The Fintech B2B Buyer Journey: Start Adapting Your Marketing Strategy Or Get Left Behind
The Reality of Fintech B2B Buying Decisions
Gartner's research reveals a crucial truth: B2B buying decisions in fintech follow a non-linear path. Buyers repeatedly loop through the same stages, making the process unpredictable and complex.
Traditional sales and marketing models assume financial services buyers follow a neat progression: identify problem, explore solutions, make decision. Data shows this rarely happens. Today's fintech buyers conduct independent research, involve 6-10 stakeholders on average, and revisit decisions multiple times before purchase.
Most financial institutions in your target market aren't ready to buy today. They purchase new technology every 2-3 years on average, with decisions shaped by months of prior research and internal discussion.
This creates a critical opportunity: influencing future fintech buyers before they actively enter the market. Financial technology providers that focus their B2B Fintech Marketing strategy exclusively on in-market buyers miss 80% of potential customers, according to SiriusDecisions (now Forrester) research.
The Fintech B2B Buyer Journey: Six Key Activities
Gartner's research identifies six core buying activities that happen throughout the purchase process:
Problem identification – Recognising and defining financial services challenges
Solution exploration – Researching potential approaches to address problems
Requirements building – Establishing specific criteria for viable solutions
Supplier selection – Evaluating fintech vendors against requirements
Validation – Confirming the chosen solution fits regulatory and operational needs
Consensus creation – Aligning multiple stakeholders on the final decision
Buyers move through these activities non-sequentially. They gather information, loop back, reconsider options, and shift priorities. By the time a financial institution contacts sales, 70% of the decision-making process is typically complete, according to Forrester.
Fintech’s that align their organisation around their buyer’s journey will win. Teams that create content to specifically support buyers, will outperform content teams who continue to churn out SEO content. CMOs that take it a step further and align fintech marketing strategy and channels around the buyer journey will reap greater rewards than those who take a more spray-and-prey approach to channel selection.
How Can You Practically Apply This To Your Marketing Strategy?
1. Problem Identification
Effective content at this stage helps buyers recognise and frame their challenges. Industry benchmarking reports with specific metrics give context to potential problems. Self-assessment tools deliver personalised gap analysis that resonates with specific pain points.
Channel strategy should focus on reaching buyers who may not yet recognise their challenges:
SEO optimisation for ‘bottom-of-the-funnel’ and longer tail keywords yields 15-20% higher conversion rates than generic terms
LinkedIn thought leadership written and video content that illicit expert opinion from founders and industry figureheads builds early awareness
Targeted LinkedIn Ads campaigns to relevant financial segments can surface unrecognised issues in the minds of buyers
A fintech security firm demonstrated this approach effectively with an industry-specific risk assessment tool. Users input basic information about their organisation and receive a personalised report comparing their security posture to industry benchmarks. This generated 3,200 qualified leads in six months, with 22% moving to sales conversations.
2. Solution Exploration
During solution exploration, fintech buyers need content that clarifies options without overwhelming them. Comparative analysis documents with clear pros/cons tables help frame the decision landscape. Expert webinars featuring financial services customers sharing real implementation experiences build credibility. ROI calculators with institution-specific default inputs help quantify potential value.
Channel strategy should target buyers actively researching solutions:
Paid search focusing on solution-focused keywords captures existing demand
Retargeting campaigns delivering sequential content based on previous engagement
Partner co-marketing with complementary fintech providers expands reach
A UK payment solutions provider exemplified this approach with a comprehensive "Build vs. Buy" calculator for transaction processing solutions. The tool features institution-specific parameters and generates a detailed five-year cost comparison. It influenced £4.2M in pipeline opportunities within one quarter by helping frame the solution space.
3. Requirements Building
As financial services buyers define specific needs, detailed technical and compliance content becomes crucial. Specification guides outline capabilities in concrete terms that align with evaluation criteria. Documentation helps buyers structure their assessment process. Interactive solution configurators showing different feature combinations make abstract options tangible.
Channel strategy now requires greater personalisation based on specific interests. Email nurture sequences triggered by engagement signals deliver relevant content. ABM campaigns target key stakeholders within active financial institutions with role-specific messaging. Content syndication through financial services publications reaches buyers in their professional context.
An enterprise banking software company illustrated this approach by creating an interactive requirements builder tool. Prospects select needed features, integration points, and compliance requirements. The tool then generates a customised evaluation framework. This approach increased sales-qualified opportunities by 34% by helping buyers articulate specific needs.
