In our final Fintech Startup to Success blog post, we’re taking an in-depth look at how to nurture leads through the marketing funnel, and ultimately, win their business.

Nurture Leads into Relationships

As a fintech startup, not only will you need to generate leads, you’ll need to build brand awareness. And as important as it is to get your logo and message to the masses, it’s even more important to build rapport and trust with your customers. 

Collecting a long list of leads may impress investors, but it’s not enough to generate sales. In a previous post, we shared that fully engaged customers will exhibit more than 50% more revenue and sales than disengaged customers. 

But what does that have to do with building relationships and generating revenue? As it turns out—everything!

An effective sales team can fill the funnel with the most qualified leads, but that won’t be enough to move them effectively through the buyer’s journey. In fact, a recent SalesForce study found that 79% of marketing leads are never converted to sales. 

And our friend Jason Henrichs from FinTech Forge recently reminded us exactly why that is: “Marketing needs to not only be about filling the top of the funnel but how do we actually work leads from being a prospect to being a fully engaged customer.”

By creating actionable campaigns centered on valuable, high-quality content (and tailored to your buyer personas)—your prospects will move from the top of the funnel to the bottom; from a cold prospect to a qualified lead to your newest customer.

Marketing Funnel Stages

There are three main stages in the marketing funnel: Top of the Funnel: Awareness Stage; Middle of the Funnel: Consideration Stage; Bottom of the Funnel: Decision Stage. Each has its own purpose tied directly to a buyer’s intent. 

When building out your funnel, it’s important to use your buyer personas to find out what potential customers are looking for, what they’ll find the most valuable, and how to engage them. By using the one to inform the other, your funnel will be more effective and likely to nurture prospects through to a sale.

Top of the Funnel (ToFu)

At the widest part of the funnel, sits the largest number of people (and the audience that’s the least ready to convert). This phase, also known as Awareness and Discovery, is when potential customers are researching and learning about a specific problem they have. They are still working to identify what their challenge is, and wants to feel educated enough to be able to verbalize their questions. Online searches are centered around “why.” 

Here’s what someone in this stage might be thinking: In trying to scale my B2B startup, I’m having trouble managing online payments and providing enough options to my clients. Other startups must have the same problem—I’m going to see what they’ve done about it.

Types of ToFu Marketing Funnel Content 

ToFu content should not be selling your product, per se, but instead selling your brand (indirectly) as one that cares. Assets created for the top of the funnel should not rely on branding, but rather demonstrate your company’s commitment to providing value to individuals—even when they aren’t buying from you. 

• Overview Blog Post
• Social Media Post
• Infographic
• Quiz or Survey
• Short Video

Middle of the Funnel (MoFu)

Potential customers who found your ToFu offer valuable will move to the middle of the funnel—also known as the consideration stage. Your lead has identified what their problem is and has started looking for viable solutions. At this stage, most people aren’t researching specific companies, but types of solutions. They’re asking “how” questions instead of “why.” At this stage, leads who interact with you directly become qualified.

Here’s what someone in this stage might be thinking: I could go with a mish-mash of online payment solutions like Square and PayPal that don’t have exorbitant fees, but what will my business clients think of that? Won’t that look messy/unprofessional? And what happens when I bring in a large account—those fees will add up. 

MoFu Marketing Funnel Content 

MoFu content is more informational and educational in nature and still not heavily branded. Prospects who have made it to this stage are looking for you to explain solutions, address objections, and offer benefits for each solution. As tempting as it is to only highlight your solution and paint it in the best light, it’s important that you remain relatively objective and absolutely honest with your audience.

Also keep in mind that buyers are more likely to stay in the MoFu longer, especially if your product or service has a high price point or is designed for daily use. Try to estimate how long you expect buyers to stay in this stage, as it directly impacts how much content you’ll need to generate. Your sales and marketing team should be working together at this point to identify a trigger that signals when someone has moved into this stage and out of it. 

• Email Drip Campaign
• In-Depth Blog Post
• Checklist
• eBook
• Guide
• Template

Bottom of the Marketing Funnel (BoFu)

This is when your qualified leads begin the process of making an educated purchase decision. They are aware of their problem, have identified their preferred solution, and are ready to find a product or service that can help. In other words, they’re ready to make a purchase. By laying a foundation with highly valuable ToFu and MoFu content, you’ve already established a relationship with this person and, as a result, they’re more likely to choose your company over another.

Here’s what someone in this stage might be thinking: I watched some videos and downloaded a few guides and infographics that reinforced the importance of a single, robust payment platform for scaling a B2B startup. Now I know that I’m looking for a payment platform that offers flexibility, speed, and support. It seems like there are a lot of options available, how do I choose the right one for my business?

BoFu Marketing Funnel Content 

At the bottom of the sales funnel, qualified leads enter proposal and negotiation phases, and if all goes well—you’ll win their business.  

Content at this marketing funnel stage should help reinforce confidence in your offer and encourage people to reach out for a sales call, demo, or free trial. Aim to showcase your product or service without being too salesy—let your value speak for itself. Demonstrate features, highlight benefits, and show how your product or service works. Remember that the goal of every marketing funnel stage is to help the customer, not sell them.

• Case Studies
• Testimonials
• Demos
• Product/Service Comparisons
• Webinars

Building Your Fintech Marketing Funnel

Like anything in business, building your marketing funnel should be strategic and well thought out. Using personas to map out the buyer’s journey will help inform your overall strategy and make the content creation cycle easier and more effective. 

By delivering the right message and information at the right time, your brand will be the first to come to a buyer’s mind when they’re ready to make a purchase. The goal of your marketing funnel should be to increase sales, but more importantly, strengthen relationships with your audience, generate prospects and build brand awareness. 

When done correctly, your won customers will become brand advocates and evangelists for your company. They’ll tell their friends, family, and co-workers about your fintech startup and how it helped them identify a challenge and overcome it. 

We hope you enjoyed our Fintech Startup to Success series. If you missed it, you can view our infographic to find out what successful startups do differently, and check out the real journey one company took from fintech startup to success. 

If you’re ready to learn more about how to position your financial or fintech company for long-term growth, schedule a startup to success consultation with us today.