Effective Strategies for Launching Financial Products

As financial institutions (FIs) look to differentiate themselves in a market crowded by over 4,500 FDIC insured entities and over 13,000 fintechs in the Americas, the products on offer are becoming more diversified and creative. Traditional financial products such as checking or savings accounts and credit cards will remain mainstays for financial services, but options such as banking-as-a-service, digital currencies, and sustainable finance options mean more products and more messaging for consumers faced with making decisions about their funds.

Developing a financial product launch that accounts for product positioning and customer acquisition strategies is increasingly critical for defining and achieving success in the marketplace. Yet, finance and insurance companies have a 22.6% business failure rate within the first year, and, across industries, only 33.3% of product marketing managers have a defined go-to market strategy. Consider this within the framework of a market saturated with financial products, and the need for a detailed launch plan becomes even clearer.

Financial product launches will vary based on the FI’s target segmentation, market research, competitive analysis, and locale. However, nearly every FI brand can benefit from implementing a go-to-market strategy that includes actionable goals and defined measures of success. 

Why Financial Product Launches Require a Strategic Approach

A product launch plan can help nearly any company in any industry, but within financial services, these plans are rising in importance. FIs are responsible not only for marketing and selling financial products but also for achieving compliance with rigorous disclosure requirements. These guidelines are in place to protect and educate consumers and support the development of responsible advertising. Product positioning can be creative and engaging, but marketing strategies financial services undertake must also be accurate and transparent. 

Remaining well-informed regarding trends in product development can help brands remain relevant and competitive in a fast-changing landscape. However, not all bankable consumers will have the same interest in the same products. Segmenting target audiences based on buyer personas and purchasing patterns can help target marketing efforts to improve return on investment (ROI) for both hard spending and resource management. 

A financial product launch should account for timing factors beyond whether the product itself is viable and ready to be distributed. Companies that align product launches in consideration of seasonal trends or economic market conditions may increase their likelihood of success by being sensitive to consumer needs and expectations. For example, during periods of low economic growth, products with less risk may resonate better with tentative consumers and increase overall adoption.

Notably, a strategic financial product launch should include more than just the product development team. Key stakeholders throughout the organization should be consulted for their perspectives on the concept, timing, and operational challenges. Failure to incorporate input from legal, technical, and customer support roles could cause challenges throughout a launch that were otherwise unaccounted for. 

One example of a product launch that fell short is the Wells Fargo 2022 launch of an updated mobile application. While the professed benefits were many, the company failed to consider the user experience. Rather than increasing adoption, engagement, and transactions, the launch dropped the app rating to 3.2, impacting brand reputation and customer retention. 

In contrast, the financial services company Robinhood created excitement and engagement with its own financial product launch with a pre-launch campaign. The company generated new leads and created a waiting list for access that incorporated a referral campaign. Not only did this strategy address volume and customer support operations with early onboarding, but it also helped the company expand its reach and achieve over one million registered users over one year before the app actually came to market. 

How to Ensure a Successful Product Launch

While a foolproof plan may not exist when it comes to a financial product launch, marketing leaders can follow a course of best practices that can guide planning and development for both products and support messaging. As might be expected, every plan starts with determining the viability of a concept and includes an ample amount of research from conception to production. 

Start with Comprehensive Market and Customer Research 

It all begins with a target market analysis for finance products and services. The idea for a product may come from monitoring industry trends, the need to play catch up with a competitor, or a novel idea from an industry thought leader. However, not all concepts are received the same way across consumers. 

Existing customers may be the best means of conducting a market analysis to shape a successful product launch. Focus groups and surveys sent to current consumers can help product development and marketing leaders determine whether a concept resonates with their needs. This can also be a great opportunity to test out different messaging and collect feedback. Sometimes the best ideas come from customers since they are driven by real-world needs. 

Analyzing this data alongside any other information available in customer records can help marketers develop customer personas. These are used to represent an ideal customer’s behaviors, tendencies, and goals. By conducting this research, marketers may discover new target audiences, redefine existing segmentation, or choose to market a new product only to a specific subset of consumers for maximum impact. 

