But whatever the reason, the driving force behind the decision is a desire to increase brand awareness in the market, support growth efforts, and elevate their credibility.
The link between PR and achieving these ends is clear. A company wants potential clients, investors, and partners to know and recognize the brand’s name and have positive feelings about it before its leaders walk into a room with them.
But before making the decision to be more actively engaged with the media and influencers shaping the conversations across the industry and building toward becoming a household name, the most common misstep for fintech founders looking to dip their toes into the PR waters is not establishing a consistent and meaningful positioning of the company and the brand.
To be sure, founders that fire from the hip in the PR arena can have success on a given initiative, but often it’s short lived. Building a foundational, cohesive brand narrative is a much more sustainable approach as it provides a common refrain to point back to, reinforcing the brand’s reputation and credibility in the market.
Long-term success in a PR function relies heavily on differentiation and consistency. That’s where building a foundational brand messaging concept becomes so important. It articulates the differentiation and provides fuel for consistent engagement on a host of themes.
For founders wondering where to start, the good news is, most of them already have most of the raw materials to put this together, from their own minds, pitch decks, and other marketing assets. It’s just a matter of putting them down on paper and organizing them into a cohesive framework. The end result of this exercise can take different forms, whether it’s a public-facing essay, or an internal document to make sure employees, especially spokespeople, are all on the same page.
When getting started in putting such a framework together, there are four major components to consider that should tell a general story that flows as follows:
Establishing the founder/company’s view about how the industry in which they operate has changed à Why the company exists to solve the problems of today à How the company plans to be a key part of the industry’s future
The following is a brief breakdown of those components that make up a strong, sustainable brand positioning framework.
1 – Set the context and build the narrative
It’s important to capture the perspective of founders in terms of how they view the evolution of the industry in which they now operate. While most people can look at an industry like financial services and come up with a list of the general trends that, the key here is letting the founders articulate their own personal views of how the industry has evolved.
The following are a sampling of guiding questions founders can think about when formulating this narrative:
- What historical challenges have they observed that have held back aspects of progress?
- Is there any personal ties to the founders as to why these particular issues are so important to them?
- What has (or hasn’t) been done to date to try and address those challenges? Why have attempts at innovation failed to deliver on their promises?
This section doesn’t always need to be a drawn out diatribe, but the goal that must be accomplished is to establish the founder’s voice and create the “need state” to introduce the company to the world in a way that is common and relatable.
2 – Inserting the company into the narrative – why does it exist?
This section is the culmination of building the narrative around the historical context of the industry. It ends with where things stand today, and provides the requisite need state for founders to put their stakes in the ground and articulate why their companies exist.
“We believe that prior attempts to change or improve this aspect of the industry have been unsuccessful to date because of XYZ. We built Company ABC to solve this problem from a [new/unique/modern] perspective.”
This can then lead into a discussion that can be more technical to describe as much of the “secret sauce” as is needed to strike the appropriate level of differentiation. This is where many founders let their inner nerds shine.
3 – Case study (or representative example) to showcase the company’s innovation in a real way
As the saying goes, showing is always better than telling. Having a concrete example of the company’s solution or offering at work brings the mission to life and makes it real.
Often, the inspiration for this example is the company’s flagship client, as it will underline most of the points of the company’s mission. Named clients are always better than anonymized ones, but at the very least it should be a representative example showcasing how the company is achieving its mission in the real world.
4 – Shaping the future vision of the company (and the industry)
The previous three sections is where most exercises may stop, and that may be fine in the short or even medium term. There is enough substance there for your target audiences to become familiar with a brand and put them into the proper context.
But in the spirit of building a sustainable and long-term brand, this last component is really geared towards achieving this end.
This vision can and likely will change over time depending on things such as market factors and advances in technology. However, it’s critical to establish some sort of future vision in juxtaposition with the current state of the company. This can and should include company specific initiatives (what the company plans to do to grow to meet the future needs of its clients) as well as prognostication about where the industry is headed.
Establishing the future vision should be woven into external communications whenever possible to fend off the perception that a company is resting on its laurels and project forward momentum.
Startup funding announcements offer instructive examples to examine for evidence if founders have taken the time to think about this last component to building a strong messaging foundation. If you read such an announcement and the executive quote simply expresses gratitude for their investors and/or expresses that it’s validation of the business, it’s an indication that they likely haven’t thought deeply about the visionary component of a great brand, or haven’t formalized it as part of their brand positioning.
Conclusion
Fintech founders have a lot to contend with these days. The explosion in the financial technology sector has created a competitive environment where building a great solution or platform must be paired with strong marketing, communications, and PR functions to make sure the industry knows about it. The curiosity around PR is natural, and with just a little bit of time dedicated to formulating a cohesive brand positioning framework, founders can make PR a valued and long-term source of fuel for the growth of the company they’ve worked so hard to build.
How Beyond the Arc can help you drive B2B engagement
Embedded finance solutions have the potential to create transformative impact. Many banks, fintechs, financial companies, and technology providers are capitalizing on this significant opportunity to attract new clients and deepen existing relationships.
For marketing leaders, it’s increasingly important to think beyond the technology integration aspects. Standing out requires a holistic marketing approach that combines strategic insights, a robust value proposition and differentiating messaging and stories – all aimed at building and sustaining profitable client engagements.
That is precisely where Beyond the Arc can add value.
With 20 years of experience in financial services and a leadership role in fintech and payments innovation, our agency excels in strategic positioning and content creation. We specialize in delivering marketing that resonates with B2B audiences, effectively helping clients drive the sales cycle and enhance market presence.
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