Samir Pekaz
Senior Product Manager @ d.labs
.png)
After collaborating with numerous fintech founders, we've noticed a recurring challenge: developing a focused and viable Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy for an early-stage fintech startup. This strategy should leverage their strengths while fitting within industry norms, timelines, and available resources. As a venture product studio, we aimed to address this gap by achieving two objectives:
a) Going beyond 1-1 advice: Developing a detailed blueprint that provides actionable steps for any fintech founders looking to craft an effective GTM strategy.
b) Adding value to the fintech ecosystem: Sharing our knowledge and experience to contribute value to the fintech-founder community.
Fintech startups are revolutionising the financial landscape, making once-hard tasks easy. However, the ease of access to investment opportunities for everyone comes with its own set of risks. Ensuring safe and compliant practices becomes imperative as more people engage in financial activities. In the process, we decided to create an Open source Fintech tool called “Finquiz” and prepare it’s launch (more on that in the upcoming article).
artifactOur market(ing) work included: initial market understanding, Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) formation, positioning, distribution, key messaging, content development, marketing plan, and more.
To successfully bring a fintech product to market, we at d.labs undertake a structured approach to creating its GTM strategy first. Given the resource constraints typical of early-stage startups, we select 1-3 key GTM motions that make the most sense, supported by a focused marketing plan. The plan often involves running GTM campaigns for an initial period of 2-3 months, with the first 2-4 weeks being dedicated to testing and experimenting with content and assets. The goal is to continuously monitor the campaign and, at the end of the initial period, assess and decide on the approach for the future.
Most startups' growth comes from one well-performing channel. As a founder, your most important task is finding that channel, which involves a lot of work and experimentation. It's crucial to manage your expectations here, as about 90% of startups never find it. The importance of the work done before any marketing at all—product and market discovery—cannot be overstated. Getting your market, problem, or solution right will extend your startup's life multiple times.
The GTM strategy is an artefact that accounts for all the market and product work done previously and sets the stage for future efforts.
Now, let's discuss all the things you need to have in place, all the processes and tools to formulate a GTM strategy for your fintech product that will take you in the right direction.
Every founder we’ve worked with has done research and mentally iterated their idea countless times, forming opinions and identifying potential blind spots. Start by leveraging your existing knowledge base—this is where you are most comfortable, and it should be your fallback whenever you face a cold start.
Compile all your knowledge, assumptions, and unknowns. Document things meticulously (it will come in handy when you start to grow as a company). Discuss these points with your team and structure them in a project management or collaboration tool. Internally, we use Notion and Miro for these types of learnings and write-ups. Their communities are large, helpful, and there are many templates to get you started (like this one by d.Labs).
With your initial knowledge in hand, it's time to fill the gaps through both qualitative and quantitative research. This research can be undertaken at any point and within any department of your fintech startup (e.g., product, marketing, operations or technology). Your aim is to command a formidable understanding of the market, customers (pains, gains, desires), competition, and customer sentiment towards competitors. This involves:
Set a time limit for this research phase to avoid endless analysis (and potential paralysis). This ensures you gather enough information to move forward with confidence while recognising that learning is an ongoing process. This balanced approach allows you to progress to the next steps with a solid foundation of market knowledge.
Regulatory compliance is a critical aspect of any fintech startup. There are certain things you are not allowed to do as an unauthorised company. Conduct thorough research on the regulatory requirements and licensing needed for your product to avoid potential headaches down the road. Regulation can significantly impact you product creation and validation efforts. For more detailed information, refer to the article that touches upon regulatory compliance and licensing, (Link: written but not published yet).
An Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is crucial for guiding future decisions, such as prioritisation, key messaging, channel selection, and customer approach strategies. As a startup just heading out into the world, you might not be sure who your ICP is. That’s ok, go with your best guess at who might be your first or early ICP and iterate as you learn from your early adopters.
To form your initial ICP, follow these steps:
By carefully selecting and iterating on your ICP, you ensure that your marketing and sales efforts are targeted and effective, leading to better alignment with your ideal customers.
Using the insights gathered on your customers' problems, pains, and desires, enter brainstorming mode to identify potential solutions to opportunities. A useful tool at this stage is Opportunity Trees by the product coach/author Teresa Torres, which helps structure, visualise, and explore different solution paths.
