Maor Sadra, co-founder and CEO at INCRMNTAL
The digital revolution and the rise in smart tech has significantly changed the way consumers interact with their banks. Mobile banking is now a must-have, with one third of UK consumers accessing it daily. The demand for more tech savvy, agile finance options has paved the way for FinTech companies to flood the market. With competitive rates and forward thinking acumen, these have been a hit among some UK consumers but not everyone has been persuaded that digital-first finance is the way to go.
The truth is, FinTechs have a problem with trust. Banking in particular is one area where consumers favour bricks and mortar stores. A recent YouGov survey found only 9% of Britons expressed more trust in exclusively digital banks (neobanks) than traditional banks, compared to 43% who reported more trust in traditional banks.
Cryptocurrency FinTechs are also struggling to win consumer confidence. According to a Blumberg Capital survey, cryptocurrency is the least trusted type of FinTech, and IBS Intelligence found 34% of people are concerned cryptocurrency businesses may go bust.
So, what can FinTechs do to build a trusted reputation and ultimately their customer base if they want to become serious players in the financial market? The answer lies in effective marketing.
Communicate trust cross-channel
Long established Financial Institutions (FIs) that have developed and maintained long-term relationships with consumers are typically easier to trust than newcomers to the market that haven’t yet ‘proved’ their credibility.
This doesn’t mean however, that it isn’t possible for newer brands to communicate their trustworthiness and start to build their reputation with potential customers. Key to this is having joined up communications across all channels. UK consumers spend an average of 6 hours and 8 minutes online each day and this includes looking at laptops, desktops, phones, tablets and CTV. Add to this other channels they may encounter on a daily or weekly basis such as OOH, linear TV, print and radio, and there’s a vast amount of potential advertising inventory that FinTechs should be exploiting if they want to cultivate greater awareness of their brand and ensure consumers see consistent messaging wherever their attention lies.
Make the first touchpoint count
In addition to simply being consistent in messaging, the copy and creatives that FinTechs put out are extremely important. Remember marketing is generally the first touchpoint a consumer will come across when it interacts with your brand, so meeting them with the right messaging is crucial.
Many FinTechs believe that promotions and deals are what will attract new customers. Yet, according to an EY report, the biggest driver of financial trust is confidence that an FI is protecting customer data, which is more valuable to consumers than a FinTech offering the best products or services.
Therefore, including messaging that pertains to your privacy and protection policies can really help to establish a sense of trust with consumers.
Measure your marketing success
With marketing being such a critical driver of trust and the chief way in which FinTechs can convert new customers, it’s vital that they understand how their marketing is performing. Given how important trust is in this market, it goes without saying that FinTechs should look to partner with privacy-safe marketing measurement partners that don’t use any identifiable consumer information.
It’s also essential that a measurement partner can provide granular detail on the success of every marketing tactic across all screens. For instance, a FinTech trading platform might find that a particular creative drives significant engagement across Instagram over a certain time period but the same creative doesn’t have the same success on X. Exceptional marketing measurement will also be able to tell that trading platform how external factors impact their marketing such as time of day, day of the week or – crucially for this sector – changes in financial markets.
With the right marketing approach, it is possible for FinTechs to gain ground against the big bricks and mortar players. However, to truly build trust in an industry awash with scepticism, FinTechs must ensure they are reaching consumers effectively across all relevant channels. Key to this is working with the right marketing measurement partners that can tell them exactly where their marketing spend is, and isn’t, delivering. By leveraging the specialist expertise of the right martech companies, FinTechs can set themselves up for success in this highly competitive market.