Social media monitoring, or social listening, can also help with market research. Tracking the keywords and phrases relevant to a specific target audience can reveal a great deal regarding their interests and needs and help direct product positioning in the future. Brands can also engage with individuals or consumer groups online to explore use cases for particular product offerings. 

Build a Winning Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy

Validating the product concept, and the target audience for it, is just the first step. Creating thorough go-to-market strategies for fintech or other FI brands is what will drive traffic, interest, and demand for a new financial product launch. A go-to-market strategy is a plan for the marketing channels, product positioning, and sales plan including outreach, nurturing, and closing approaches.

For financial products, building a go-to-market strategy can be the difference in providing a competitive advantage. A comprehensive plan will include messaging that underscores the brand and product’s value proposition in diverse ways that help with establishing brand reputation, consumer confidence, and lead generation. Effective go-to-market plans can have a direct impact on a company’s revenue, both new and recurring. 

A GTM strategy will often include the following components: 

• Well-defined target segmentations and aligned channels for each demographic
• Established brand guidelines including mission statements, value propositions, and key differentiators for the product
• Planned content optimized for each audience and channel format set timing 
• Aligned internal processes for lead capture, engagement, and qualification between marketing and sales teams
• Detailed customer service contingencies for high volume generated by consumer interest
• Adopted regulatory compliance for financial products 
• Phased rollout designed to collect consumer feedback and integrate iterative improvements

Craft Clear and Compelling Messaging

Financial product launch strategies should prioritize the development of content that tells a story consumers can relate to. One of the challenges FIs face in marketing new products is to distill complex financial concepts to make them quickly understandable for consumers without violating compliance regulations. Short, clear examples or stories around the benefits of a product can help customers relate to use cases while also valuing the brand for its thought leadership.

Aside from explaining the specific offerings of a product, marketers should also underscore the brand’s integrity. Trust is essential to financial services consumers who are more likely to forego financial products all together than risk their funds. Only 61% of consumers trust FIs, and a lack of trust in banks was the second most cited reason for unbanked households to not have a bank account. 

Leverage Digital Marketing for Maximum Reach

Messaging that communicates trust, ease of use, and relevance is likely to matter most to consumers. How information is shared with potential customers is just as important to consider. While some more traditional methods like direct mail remain effective with some consumer demographics, the move to digital-first marketing can position a financial product launch for greater reach, and potentially greater ROI.

Consumers expect financial brands to have a presence online and across platforms including social media. Maintaining these accounts and engaging with users can help FIs build their brand awareness while also helping to cultivate engagement, credibility, and lead generation. Reputation is also a key factor with regard to social media presence. Even of those consumers who have a financial advisor, 45.2% use social media to learn about financial planning. This provides a large opportunity for brands to tie their product launch strategy into their overall product positioning and brand guidelines and establish themselves as thought leaders. 

While social media may be a great way to distribute messaging, marketers need to develop the content to share while demonstrating product value. Content marketing takes a number of forms including blogs, videos, podcasts, and images. Digital marketing can use all of these formats and spread the word about a brand, highlighting everything from innovation in financial product design to industry trends and recommendations. This also applies to pay per click (PPC) advertising, which can go beyond traditional ad formats to link to curated landing pages that offer value-added resources to consumers considering new products. 

When choosing the digital marketing channels to implement for a particular product launch, keep in mind that different target segments may behave differently online. Consider that 78% of Baby Boomers are active on Facebook while only 28% of Gen Z consumers use X (formerly Twitter). When it comes to email marketing, 56% of Millennials are likely to make a purchase decision from a social media ad compared to just 33% of Baby Boomers. While FIs are focused on rolling out new mobile applications, these tend to appeal to younger generations (only 35% of Baby Boomers use mobile banking solutions in contrast to 64% of Gen Z).

Along the way, marketers should continue to monitor campaign performance. The goals established as part of the financial product launch should be measured and checked regularly throughout a launch cycle. Data analytics can help optimize campaigns by demonstrating which channels or segments are performing well. These insights can help marketers refine their strategies in real time to improve ROI. 

