easily use the opportunities that they offer to increase leads, sales, and revenue for your company.
Apply for Business Accelerator Programmes
A business accelerator offers funding, peer mentoring, access to professional advisors, and practical assistance to startups in several areas, including workspaces, templates, marketing strategies, and financial technology adoption. In a short amount of time, usually three to six months, you can learn more about efficient methods for creating professional networks and promoting your products and services if you participate in a business accelerator programme. In return, the accelerator usually gets equity in your startup.
Examples of the best business accelerators for fintech startups include the following:
- Techstars (USA)
- Startupbootcamp (UK)
- Internet Initiatives Development Fund (Russia)
- 500 Startups (USA)
- Start-Up Chile (Chile)
- Y Combinator (USA)
- Venture Catalysts (India)
FAQ
There are many ways to attract customers to your business. Today, trending strategies include creating a strong brand and using social media, copywriting, and networking opportunities at professional conferences.
The competition in the fintech industry is very tough, and many companies are leaders in different aspects. While Visa, with a market capitalisation of $384.85 billion, is the top fintech company globally, Square is arguably the leader among fintech startups in terms of market capitalisation. It is valued at $120 billion, followed by Stripe ($95 billion).
Most fintech companies are in North America. There are more than 10,700 startups in this region.
The United States of America is the country that has the most fintech startups. It has more than 8,000 fintech startups and hundreds of newly-emerging ones.
The best way to grow a fintech business is to adopt an approach that is customer-oriented and use data about your product and customers to guide marketing decision-making. It is also helpful to identify the best innovative paths to take and create a personalised, automated user experience as you direct the development of the business.
The two fundamental factors that define a successful fintech company are its strong brand quality and effective marketing techniques. When a fintech business gets these two factors right, it creates a good foundation for many other factors to be included in the success plan.
The Bottom Line
Building a powerful brand is the first step on a never-ending road towards getting more and more customers. Finding a sustainable audience for your fintech business also involves other tactical actions, such as designing a fantastic website and participating in professional conferences for business networking opportunities. Having read the tips provided in this article, we are confident that you now know how and where to find and attract customers to your company. So, go out there and exploit them to your advantage.