Covid-19 has deeply impacted financial systems across the world with the pandemic severely disrupting certain financial sectors, whilst creating opportunities in others. According to the Mobile Finance Report 2020, a global benchmark of banking, payment, and investment apps, COVID-19 has considerably sped up the already exponential growth of fintech. The report reveals average sessions in investment apps surged by 88%, while payment and banking app sessions increased by 49% and 26%, respectively.
The Middle East is one of the world’s fastest-growing markets in the banking and capital markets sector. With populations getting younger, better educated, and more demanding, the region’s financial services sector is in the midst of a major transformation. In Saudi Arabia, the central bank (SAMA), with the Capital Market Authority, launched Fintech Saudi to support the development of the industry. The KSA fintech sector is growing at a rapid rate of 18% year on year, and with some 70% of the Kingdom’s 34 million population under the age of 30 and highly digitally literate, it is a potentially lucrative market for fintech providers and start-ups.
“The current environment demands a switch in marketing and PR focus from a product-centric to a customer-centric approach. Consumers need financial institutions they can trust, so you need to communicate your organization’s integrity and value to your target audiences,” says Abdulrahman Inayat, Director, and Co-Founder of W7Worldwide. “As financial technology moves forward, the consumers’ growing demands are putting pressure on communications strategy development for today’s financial brands.”
With its “7-Step Guide to Successful Financial Sector Communications in Covid-19”, multi-award-winning agency W7Worldwide sets out the key actions required to formulate the right financial communications strategies that reflect the changing world around us and support business growth. PR practitioners need to marry many different communications disciplines to provide the best results for financial technology companies. From content marketing and owned media platforms to media and analyst relations, combining marketing and communications is key to driving sales, creating leads, and raising the industry profile.
Analyst relations have become increasingly important as major influencers on the financial technology sales process and the opinions of decision-makers. Companies in the finance industry are often obliged to report on their performance to their stakeholders and shareholders on a regular basis, in line with market regulations. This includes the publication of their Annual Report as an important communications tool to present the year’s financial results, performance metrics, and rationale to install investor confidence.
The media, influencers, and buyers care about what the biggest players are doing and what unforeseen opportunities or challenges are around the corner, and this can only be found out at industry events. Take advantage of the greater accessibility of virtual events that can be attended remotely from any part of the globe. Attending the best-rated Finance events will enable networking with thought leaders, keeping up with the latest industry trends, building a lead generation channel, connecting you with potential partners, and featuring your brand alongside the best in the industry.
In this highly competitive and often complex sector, financial PR campaigns must be strategic and targeted, from capital markets to payments or online banking technology, the shape of the financial market is changing fast as a direct result of Covid-19. W7Worldwide is the region’s leading independent marketing communications agency for national, regional, and global financial and technology brands.
