In fintech, innovation is the key to establishing a robust and positive public image. This sector, brimming with cutting-edge developments and intense competition, demands more than just technological prowess; it requires a compelling narrative to stand out. If done well, PR can be a strategic investment, significantly driving meaningful business outcomes for fintech brands.
Developing a Fintech PR Strategy
From creating digital marketing campaigns to building communication strategies, enhancing content marketing, and establishing brands as thought leaders in the financial services industry, fintech PR encompasses a wide range of services.
These PR services can be transferred across industries but require special attention to the convergence of finance, business, and technology when working within the fintech sector. Further, fintech PR professionals must have a deep knowledge of regulatory compliances, enterprise tech, and the latest developments within the fintech ecosystem to deliver an integrated approach and effective PR strategy.
A robust fintech PR strategy will align with a brand’s business goals and includes creating and sharing evergreen content, elevating communication skills, identifying and reaching target audiences, leveraging social media marketing, sharing powerful narratives, securing coverage, and identifying influencer marketing opportunities.
Once a brand has outlined its goals, PR teams can begin the process of developing custom PR strategies to build distribution channels, plan product launches, reach target markets, and secure a steady stream of content and coverage.
Building Credibility in a Competitive Landscape
Fintech is a crowded field with new players frequently entering the arena. Establishing credibility is crucial to stand out against the competition and create a manageable brand reputation. PR efforts combined with a strong marketing strategy work together to build trust by showcasing industry expertise, thought leadership, and successful case studies. Media coverage, expert commentary, and well-crafted narratives also contribute to a positive reputation, making the brand a go-to authority in the fintech market.
When account-to-account payments company Dwolla set out to increase its brand awareness with a robust fintech PR strategy, it overcame the challenge of standing out in a crowded and noisy media landscape by showcasing its unique value-add and leveraging partnerships to build credibility.
In our 90-day campaign, a full media coverage strategy included future announcements, proactive podcast pitching, executive downloads, social media amplification, and, most importantly, an emphasis on Dwolla’s extensive knowledge of the financial space. By positioning Dwolla’s executives as thought leaders in fintech and the company itself as a “payments giant,” we increased company mentions across digital media channels and in tech media outlets, amplifying visibility and brand reach. In the end, our communications strategy secured more than 170 pieces of coverage in more than 100 media outlets.
Navigating Regulatory Challenges
Like the broader financial sector, the fintech industry is often subject to complex regulatory environments. Effectively communicating compliance efforts, ethical practices, and industry partnerships is essential to fintech public relations.
PR professionals can help fintech brands navigate these challenges through strategic planning. This involves crafting messaging that ensures transparency and positions the brand as a responsible player in the financial services sector. PR firms can also help brands with internal communications to ensure employees are informed of industry changes to remain compliant and provide better customer service.
This approach to communications not only reinforces customer confidence, but also establishes the brand as a responsible and forward-thinking entity in fintech technologies, a critical factor in differentiating the brand in a trust-dependent market.
Enhancing Customer Trust and Confidence
Trust is the backbone of financial transactions, and PR plays a pivotal role in enhancing customer trust and confidence. Positive media coverage in a wide range of outlets and a strong online presence contribute to the perception of reliability and customer-centric values, attracting a loyal user base.
Digital PR drives these initiatives forward for financial technology companies, ensuring the right people are sharing the brand’s messaging across all the right channels. After all, what use is it developing innovative solutions, digital services, and essential tools to enhance financial products and the banking industry if fintech businesses can’t reach their audiences and instill trust in their brands.
Chase for Business wanted to create an impactful experience for small business owners and developed the Chase Bizmobile campaign. This campaign garnered media attention and put the company’s money where its mouth is by creating a physical mobile unit to travel to major cities and set up shop to assist entrepreneurs. Not only did this campaign attract attention, it built customer trust by working directly with small business owners.
The stunt showcased their hands-on customer-first approach and garnered them hits in relevant regional and national publications, including Business Journals, Entrepreneur, and Forbes.
Attracting Investor Interest
Investors closely monitor the fintech sector for innovation and growth potential, making them key targets for fintech PR strategies. By effectively highlighting a company’s achievements, like significant milestones, strategic partnerships, and its influence in the market, PR can significantly enhance a brand’s appeal to potential investors.
A well-crafted PR strategy does more than just attract attention; it positions a fintech brand as a credible financial institution and a lucrative investment opportunity. Through a narrative that emphasizes a company’s unique value proposition, market successes, and future growth plans, PR helps build a compelling case for investment. This is particularly crucial in the fintech space, where the rapid pace of technological advancement and market dynamics can make it challenging for investors to identify promising ventures.
Effective PR not only captures the attention of investors, but also fosters trust and credibility, laying the groundwork for strong partnerships and financial backing that are essential for a fintech company’s continued innovation and expansion.
Staying Top of Mind in a Dynamic Industry
Brand awareness is crucial for sustained success. When customers, stakeholders, and competitors know your brand, they regularly tune in for more information about your brand. Not only does this drive sales, it establishes your brand’s reputation as a leading source across financial services companies.
Brands can achieve this status by implementing content strategies that include regular PR updates, thought leadership articles, and participation in industry events keep the brand relevant and positioned as a forward-thinking innovator.
When the crypto-craze exploded, many fintech companies struggled to find their voice and carve out coverage in the busy space. Sandclock, an innovative wealth management platform, managed to cut through the noise with a strategic media approach.
The approach was multifaceted: sending engaging pitches, positioning various Sandclock experts as decentralized finance sages, crafting pivotal messages, and ensuring that the Sandclock brigade was media-ready. The results? Dominance over media with an average of 9.57M monthly unique visitors, a staggering 36K journalist eyeballs on the brand that resulted in 12 high-impact press features, a social media frenzy with 200+ shares, and regular feature columns in leading publications.
Navigating trending topics is just one element of achieving PR success. Brands must also jump ahead of the curve when possible. For example, the past year focused on AI and machine learning across nearly every industry. These technologies have contributed to the fintech space for years, but many brands might not know how to communicate that information with the public.
PR professionals can take AI practices that have been industry standard for years and turn them into compelling campaigns for brands that engage in the conversation before it gets crowded. Once established, PR teams can further carve out spaces for fintech brands to become industry leaders in AI and other emerging technologies.
Managing Crisis Communications Effectively
No industry is immune to challenges, and when they arise, effective crisis communication is key. PR professionals are adept at managing and mitigating crises, helping fintech brands navigate difficult situations without causing long-term damage to their reputations. A well-handled crisis can even enhance a brand’s image if managed transparently and responsibly.
A good PR firm knows that the best time to handle a crisis is before it even starts. This means working with your PR team to establish a crisis communication plan, establishing the people, procedures, and policies you’ll need during a number of potential crises.
And it doesn’t stop there. PR teams are constantly working to build your brand reputation. Media training, establishing relationships with key journalists and influencers, and a backlog of positive press coverage before crises can go a long way in helping your brand emerge on the other side.
During the crisis, PR professionals jump in, assisting with messaging, media relations, internal communications, and response times.
Through any situation, PR teams are the support fintech companies need to elevate their brands, reach more audiences, establish brand awareness, and communicate effectively. What we continue to learn is that PR is not a luxury. It’s a critical business function that will drive meaningful business outcomes intentionally and strategically.
As fintech continues to reshape financial services, PR is a powerful tool to drive success, foster positive perceptions, and position brands as leaders in innovation and reliability.Are you ready to work with our team of PR experts? Drop us a line.
