Building authority through fintech content

An interview with Michele Kerr, Content and Social Media Manager at Canadian API payments platform VoPay on how they have built authority in the B2B fintech space through their effective content strategy.

G: How important is content in your marketing strategy?

M: Content is one of the main pillars of the VoPay marketing strategy. We have found content marketing to be one of the most effective forms of digital marketing. Our goal is to build authority and trust in the fintech industry through our content and we do is by creating content that readers and our audience want to read.

Whether it's just a snippet on Twitter or a wholly blown guide, we find it pays off regarding SEO and our organic traffic results as a strategy.‍

‍G: What have you found is the best frequency for posting on LinkedIn? And what mix of content works?

M: We publish content on our social media channels at least five days a week. Consistency is important; we have seen an increase in followers when we post regularly. However, there is no magic number that works for every company or industry.

We notice the best results when we mix up the types of content we share: industry news, trending topics or articles about our partners and collaborations. LinkedIn is a great medium to connect with our audience, so we pay attention to what performs well on that platform.

G: How do you tailor content for different channels such as Instagram and Twitter?

M: We create different strategies for each of our channels. For example, we know that our Instagram followers are different from our LinkedIn or Twitter followers—so if we’re posting about a new blog, we’ll highlight different aspects of it depending on which channel we’re using. We create different types of posts depending on the platform (text or image-based). We pay close attention to how we display content, if and when to use emojis or GIFs, and pay close attention to the tone. We know that the exact same message across every channel just doesn’t have the same impact.

G: You have a lot of white papers and guides available to download on your site, how important is gated content in your lead-gen strategy?

M: This ties in quite nicely with the first question you asked.  We use a combination of content marketing and gated content to deliver highly customized, relevant educational content to qualified potential customers. We believe that integrating valuable educational content throughout our content marketing strategy is an extremely effective way to gain leads and encourage prospects with payment pain points to take the first step toward solving them. Gated content can be a great way to get people with a problem to realize that you might be the solution, and it gets them the information they need to make that decision.

G: Do you find that B2B comms are becoming more and more like to B2C?

M: Yes. It is undeniable that the lines between B2B and B2C marketing have blurred in recent years. The strategies influencing B2C have been integrated into B2B strategies, and although there will always be market-specific differences, it is important to remember that both markets are made up of people seeking solutions to their problems. For example, some strategies that have gained traction among B2C companies—such as the use of influencer marketing or video content—are growing increasingly popular among B2B marketers.

G: Fintech and the payments industry are evolving at a fast pace, what role does VoPay play in helping to educate the market on changes?

M: Canada is poised to make great strides in the financial technology space in the coming years. We have the real-time rails official launch coming in 2023 and along with it, we are beginning to see a strong uptick in real-time payments. More and more businesses are curious to learn more about embedded finance and Open Banking capabilities and the tremendous benefits they have to their business growth.

Digital payments such as bank-to-bank payments have surged these last few years and these conversations have become quite topical. While not necessarily new concepts in some parts of the world, here in North America, we are just at tip of iceberg/early implementation stages so for us it means we can play a big part in dispersing our knowledge in these arenas to help businesses and consumers feel comfortable and excited to embrace these new financial opportunities. The content that we create has the potential to go far and educate our audience on the financial transformations taking place.

G: Which topics do you see trending in the payments and fintech space in 2023?

M: Expect to see an increase in the discussion around real-time payments. The buzz around them has been particularly strong in Canada, and our guide on the subject has generated more interest than we expected. Sustainability will remain a hot topic as well; we'll see more innovation related to net-zero payment systems, climate fintech and how financial services are tackling climate change. Financial inclusion will also become an increasingly important topic, as VoPay CEO Hamed Arbabi recently pointed out that it will help build our next economy.

As companies and consumers continue to embrace and adopt financial technology solutions at a rapid pace, here in North America we are excited to build out our content in these arenas and look forward to playing a part in educating our client base to ensure they have all the tools they need to succeed.

G: Thank you Michele, taking the role of the educator through content is a real opportunity for SaaS providers, especially in fast-moving industries such as fintech. Also, the importance of posting regularly to maximise follower growth should not be underestimated!