Once upon a time, money was a province of banks. They were the only institutions that created, counted, stored, exchanged, and transferred money. But technology has put a crack in the wall of tradition, and a new generation of challengers — fintechs — are causing consumers to think differently about the world of money.

If you’re one of those innovative firms, this guide is for you. The following pages are a complete fintech marketing playbook designed to help you deploy the right campaign for your company.

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What is fintech marketing?

How to develop a fintech marketing strategy

Build a trustworthy brand identity

Educate your customers

Fintech marketing best practices

Build mobile-first experiences

Diversify your paid media channels

Learn from these fintech campaigns

Go guerilla

Practice what you preach

Finding a fintech marketing partner

What is fintech marketing?

Fintech marketing is the process of connecting financial technology firms with consumers. This process includes activities like branding, content creation, social media marketing, and mobile advertising. To ensure they’re building an effective marketing operation, fintech firms should develop a marketing strategy, learn industry best practices, and study examples of successful promotional campaigns.

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How to develop a fintech marketing strategy

Now that we’ve defined our terms, let’s explore what makes fintech marketing tick. The sections below break down the essential elements of a winning fintech marketing strategy.

Build a trustworthy brand identity

Trust is foundational to a working financial system and core to the relationship between consumers and financial institutions. As the new kids on the block, fintech firms have the daunting task of persuading consumers to leave providers they’ve worked with for years for something new — and potentially risky. Although there are always some consumers excited to try out an innovative offering, they represent a fraction of the total available market.

The right branding can significantly mitigate the level of hesitance consumers feel toward a new financial services provider. Fintech firms should design their brands to communicate stability, reliability, and consistency. From the font to the color palette, every brand element needs to convey trustworthiness.

Educate your customers

While smart branding will undoubtedly start you out on the right foot with your audience, you also have to nurture the relationship. Education is one of the most enduring ways a fintech can establish a meaningful connection with consumers, so consider creating informative and relevant educational content that you can consistently share with your audience. Developing an effective content strategy will earn you trust, grow your audience, and boost your bottom line. Here are three types of content you might want to create as part of your fintech marketing strategy:

• Brand magazine: While it’s an enormous marketing investment, brand magazines can build a great deal of authority with your audience. They are an excellent platform for distributing educational content — and engaging with global conversations. Wealthsimple’s magazine provides a fantastic example of how a fintech can succeed with this content type.
• Guides: Few content types are as effective for marketing efforts and appreciated by consumers as a well-written guide. These long-form pieces can help readers understand an important topic, learn how to do something, or discover a new trend. In addition, if you ask consumers to share their contact information in exchange for a guide, they’ve just become an excellent prospect in your marketing funnel.
• Social media: Social media is an effective channel for educating and entertaining your audience. The short-form medium is perfect for sharing bit-sized best practices, internet humor, and relatable content. For a bit of inspiration, check out the Instagram account budgeting app Cleo has developed: It knocks this content type out of the park.

To get the full fintech marketing recipe, read How to Build a Killer Fintech Marketing Strategy in 2021

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Fintech marketing best practices

With your fintech marketing strategy taking shape, it’s time to make sure you’re following all the industry best practices. From the right marketing mix to the importance of thinking mobile-first, the following tips will keep you on track.

Build mobile-first experiences

While traditional financial services providers certainly have a longer track record than fintech firms, they are often bogged down by legacy technology, outdated practices, and sheer size. This inertia makes it difficult for incumbents to adapt to changing times — opening the door for disruption.

In 2009, Simple revolutionized financial services by becoming the first online-only bank. Now, the total number of consumers using online-only banking services exceeds 23 million — and is poised to hit almost 50 million by 2024. Consumer demand for digital banking is exploding, so fintechs need to double down on their advantages by developing their marketing and product strategy around a mobile-first approach.

Diversify your paid media channels

The pandemic significantly accelerated the global rate of mobile adoption. The average American spends five hours on their mobile device every day, and almost one-third of those devices have a fintech app installed. Consumers are more comfortable than ever living their professional, personal, and financial lives out of their smartphones, ​and fintech firms can take advantage of changing consumer preferences by using in-app ad advertising to connect. Firms that combine careful paid media usage with a compelling message position themselves to succeed in the coming years.

While a complete fintech marketing strategy will always be a mix of channels, many firms overlook newer methods in favor of the tried and true. While the right combination of promotional media will always be unique to every company, it’s also a good idea to actively invest in innovative engagement opportunities. In any case, keeping the customer at the forefront of your mind as you build your strategy is key to success.

To ensure you’ve got all your bases covered, read 4 Digital Marketing Best-Practices for Growing Fintech Firms.

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Learn from these fintech campaigns

Now that we’ve reviewed the fundamentals let’s get inspired by examples of great fintech marketing campaigns.

Go guerilla

Sometimes marketing requires daring. In 2010, online payment company WePay wanted to take a swing at PayPal, so they decided to crash one of tech giant’s parties. The team snuck past security at a PayPal developer conference in the Bay Area to drop off a large and unusual art installation in front of the Moscone Center: a 600-pound ice block filled with cash and the note, “PayPal freezes your accounts.” Right below that eye-catching line was a simple CTA: “UnfreezeYourMoney.com.” The campaign generated valuable earned media buzz and a boosted consumer interest: Web traffic jumped by 300%, signups by over 200%, and conversions by three times.

Combining courage, creativity, and digital marketing know-how, WePay’s campaign provides an excellent blueprint for fintechs looking to stand out in crowded marketing and stand up to established competitors. While an enormous block of ice might not be what your next campaign needs, don’t be afraid to be bold. The upside can be huge.

For two more creative examples of fintech campaigns done right, read 3 Fintech PR Campaigns That Worked.

Practice what you preach

Like WePay, the neobank Current wanted to build a campaign that issued a challenge to its biggest competitors — and connected with consumers. Positioning itself as a new breed of financial services provider, Current covered the NYC subway system with clever digs at traditional banks. Here’s just one of their punchy ads: “Banks: we’re here for you. Also banks: you owe us money for running out of money.” Flipping the script on the advantage of age in financial services, the campaign reminded consumers of the many shortcomings of the established order.

But the neobank didn’t just talk the talk. When many traditional institutions struggled, Current was one of the first banks to distribute the 2020 stimulus payments to its clients successfully. The lesson? The best marketing campaign is what a company does, not what it says it will do.

Read 3 of the Best Fintech Marketing Campaigns of All Time for the rest of the best campaigns ever.

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Finding a fintech marketing partner

This guide has covered everything you need to know to market your fintech firm successfully. It reviewed the core elements of marketing strategy, explored industry best practices, and highlighted some of the best campaigns the space has seen. While there’s no getting around the challenges of navigating implementation, you now have a map of the territory.

If you’d like a partner to help support you during this process, consider reaching out. From optimizing ad creative to maximizing ROAS, Moloco has the experience and the tech to help you build the mobile advertising campaign of your dreams.

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