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Last Updated on August 3, 2023 by admin
This article is the fifth in a series that will deep-dive into the world of storytelling and fintech content marketing. It is authored by and based on the experience of our CEO & Chief Storytelling Officer, Ashley Poynter. View part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4.
Quick recap: Stories improve customer acquisition by addressing the three big stumbling blocks fintechs face: 1) credibility, 2) trust, and 3) education. The best fintech content marketing & storytelling resonates with real people. To create great stories, fintechs must incorporate humanity, tone & voice, tension/conflict, vulnerability, and honesty.
What Fintechs Need to Craft a Meaningful Story
Part 4 covered the important elements you want to weave into any story you create, but you also need structure and information to build out a meaningful story that has some meat to it.
Conflict
That starts with having an understanding of the audience (your target buyers) and an understanding of the core problem.
Not having this basic understanding will result in failure. If you’ve seen Groundhog Day, you already know what this looks like. Phil Connors (Bill Murray) keeps living the same day over and over and over again. Perturbed at his inability to escape the time loop, he visits a therapist for help. The therapist, after listening to Phil’s conundrum, suggests they meet again. When? “Tomorrow”. ::facepalm::
That is a prime (and funny) example of someone who doesn’t understand their audience’s core problem. It’s probably less funny off the big screen, when fintech content marketing fails because it completely misses the mark.
To really understand your audience and their problem, start with the information you already have. Buyer personas can be a great jumping off point for this research. This will give you insights into customer demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, and goals. Also look beyond this to see where your target buyers are going for information and what types of stories may resonate with these people. Do they prefer video over written word? Do they love podcasts?
Look at your analytics to see what types of content on your owned channels may be resonating with people and which problems they’re trying to solve.
Consult with your sales team to get a sense of messaging that is hitting the mark and also key objections that may signal a need to better understand your audience and their problem. Survey existing customers with the same intent: “Where do you go to do research before making a purchasing decision.” “How would *you* describe your pain point” It’s always good to get fresh perspectives from outside your organization. Sometimes, when you’re looking out from the inside for so long, the problems we think we solve actually translate much differently for our audience. Make sure you have all the relevant information to frame the problem accurately.
Then you can start building out the pain point and in a creative and attention-grabbing way. Remember tension and conflict. You do want to tread carefully here because you don’t want to offend or misrepresent your customer’s conflict. If you’ve done your homework, you should be able to create an accurate representation of the core problem.
Climax
Next, you need a compelling solution to the problem.
If you’ve done a good job painting the problem picture, you should have set the stage for your company to provide an adequate solution, which positions the customer to become the hero for their company.
Again, don’t be afraid to engage with people’s emotions as you begin to resolve the conflict. I think there is a lot of opportunity to get creative without sacrificing the presentation of business value. Incorporate facts and figures but also focus on engaging your audience with an interesting story. Don’t forget the people involved in your solution and make sure that they share the spotlight alongside any technology or workflows.
Resolution
Finally, add in the real-life resolution.
You’ve presented your problem and the solution in an interesting way; now show people what that looks like in a real-life setting. This is essentially what case studies do, right? It’s a great place to insert those facts and figures that help augment the story. Quantify the value of the benefit, then drive it home with the personal elements of an emotionally-driven story. This way, not only are you informing prospects, but you’re providing an immersive customer experience that takes audience engagement to the next level and makes you memorable.
Stay tuned next week for the following part of the series. In the meantime, download our Fintech Marketing Playbook to get a winning strategy for fintech content marketing.