Stop. A sincere question: what stage are you really at?
Do you still not have a stable flow of clients? Is your product alive, but sales aren’t taking off? Or are you already desperately fighting for growth and realising: without a strong in-house team, you won’t be able to push further?
Most fintechs confuse development stages — and end up stuck in place: ineffective advertising campaigns, endless hiring of “generalists”, and empty budgets wasted on agencies without a coherent strategy.
It’s time to get clarity.
Today, we’ll explore how fintech marketing is truly built: three stages, with real-life examples. You might just recognise yourself.
Stage 1: Product Birth — Marketing as Market Exploration
What’s happening at the start?
You’re not yet sure whether the world really needs your product. Your task is not to sell, but to research the market. Marketing acts like a scout: identifying your target audience, testing channels, and catching signals of demand.
That’s exactly how SoFi began. The American fintech giant didn’t start with advertising blitzes, but with educational content and student surveys. Instead of selling, they focused on deeply understanding their audience’s pain points — why traditional loans frustrated them.
This groundwork laid the foundation for SoFi’s future success.
Signs you’re at Stage 1:
- Your first landing pages.
- Writing your own social media posts.
- Searching for working channels.
Congratulations, you’re in reconnaissance mode.
Stage 2: Entering the Mass Market — Marketing as a Sales Machine
What’s happening now?
You’ve realised: there is demand for your product. Now the challenge is to outpace competitors in scaling. But you can’t manage it alone. You need professional agencies, strategists, and performance teams.
This is how Tonik grew with Bandera Agency. When customer acquisition costs soared, Tonik, through six months of working with the agency:
- Reduced CAC by 4.3 times.
- Increased sales through paid channels by 2.3 times.
- Achieved a 19% conversion from installs to real loans — in Southeast Asia, one of the world’s most competitive markets.
Corcentric followed a similar path, boosting lead generation by 400% through partnering with professionals.
Signs you’re at Stage 2:
- Growing marketing spend.
- Not enough hands internally.
- Urgent need to scale sales quickly.
Time to find strong partners.
Stage 3: Building In-House Strength — Marketing as the Core of Growth
What’s happening now?
You’ve become a brand. Marketing now manages not just client acquisition but also brand perception, retention, partnerships, and increasing LTV.
This is how Goldman Sachs operates. The bank invested millions of dollars into building its own marketing ecosystem — from performance divisions to creative and branding teams. Because at later stages of growth, only an internal team can ensure the necessary level of control, speed, and quality.
How Goldman Sachs builds marketing
Signs you’re at Stage 3:
- A stable stream of clients.
- Thinking about brand expansion.
- Ready to build internal expertise.
It’s time to create your marketing empire.
Conclusion: Your Focus Depends on Your Stage
- Stage 1 — Search for hypotheses and test the market.
- Stage 2 — Scale through partnerships.
- Stage 3 — Build your own team.
The most common mistake?
Trying to build a large team before you have a market. Or clinging to freelancers when it’s time to build an army.
The key to success?
Doing exactly what is needed for your current stage — and nothing more.
One Last Question:
- Are you working on hypotheses or do you have a ready product?
- Are you capable of scaling sales, or are you still searching for channels?
- Are you managing brand perception, or are you still unknown?
Answer honestly. Your entire future growth depends on it.