Btrees is one of the technical partners that Fintech District has selected to enrich its community. It’s a company specialized in providing diversified and multichannel services ranging from social media strategy, advertising, email marketing, SEO and much more. We asked founder Christian Zegna for some tips on lead generation, with a focus on the fintech sector.
How do you make the choice of channels for lead generation: what factors impact a FINTECH reality and what’s your advice?
The digital channels on which it makes sense to invest must be planned and chosen before starting the communication activities. In fact, they will influence the production of content and will affect the editorial style to be held. If we choose, for example, to use YouTube intensively, we will have to be prepared to make videos, while if we focus on Instagram we will need high quality images.
That said, the choice of channels to use is to be made according to some simple rules:
- On those channels in which people talk there is a buzz and we can compare ourselves on my market, in this case on Fintech.
- Which channels are frequented by my target and by my interlocutors?
There is also a third factor that is, in my opinion, fundamental: how many channels am I able to monitor and follow consistently?
In fact, people often underestimate the effort needed to update, manage and monitor their communication channels. In this sense, the rule is “few but well attended“: avoid opening many profiles and then not being able to follow them effectively. It’s better not to be present on a specific channel than to be present in an unprofessional way!
The Fintech world sees LinkedIn as its main channel. In addition to this platform the visibility Facebook and Instagram can provide should not be understimated especially through their platform ADV. In the European context, on the other hand, Twitter is given secondary importance. The creation and care of a blog, a strategy of vertical content on your specific activity, are in my opinion a winning choice especially if combined with an SEO optimization of your website and content.
How important is the target audience analysis and how should it be done?
The analysis of your target audience is undoubtedly fundamental. In putting into practice a marketing campaign we always address a starting target, which is defined in the business plan phase, and which is built by identifying the buyer personas, the interlocutors to whom my communication activity is addressed.
There are tools that allow me to analyze the audience I am able to intercept with my activities: Google Analytics, for example, returns demographic and personal data on visitors to my site, ditto for social business accounts. This allows me to understand how much my
activity is in line with my expectations in terms of audience. The analysis of this data allows me to calibrate my action, to assess its effectiveness and consistency with my personas. I can then adjust the pitch or, as often happens, discover new specific targets interested in my product and my activity.
How to choose the tone of voice?
The tone of voice must be chosen in a manner consistent with the soul of the company and representing the style and positioning the company wants to have on the market (both online and offline). In addition to consistency with the positioning of the company, it is very important to be consistent on the different channels. It does not always have to be “institutional”, I find it interesting indeed to find a personal tone of voice and identity, when possible. In addition to the tone of voice, I recommend choosing some terms, some keywords on which to focus and insist on in order to tie them to your identity and image.
In your opinion, what are the main lead generation strategies and tools that you would recommend to a company operating in the fintech sector?
At the level of strategy, always remember that before trying to acquire a lead I must have informed my audience of my existence (the brand awareness phase), I must have made them discover who I am and what I do and I must have aroused their interest in my business and my project. Only then will I be able to effectively ask him to leave me his contacts, to try my products, to meet me or to schedule a call.
A strategy for lead acquisition can be to use targeted advertising. At this juncture there are different types of ad hoc campaigns that can be implemented. For example, you can use SEA (Search Engine Advertising) campaigns on Google thanks to which, through text ads in the search results, can intercept a prospect specifically interested in my product because was struck by my ad during an active search phase.
With social media campaigns, on the other hand, I apply a “push” strategy with which I intercept an audience that is actually often doing something else… I have to be good at attracting their attention and getting them to notice me. In any case, the channels must be tested, measured… we often have big surprises and we are in turn surprised by the performance we get!
Today, a type of campaign that I would definitely recommend testing is the “lead ads” campaign, which is a specific format available on various social networks (Linkedin, Facebook and Instagram) that aims to generate new contacts.
The user who clicks on the ad is shown a form with a series of fields that can be customized (first name, last name, email, phone, role in the company…) that are actually pre-filled by the platform and speed up and facilitate acquisition.
When, how much and why can digital ADV be useful?
Today Advertising, especially on social networks is essential. Companies cannot, in my opinion, ignore the need to accompany their editorial activity with a media investment;it would be like preparing a juicy dinner for two and then eating it alone. Organic visibility (the free one for example) is now limited and will be increasingly so. Therefore, it makes sense to give a “boost” to your content with an adequate ADV budget. This is also a way to optimize your editorial investment and make it more effective
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