Stay Compliant with Regulatory Standards

Even the best customer acquisition strategies and go-to-market plans need to be viewed through the lens of compliance in the financial services industry. FI marketers should make sure that compliance officers and management are involved with product positioning development from the start to avoid risks. This may also include a systematic review process of all marketing content to confirm that the right language, disclaimers, and assurances are included. Regulatory standards can also vary by location, and products geared toward national or international audiences may require additional review or consideration before content is distributed. 

FIs engaged with third-party vendors or influencers for marketing efforts should also consider the regulatory requirements of these relationships. These often include data security, information sharing, advertisement disclosures, and close monitoring of leads generated through such a program. 

Using a CRM or similar enterprise platform to track consumer engagement and outreach, including marketing messaging, can help provide an audit trail of who received what (and when) through automated recordkeeping. Regular cadence meetings between legal and marketing teams can also help both groups remain current on new campaigns and compliance standards that may need to be considered moving forward.  

Case Studies: Successful Financial Product Launches

Lemonade is an insurance provider centered around providing easy access to solutions for renters, homeowners, and car insurance through a mobile-first platform. The start-up brand was looking to establish itself as a reliable insurance company powered by artificial intelligence that can help with customer-facing responses and backend risk assessment. 

Looking to differentiate themselves from traditional providers, Lemonade drew on its value proposition and product positioning as a modern alternative with quicker turn arounds and clearer answers. Pointing out the perceived flaws in the industry and the frustrations consumers typically face with insurance providers, Lemonade was able to illustrate its mission to change up insurance. According to the company, Lemonade issued over 1.2 million policies in just three years completely through its AI platform. 

Another successful financial product launch was Bank of America’s introduction of Erica, its AI-powered virtual financial assistant, into its mobile app offerings. Marketing campaigns for the new offering centered around consumer needs for personalization and on-demand answers to financial questions or concerns that can arise throughout the course of a day. Illustrating the value Bank of America could bring to consumers looking for access to financial advice regardless of their income tier helped the brand connect with consumers looking for increased engagement. Erica now has 19.6 million users and has also helped the company increase its earnings by 19%.

Looking Forward: Trends Shaping Financial Product Launches

Launching a successful financial product may partly rely on market perception and reception, yet leveraging certain trends can help marketers with their product positioning efforts. 

Technology continues to dominate discussions for FIs just as it has across other industries. Seventy-one percent of consumers expect personalized experiences with brands, and 54% of financial services customers expect their provider to know them based on the amount of data available. More than just starting an email with a mail merged first name, personalized marketing can provide product recommendations, dynamic pricing, offers based on an individual’s preferences and behaviors.

To do this, many FIs are leveraging AI for customer insights. These tools take existing customer data sets and find patterns that can help brands develop new experiences through content and creative marketing. AI can be applied to customer segmentation to better refine messaging or financial product launch alignment. This technology can also be used to determine consumer sentiment about the brand or particular products to help teams iterate go-to-market strategies that may need adjustment over time. 

Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) factors are also a rising in importance as consumers consider financial products. Increasingly, especially among younger generations, choosing financial products and services from institutions that adhere to and report on ESG efforts. This can include a FI’s stance on climate change, labor practices, social justice causes and diversity advocacy, and philanthropy. Among larger scale investors, 89% consider ESG issues as part of their assessment approach for new investments. 

Next Steps for Your Financial Product Launch

Orchestrating a successful product launch and go-to-market strategy in financial services can certainly present a challenge to leaders across an organization. By establishing clear goals and understanding the marketplace and consumer demands, product positioning can be better aligned with customer expectations and internal revenue goals. Key to any effective marketing strategies financial institutions implement is the integration of a short, persuasive storytelling that emphasizes product value and how that relates to customer pain points. 

At Vested, we work with our clients to develop multichannel financial product launch strategies that deliver results. Our comprehensive plans are supported by a team of creatives, writers, and designers who help implement strategies into executable campaigns that also consider market timing. Never a one-fits-all approach, Vested customizes every plan to align with customer acquisition strategies, target segmentation research, and the nuances of each individual business. Learn more about Vested’s experience in facilitating impactful product launches for financial services companies.