4. Supplier Selection
Fintech supplier selection demands content focused on credibility and differentiation:
Customer case studies with specific, measurable financial outcomes
Third-party analyst reports and comparisons for objective validation
Product demonstration videos addressing common financial use cases
Channel strategy shifts toward direct engagement with buying committees. Account-based advertising reaches all stakeholders in target institutions with consistent messaging. Direct sales outreach with personalised content packages addresses specific concerns. Customer reference programmes connect prospects with existing clients who share similar challenges.
A financial services technology provider implemented this strategy through an ABM programme targeting 50 high-value banking prospects. Each account received personalised content addressing its specific industry challenges. The campaign achieved a 40% meeting conversion rate—triple their standard approach by focusing on stakeholder-specific concerns.
5. Validation
During validation, fintech buyers need content that reduces perceived risk. Implementation roadmaps with specific timelines and resource requirements make the post-purchase phase concrete. ROI models based on actual customer data build confidence in projected outcomes.
Channel strategy focuses on building deep trust with key decision-makers:
Personalised executive communications addressing high-level concerns
Technical workshops tackling implementation questions with practical answers
Customer reference calls matched by institution type and use case providing peer validation
A payments infrastructure provider developed a "Day 1-100" implementation roadmap template that exemplifies effective validation content. The document outlines milestones, resource requirements, and expected outcomes for each phase. This resource reduced the average sales cycle by 18 days by making the post-purchase journey tangible.
6. Consensus Creation
The final stage requires content that helps champions build internal consensus. Business case templates give advocates the language to justify investments. ROI calculators with institution-specific metrics quantify value in relevant terms. Stakeholder-specific executive summaries address the concerns of different roles involved in approval.
Channel strategy supports internal champions in their advocacy efforts:
Champion enablement packages with presentation materials tailored to internal committees
Multi-stakeholder workshops addressing role-specific concerns in facilitated settings
Executive engagement programmes bringing senior financial decision-makers into direct dialogue
A WealthTech company created role-specific value proposition documents for IT, Compliance, and Finance stakeholders. This material helped internal champions address concerns from each department. Deals using these materials closed 35% faster than those without by facilitating internal alignment.
Stronger Fintech Sales and Marketing Alignment
As the B2B buyer journey is better understood, sales and marketing roles will change and often lines will become blurred. The most effective revenue teams will be those that can align their sales and marketing around their buyers.
Effective alignment between sales and marketing requires structural changes beyond content sharing:
Unified data infrastructure
Implement a shared CRM and marketing automation platform
Establish consistent lead scoring criteria based on buying signals
Create visibility into content engagement for sales teams
Organisational alignment
Establish shared KPIs between sales and marketing
Create joint account plans for top financial institution prospects
Implement regular pipeline reviews with both teams
Technology integration enables scalable alignment across large organisations. Deploy intent data monitoring to identify financial institutions showing active buying signals before they contact sales. Implement conversation intelligence to capture and analyse prospect requirements from sales interactions. Use predictive analytics to prioritise accounts showing buying behaviours based on engagement patterns.
A measurement framework keeps alignment on track over time. Track content influence on pipeline and revenue beyond simple attribution models. Measure velocity between buying stages to identify sticking points in the journey. Analyse which content assets advance deals most effectively to refine your strategy continuously.
From Acquisition to Retention: The Complete Revenue Picture
The fintech buyer journey doesn't end at purchase. Existing financial services customers influence 70% of new business opportunities according to Gartner. Forward-thinking organisations connect these dynamics explicitly.
Customer health scoring identifies expansion opportunities based on product usage and engagement patterns. Customer-specific growth plans map clear upsell pathways aligned with maturity in product adoption. Advocacy programmes leverage customer references at each buying stage, creating a virtuous cycle. Success metrics connect retention to acquisition, recognising the full customer lifecycle.
Conclusion: A Data-Driven Approach to Fintech Growth
The complex B2B buying journey in financial services requires sophisticated alignment between sales and marketing functions. Success comes from understanding the non-linear nature of buying decisions and creating appropriate content for each stage. Implementing organisational and technical alignment between teams creates operational efficiency. Deploying AI and automation enables personalisation at scale. Connecting acquisition strategy to customer retention completes the picture.
Fintech organisations that master these elements create sustainable competitive advantage. They appear at the right moments with relevant information, building trust throughout the extended buying journey. This approach generates higher conversion rates, shorter sales cycles, and improved customer retention—the foundations of sustainable growth in the competitive fintech landscape.
For more information on our services, and how we can help you align your strategy around your buyers, check out our Fintech Marketing Agency page.
