The new B2B buyer: Shaping the future of marketing in the financial industry

B2B FinTech firms underwent a digital transformation sprint since the beginning of the pandemic, packing years of digital transformation into a few months - and in many cases, significantly changing day-to-day work.

These changes radically transformed the way buyers research and make purchases. 

Today’s B2B buyers want to consume high-quality content, gather insights, and solicit advice from their peers - before ever talking to sales.

In fact, according to Gartner, 43% of customers prefer a sales rep-free experience.

All this makes friction in the buying experience much more noticeable when it does occur. 

But that’s not all.

Competition is increasing too.

Significant policy changes and reform of London's company listing regime is set to spark a "digital big bang' in the UK in a bid to accelerate the growing fintech industry within the nation — according to a recent, government-commissioned review.

So how can B2B brands meet changing buyer needs and rise above the growing competition?

Enter demand generation (demand gen). 

A demand gen strategy is built for the way customers buy today. The goal is to expand your audience, build trust and authority, and generate interest in your business, which results in high-quality inbound leads.

Given the way B2B’s buy has changed dramatically, it’s no wonder that demand gen has climbed the agenda for most B2B marketers with 70% of marketers saying their demand gen budgets will increase. (Demand Gen Report).

The B2B FinTech opportunity with demand generation

At its simplest, demand generation is educating your audience with no expectation in return.

A demand gen approach means your business is top of mind and the best option if/when they ever need a solution.

Demand generation centres on engaging your ideal customers before purchase intent or motivations have set in, making it one of the most powerful methods of increasing brand awareness - especially in a saturated FinTech market.

It’s no surprise then, that investment and interest in demand gen is growing rapidly.

One of the greatest benefits of demand generation is the ability to reach people before they're problem or solution aware.

This requires a strong strategy and high-quality demand gen content.

Why content and demand gen go hand-in-hand

Research shows that if your business is better at building brand-relevant memories, your brand becomes more competitive. Putting yourself in the mind of your customer isn’t easy, but it’s essential to success.

With this in mind, businesses must ensure their content is aligned to buyer pain points, high quality, valuable, and optimised.

This means marketers must be more intentional about how they create content and create pieces that buyers feel inspired to share with each other.

If you can identify your FinTech category pain points - then you can use them to build mental availability.

When creating demand gen content, consider the following questions:

• What challenge or pain point is my customer experiencing that my solution can solve?

• What valuable information can I share that will help my ICP become more successful?

• What data points can I find to back this up?

• Who’s expert opinion can I add to increase the value 10-fold?

In summary

For B2B FinTech businesses the increase in popularity of demand generation is largely driven due to the strategy’s unique ability to deliver a stronger, more sustainable sales pipeline. 

Investing in demand generation strategies is crucial to making the right impression with today’s considered buyers. 

The aim is to be consistent and always front-of-mind for when a contact is ready to buy. We never know when that may be, which is why consistency is key.