Many founders already have a solution in mind as they delve deeper into their ideas, but it's best to maintain an open mind for new or underserved opportunities. Focus on understanding the progress your customers are trying to achieve. Identify one core problem or opportunity and strive to solve it exceptionally well. Ideas are a dime a dozen, but finding something worth solving for is what truly makes a difference.
Positioning your startup and product in the market is perhaps the most critical step to differentiate yourself and play to your strengths. Every company is unique, and mimicking your competitors' strategies may not yield the same results for you.
Develop a positioning document that clearly outlines your market situation and your proposed positioning strategy. This document should include:
This document will serve as a foundational guide to ensure that all your marketing and sales efforts are aligned and effectively communicate your unique value proposition.
To develop your key messaging, start by identifying the core benefits of your business and product/service. Once these benefits are clear, you can craft the concepts and messages that will be consistently conveyed across all your communication channels—whether in blog articles, sales emails, or LinkedIn posts.
Ensure your key messaging clearly articulates the unique value and benefits your product offers, resonates with your target audience, and reinforces your positioning.
Selecting the right GTM motions is crucial and should be approached with the same iterative mindset as your overall strategy. There are several proven product and marketing motions, including inbound marketing, outbound sales, paid advertising, partnerships, community building, and product-led growth.
As an early-stage startup, it’s advisable to choose 1-3 of these motions and test them quickly. Learn from the results, iterate on what works, ditch what doesn’t, and adjust your strategy based on new insights.
Consider your business stage: early stage, growth, or scale/maturity, as each phase requires a different approach. Early-stage efforts will focus on validating product-market fit and driving awareness, while growth-stage efforts will involve scaling marketing efforts for explosive growth (the holly grail of what VC investors are looking for). If you are early stage you will focus on a few key channels that deliver the most results, if you are growth stage then you will want to support multi-channel marketing throughout the funnel (from awareness to retention) and so on.
Figuring out your distribution strategies is essential for ensuring your product reaches the right audience. It’s often said in startup circles that first-time founders are obsessed with solutions and second-time founders with distribution. Consider the following approaches:
These tactics can help you maximise your product's reach and ensure it gets in front of the right users.
When developing your marketing plan, think about your objectives and how to reach them by producing work and content. Align your marketing plan timeline with the timeline of your selected GTM motion(s). Given the fast-paced nature of startups, aim for a 1-3 month timeline for your chosen plan based on your resources, and assess after that.
Your marketing plan should encompass all GTM motions, detailing their objectives, deliverables, and the execution plan for these deliverables.
With a solid GTM motion, marketing plan, and mix in place, it’s time to plan the specifics of your execution. Determine the following:
The goal here is to avoid being side-blinded by the resources and content required or if there are new tools you need to learn how to use. By clearly outlining these requirements, you can understand and allocate resources and be more confident that different aspects of your marketing plan can be effectively executed.
Once your marketing requirements are clear, create a detailed budget and secure approval. Here's how to approach it:
Set aside a contingency for any unplanned costs (we recommend 10-20%). If you are the one executing your GTM or not (an external agency might do that for you) it’s a good idea to discuss phased spending. Some projects might benefit from incremental or milestone-based funding where you allocate budgets for specific phases of the campaign (e.g. initial launch, mid-campaign review, final push) to ensure each phase justifies the next stage of investment.
With your motion(s), marketing plan, and requirements established, plan your campaign out. Outline specific activities, ensuring all necessary artefacts are created and activities conducted, Your plan might include week-by-week phasing and activities. E.g.: Week 1 (Current) : Planning, addressing unknowns, and preparation work; Week 2: Alignment on value proposition and positioning, content creation starts; Week 3: Development of key messaging, and so on.
This would serve as your high-level plan, and follow-up planning meetings would be required for each sprint and activities and tasks associated.
Set KPIs for each motion and overall KPIs to measure success. Track campaign engagement, content performance, and conversion/engagement rates on a daily/weekly basis. Gather and analyse feedback from post comments, contact forms, and social media to validate the ICP and refine the approach.
The journey of bringing a fintech product to market showcases the importance of understanding the market, competition, your ICP, and strategically selecting your GTM motions. For a fintech startup, the path to success involves learning, experimentation, and adaptation. There is no quick way to achieve the desired results.
If this has sparked any thoughts or questions, feel free to drop us a line via our Contact Us page. 90+ startups have pushed towards the exit with d.labs already. In case you need help deciding on partners or building your Fintech app, we are just a couple of clicks away.
