Why customer first digital marketing is the right strategy for Fintechs

If there was a competition for marketing buzzword of the year, ‘customer first’ would be in pole position. We see it used all the time, but in practice, what does it actually mean? And, more importantly, how can we use it in our digital marketing strategy?

The Fintech sector has exploded in recent years - with an average annual growth rate of 25%. In fact, the sector as a whole is projected to be worth $310bn by the end of 2022. This growth has brought with it countless niche digital marketers and Fintech marketing strategies – putting the market at serious risk of saturation. 

If the latest content ideation techniques have left you feeling like you’re chasing your tail, you may simply need to whittle down your strategies and get back to basics. That means really looking at who your ideal customers are and what they need. 

It’s time to get personal.

What does putting customers first really mean for Fintech marketing?

In this world of iPhones and metaverses, viewed in 10 second or 45 minute increments through Netflix and TikTok, consumer attention spans are increasingly short. A 2015 study conducted by Microsoft found that attention spans had reduced by 25%, from 12 seconds to just 8, in 15 years (which puts us just behind the humble goldfish). 

The window to catch a customer’s attention is getting smaller by the day, which means we need to think differently about how we sell products. Gone are traditional marketing techniques that revolve around the needs of the company, replaced with a customer-oriented problem-solving approach. The customer has a problem – and we’re gonna solve it. Or, at least, what we’re marketing is.

Customer-first digital marketing aims to provide a solution to a problem. Using our content as our medium, we identify the problem the customer faces, empathise with it, and then explain how we can solve it. 

We also utilise pre- and post-purchase data, using analytics data and tools like NPS scores to constantly optimise the experience of the customer and reaffirm the value of a product or service. But first – we need to truly understand the problem.

Start your digital marketing with customer personas

Let’s get back to the basics, with a deep dive into your target market. Customer personas are a detailed profile of your ideal clients, and they form the basis of any good digital marketing strategy. Consider them the holy grail of your Fintech marketing strategy. 

Envision your ideal customer, and research them. What’s their job title? How old are they? What do they do for fun? Gain an understanding of their demographic and background, along with any identifying traits they possess. You can even give them a name. 

Once you have a better understanding of who they are as individuals, you can start building out the finer details. What do they struggle with? Do they influence decisions, or make them?

From persona to strategy

Armed with an in-depth understanding of your customers, it’s time to consider how to address their pain points, and how they might best receive this information. 

Conduct further research and utilise analytics to find out which channels your target audiences engage with most. The digital marketing mix comprises many channels – blogs, emails, social media, search engines – but that doesn’t mean your customers actively use them all. If you’re not sure which channels to get started with, check out our list of alternative Fintech marketing channels for ideas.

The other important consideration here is how you want your customers to feel – or, how they want to feel – after they have engaged with your marketing efforts. Do they want to be led or informed? Entertained, or affirmed? After all, a brand is decided by its perception, not its inception. 

Using brand archetypes in your digital marketing strategy

Brand archetypes are character frameworks, aligning a brand with its audience on a deeper level. Based on the work of Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, they are a collection of personality traits that are innately recognisable and relatable.

Companies can replicate these traits in their marketing efforts, building trust and authority with their customers through a sense of familiarity and personality.

There are 12 traditional archetypes: innocent, sage, hero, everyman or ‘regular Joe’, outlaw, explorer, creator, ruler, magician, lover, caregiver, and jester. Which archetype best suits your brand depends on your product or service offering - for example, the intention of Curious Cat Digital is not to inspire love, and therefore the lover as an archetype would be, frankly, confusing. 

As well as brand compatibility, other key considerations lie within your customer persona and how your customers wish to receive your marketing messages. A powerful tool here can be the Meyers-Briggs theories, or the theory of 16 personalities. Assigning one of these to your customer personas can help to understand the compatibility of your brand and your customers, and, in turn, align your Fintech marketing strategy with the needs of your customers. 

From strategy to content

With the solid foundation of a great strategy, creating engaging and insightful content is the next step. Users go online to solve a problem or answer a question. Answering it is the first step towards acquiring a new customer, by beginning to demonstrate the value of a business and building trust. 

Think about the questions they are asking and use these to provide bite-size pieces of advice, in the form of blogs, webinars, ebooks, or guides. This advice does not necessarily need to be groundbreaking, but accessible, convenient placement, and clearly laid out actions or value are key. 

At this stage, aim to understand what blockers stand between the customer and the adoption of your product/service, and consider how your content can resolve them. 

Marketers often turn to thought leadership as a fail-safe content strategy, and for good reason. Thought leadership is achieved by consistently sharing insightful content to establish a voice of authority. While innovative ideas are a prerequisite - which can be a reach for smaller or less experienced teams - content to inspire thought leadership is particularly effective in conjunction with information-led brand archetypes (sage, explorer or magician for example). 

It is, however, important to consider the intention of your content and of your content strategy as a whole. Create content with a variety of intentions - using thought leadership as a primary content strategy is effective for a business such as a consultancy, but for a business with a service or a product, be sure to incorporate a range of content types. For more information on what makes for great content, take a look at our quick guide to Fintech content strategies. 

Not sure where to start with your Fintech marketing strategy?

Feeling a bit lost in an endless search engine results page? Does it all just seem a bit, well… Much? At Curious Cat, we’re dedicated researchers, with years of Fintech marketing experience and an in-depth understanding of the customer psyche. Our strategy-first approach always starts with defining your audience, to cut through the noise with tailored and personalised messages to reach customers in a way that speaks to them.

Want to learn more about us and our services? Drop us an email at meow@curiouscatdigital.co.uk or book a strategy call to find out how we can help you accelerate the growth of your Fintech business.