Lost and Found: Insights on Fintech Marketing During a Pandemic

Last Updated on August 3, 2023 by admin

With the global pandemic changing the landscape of business, the status quo has undergone a shock. Some businesses were (at least somewhat) set up for this with remote working and digitization that has made the transition to 100% work from home a little easier. While ecommerce has been a growing trend (revenue in the ecommerce market is slated to hit $419,879m in the U.S. this year — a 53% increase from 2017), social distancing has accelerated this movement. On the B2B ecommerce side, the global market was valued at $12.2 trillion in 2019 –more than 6 times that of the B2C market. 

As many are relegated to our homes indefinitely, ecommerce is the engine powering businesses to push through uncertain times. The ability to send and receive electronic payments has become critical. 

Yet many fintechs are tightening belts when it comes to marketing. This is a mistake. Fintechs and payment companies that facilitate the digital transfer of money are in a position to increase market share in an already-consolidating market. 

Obviously, this will require some careful planning and consideration. Normal messaging and marketing campaigns will not do the trick, and businesses must become adept at crafting new communications for customers that are just as uneasy as the companies themselves. 

That said, the time to take action is now. Fintech and payments services are needed now more than ever. And people and businesses must be able to find what they are looking for. 

Those in doubt about the need for these types of services right now should consider what the data says. We pulled information about the top fintech and payments search terms over the past 90 days, and the results are loud and clear: 

Source: Google Trends

Each and every one of these terms has seen an uptick since the beginning of the year — and some have seen drastic spikes. Is your organization capitalizing on those spikes or shirking away from proactive tactics?

People are looking…can you be found?

This should be a wake-up call to those hitting the pause button on marketing. Now is the time to put the pedal to the metal and focus efforts on tactics with high marketing ROI. These include: 

Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the highest-ROI online marketing strategies available. It’s also under- and misused. It’s relatively inexpensive to send out emails and the time investment is equally small.  With a 3,800% ROI, email marketing should be in every organization’s marketing arsenal, especially during times like these where everyone is learning how to navigate as they go. 

If you’re not already doing email marketing, hop aboard. Hubspot reports that 93% of B2B marketers use email to distribute content. Why? Because it’s effective. If you do have an email marketing program, consider how you can improve it. Are you offering special services, discounts, or guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic? Are you available for additional support? Think about how you can add value to the lives of your current and prospective customers and then tailor email messages around that. Having high-quality content on hand is an integral part of that strategy, which brings me to….

SEO & Content Marketing

Caveat: SEO & content marketing are longer-term plays. You won’t see the direct benefit as quickly as with a tactic like email marketing; however, the long-term benefits are substantial. It’s also worth noting that content can help make email campaigns more effective. People are more likely to respond or take action when an email includes links to helpful information rather than a straightforward sales pitch. 

SEO and Content Marketing can make a big impact and both are easy to measure, analyze, tweak, and iterate. Both are also easy to scale. Even if you’re working with a limited budget, you can start building a strategy that can grow over time. Every piece of content you produce can add value and be repurposed for other activities, too. 

When you consider the search terms above, it’s also a white-hot time to build content around some of the most-searched topics. People are hungry for information about fintech and payments. You should seriously consider whether it’s important for your organization to be the one who provides it. Tailoring content to these popular search terms can boost organic traffic, referred traffic, and domain authority. It can also position you as an industry thought leader, building trust with people who will consider you first when it comes time to buy. 

Social Media 

I’ll be honest; I don’t typically recommend social as a priority for my clients (particularly in the B2B space). But times have changed. Within this new reality, many more people are plugged into social media channels as an avenue for information (for better or worse). Businesses (both B2C and B2B) that tap into this stream of information are poised to have a competitive advantage. 

There are many different ways to leverage social media for marketing. One way is to take advantage of the paid advertising options. Most social platforms offer extensive targeting options to help you truly hone in on the audience with whom you want to connect. This cuts down on marketing waste that can sometimes occur with traditional PPC advertising. 

Another great tactic for B2B, in particular, is to take advantage of LinkedIn Pulse to create and share thought leadership content with followers. Many are looking toward business leaders for guidance and insights during this abnormal and challenging time. You can be that leader, fostering trust that will extend far beyond the pandemic itself. 

There are a lot of individual considerations to account for and each organization is going to face unique challenges — both to the bottom line and morale. We are in a volatile, uncertain environment where everyone is doing the best they can with what they have. While resources may be limited, the tactics above can help buoy brand awareness during this phase. To quote a Harvard Business Review article from the financial crisis of 2008, “Successful companies do not abandon their marketing strategies in a recession; they adapt them.”

Interested in more tailored information for marketing during this unprecedented time? Sign up now to be added to the waitlist for our newest guide: Fintech Lead Generation & Marketing During a Recession. You’ll be the first to receive it when it’s released. For FREE.

Can’t wait? Download the Fintech Marketing Playbook for tips you can use today. 

2 thoughts on “Lost and Found: Insights on Fintech Marketing During a Pandemic”

  1. I’m not seeing this at all in Google trends – in fact, the 3 terms I looked at all had higher volume earlier in the year than in late March.

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