How to create a FinTech Marketing blueprint for new-age brands & consumers

New-age brands spearheading the FinTech space filled with online trading platforms and finance management tools, this space that caters to the new-age consumers also needs a robust marketing blueprint that can be built with insights from these experts.

The pandemic accelerated the growing demand and supply of automated technology and tech-based apps, and the BFSI industry experienced one of the most augmented spikes in web-based trading platforms, mobile applications, software, and more that automate or streamline trading, investing, and managing financial affairs. Here the experts delineate marketing in the FinTech space.

The Experts

• Shreyas Achar, Senior Director – Marketing, Plum Insurance
• Raj Karkara, COO, ZebPay
• Kunal Bhardwaj, Senior Director – Marketing, Upstox
• Mohit Joshi, CEO, Havas Media Group
• Sowmya Iyer, Founder & CEO, DViO Digital

The Objective

Mohit Joshi, CEO, Havas Media Group outlines that while several of the brands are in a growing phase as FinTech as an industry is relatively new, nobody is just looking at building a brand, the objective is ROI, and key deliverables like app downloads and customer acquisition.

Kunal Bhardwaj, Senior Director – Marketing, Upstox shares that most apps are seeing an 80% churn rate right now, and creating awareness and delivering on business metrics is a screech journey.

Sowmya Iyer, Founder & CEO, DViO Digital mentions that for a complex set of products, few campaigns have been impactful enough to create intrigue and have consumers come and look for them, brands need to understand where they would come and look for them and optimize acquisition through valuable content.

Raj Karkara, COO, ZebPay states that education is key in this space, investing in crypto may not be much different than stocks, but fundamentals and understanding of the products are important.

Shreyas Achar, Senior Director – Marketing, Plum Insurance shares that insurance does not provide instant gratification, and therefore the brand is mainly doing what traditional brands would not do. Thought leadership and conscious messaging is what they're moving forward with.

Also Read: Finfluencers: Social media finance gurus & their role in BFSI marketing plan

The Challenges

Experts highlight the various challenges that brands and agencies marketing in the FinTech space would have to face:

• Being relatable to Tier 1 cities while still reaching out to Bharat without diluting
• Standing out amongst the various choices
• Defining what Bharat is
• Plagiarism
• Distracted consumers
• Creating a single brand narrative with multiple formats describing the complex products
• In-depth understanding of financial products

Marketing To Millennials

Millennials make up for a substantial chunk of the target audience of most FinTech brands, as they have recently reached a phase of life having a dispensable income, and also represent new-age consumer behavior, along with elevated inclination towards finance and investment.

Kunal shares that almost all brands are app-based and are fighting for that 2 GB of space by trying to speak to the millennials, and highlighting the ease of use. Personalization, desire, and understanding of the segment play a key role here.

Sowmya shares that marketing to millennials represents an intersection of pop culture, and she also believes the real potential lies beyond Tier 1 urban cities, use of vernacular in interactions results in a spike in engagement, which she has observed on social networks such as Josh and Sharechat.

Mohit states that for millennials and Gen-Z, the purpose is absolutely important, and a purpose-driven brand that looks beyond functional and personal benefits, and strives for collective benefits, is critical for them.

Shreyas shares that transparency and advocacy are particularly what the brand looks at while marketing to millennials or their target audience. Consumers should be able to say, "We want more, Plum says we can have more".

Raj says that today's consumers have a number of choices and having a purpose, driven by utility, and having a really strong product can be the differentiator as there is almost no brand loyalty.