Fintech Leader eComm Platform
Full-Funnel Marketing Strategy
THE COMPANY
Leading Canadian Fintech SaaS Company
SUMMARY
in 2021, Canada's leading Fintech company was looking to launch a unified, streamlined eCommerce and payment platform, with a business goal to dramatically increase its market adoption and brand awareness in the increasingly crowded eCommerce market place. This was to provide its payment customers easy access to growing their businesses online and to engage with new customers, while solidifying the company's leading position in the Canadian payment space.
However, with gaps still existing in its product offering and customer support programs, the race to win became a race to create and execute a ROI-driven marketing launch strategy that sets the brand and narrative a cut above its competitors.
The following is how, from reach and engage, nurture and educate, to convert and close, support and grow, we built out a holistic launch strategy that touched upon every stage of the customer funnel for the company and brought the eCommerce platform success to life.
RESULTS
15MM MEDIA IMPRESSION
1 BRAND PARTNERSHIP
200% SALES GROWTH IN 1ST YEAR
1 AWARD BY CANADIAN PODCAST AWARDS
THE FOUNDATION
We first dove into a competitive analysis to understand how the platform differentiates from other industry players.
By talking to our target customers, we knew that "Economics", "Ease of Use", "Smart Business" and "Growth Potential" were the key areas of considerations when it comes to choosing an eCommerce solution. We discovered that MO won on the following:
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Value for Money
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Integrated One-Stop Shop
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Fast Speed-to-Market
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Superior Fraud Prevention
We then developed a perceptual map with these traits and created 4 customer persona based on their market size, economic impact and potential of purchase from a set of qualitative and quantative study.
By understanding each of the persona's painpoints and motivations in life, we created a brand pyramid with a set of messaging designed to appeal to these target customers with an "onlyness" statement in the center, which later became a guiding principle for our launch campaign across all marketing channels.
As well, the persona preferences we uncovered on media channels and tactics also informed us on how to best communicate with each of the customer segment. This was essential in helping us making the best decisions on budget allocation and strategy focus.
THE BRAND BUILDING
On paid media front, surrounding the theme of "Proud Partner of Canadian Business", the team developed and deployed both 6's and 15's brand commercials that appeared on Rogers Sports Network and in CBC's "Dragon's Dem."
On digital front, besides the CBC home page takeover, we generated a The Globe and Mail editorial content series that can be seen on both desktop and mobile. The Weather Network saw using digital ads targeting individual customers, while select trade associations' newsletters also featured our print advertisements to introduce the platform to industry-specific clients.
THE FULL-FUNNEL STRATEGY
1. Reach & Engage
We launched a multi-layered digital acquisition campaign "Smarter Way to eCommerce" across various social & digital platforms, and amplified them through partner ecosystem, such as the RBC & BMO SMB webpages and dedicated customer emails.
We ran always-on SEM campaigns, capturing high-intent top of the funnel customers and built lookalike audience list across FB and Linkedin. We deployed gated content on owned & paid channel, and used case & testimonial content on segment specific platforms such as quora.
2. Nurture & Educate
We leveraged dynamic content and personalized landing page to to nurture target segments with different product benefits and offers that specifically appeal to them.
We also launched automated email drip campaigns to nurture prospects with the help of success stories, testimonials and "how to" blogs to convert our “lost leads.” Additionally, we created sales-led webinars to address common questions, with an emphasis on cost savings, competitive advantage and promos.
3. Convert & Close
We developed a step-by-step customer enrollment journey that triaged customer needs, provided pricing and enrolled customers. We also took advantage of the Small Business Grant offered by the Canadian government, and created a "Pitch to Win" competition that helped to convert prospective customers to get their business online.
4. Support & Grow
Finally, we recommended a customer referral & advocacy program, through which showcase some select customers' success stories on our content hub.
The #YesWeAreOpen podcast which put spotlight on customers from various industries also gathered impressive attention and served as a channel for further retention and advocacy down the road.
"In a sea of ecommerce sameness, we are the only integrated one-stop solution that helps Canadian merchants quickly and successfully achieve ecommerce success. It brings clarity and agility to the otherwise intimidating and complex experience of ecommerce adoption."
THE RESULTS
The launch campaign and customers' success stories touched the heart of the business community and exceeded our expectations.
The "Elevate x eCommerce North" brand partnership, among others, was without a doubt one of the most successful campaign component in this entire launch.
The partnership featured a branded accelerator program for founders and entrepreneurs entering into the 1st cohorts and classes that started in Feb. 2021.
Over 100 applications were funneled through the newly developed platform onboarding process and converted into customers. User generated stories on social media and media coverage generated over 15MM media impression, which successfully kick-started our launch campaign.
This, together with our full-funnel marketing strategy, contributed to the 200% sales growth in its 1st year.
