Interview | 05 Jul 2018

B2B Tech & Fintech PR - Matt talks shop!

Posted in Freelancer, Motivation & inspiration, Freelancer's stories, Interview,

With a digital revolution across B2B Businesses and in particular in enterprise banking thanks to financial technology, the number of Fintech companies are growing exponentially throughout the UK, challenging the status quo.

With this burgeoning, it has never been more crucial to find the right talent to help raise brand awareness and communicate effectively with your B2B customers, thus  gaining a competitive edge.

This month we talk to Matt, B2B media and communications specialist, with over 12 years experience working both in house and agency. He has supported a diverse pool of B2B Technology clients, from cloud computing, SaaS, mobile, CRM, BPM and Blockchain to asset management, investment research and Fintech.

Matt shares his insights and experience and what skills you need as a freelance PR professional to ensure B2B businesses get the results they need.

Matt, Can you tell us a little more about yourself, your expertise and what you feel sets you apart as a PR and communications professional?

I’ve been working in PR for over a dozen years now. I started in the army and then took the skills and understanding I had of PR and communications and put them to use outside.

I’ve worked across a number of sectors, but mainly in B2B PR; this isn’t by chance  - I don’t have the consumer insight to do PR for fashion, beauty, music or consumer tech PR as I don’t buy those things or not often. I think the only things I could do the world of  consumer PR would be beer and cider!

I have developed a speciality in financial technology (fintech) which seems to be much in demand right now as that industry booms in the UK.

The other thing that sets me apart is that I am an old school media relations man who doesn’t mind picking up the phone to all levels of journalist  - I don’t mind calling up a senior journo at the FT or the Telegraph if the story is strong enough and am prepared for the rejection if it comes, it’s all part of the job to me.

You've worked with a few clients through the platform, can you share some of your experiences with us?  

Two of the largest projects i’ve been involved with  recently have been with a nuclear energy investment company and a cryptocurrency exchange.

The nuclear company was interesting because, although I had done some energy work before, it isn’t my strongest area,  but nonetheless it still went really well. I was tasked with inviting media contacts to attend an event the company were hosting.

All the  key national energy correspondents attended  – Reuters, Bloomberg, Times, Telegraph, Guardian; it just shows how the core skill of picking up the phone can pay off, irrespective of the sector.

How do you work with your clients to ensure they are effectively communicating with their target audience?

I’d like to say that we sit down and plan months in advance, going through their aims, audiences and messages – that’s the ideal. But often it doesn’t happen that way, the client has a deadline or an event that is fixed in time and imminent and one has to get on board quickly and get on with it to ensure results.

As a B2B technology and Fintech media and communications specialist, what key trends/changes are you seeing in the industry?

Fintech is all the rage at the moment and there’s two things I see happening in the media. The first is that some of the more established B2B technology publications are expanding to cover fintech, but they are racing against new online fintech publications that are experts in their niches.

The second is that at the nationals, and big business wires likes Bloomberg, they are slowly realising that they need people covering things like blockchain and cryptocurrencies full time, in the way that they already have desks for fiat currencies, oil and gas etc

“The Work Crowd is an easy-to use platform that is easy to find jobs and then win the business and bill for the work completed. I have tried other platforms, but they aren’t so straight forward – they don’t allow you to search for a job or they are clogged up with irrelevant roles. I think the customer service is the winner though; I’ve been pushed to jobs when I haven’t been looking and the team there are prepared to go into bat if there’s any quibble over fees which is invaluable for a freelancer like me. The Work Crowd works for me.” -Matt. F

Planning on a launch? Break through the noise & grab your target markets attention with the support of an experienced freelance PR expert. Ask us how today!