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Communicating Your Crypto Strategy: Staying on-brand while demonstrating sophistication

Robert Cohen 11 April 2022
financial copywriters

Cryptocurrency (crypto) has created a sense of internal conflict for many financial services (FS) firms. On the one hand, crypto has produced an enormous amount of value as a financial and technological asset.

On the other hand, much of its value has accrued through speculation. Bitcoin and Ethereum alone account for over $1 trillion (USD) of value—yet, far too often, bets in the crypto economy are made by speculators or those engaging in criminal enterprises.

Our team at Copylab is well prepared to help your firm thread this delicate needle of value and risk.

The central conundrum for many FS providers involves their standing as guarantors of public trust and financial safety. Particularly since the 2008 financial crisis, many FS firms have found it more important than ever to communicate as conservative and trustworthy institutions.

Given crypto’s status as a popular technology investment and its additional classification as a financial instrument, FS firms feel pressured to present PR, opinions, or advice with respect to often-risky crypto investments.

In a rapidly changing technological and financial environment, crypto and other new technologies such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and artificial intelligence (AI) are making it necessary for our conservative guarantors of financial safety to communicate both savvy and credibility.

At Copylab, we’ve identified a number of different ways that FS firms can pursue when communicating their crypto strategy. These strategies can help them remain relevant while also staying true to their brand values of safety and trust.

1. Take a measured approach

When communicating firm strategy, don’t oversimplify. Yes, it’s good to have clear-cut responses to popular queries, but given current public sentiment, it’s also beneficial for any FS firm to offer a well-thought-out and careful argument regarding crypto.

Rather than simply denouncing or praising the asset class, a careful argument with several well-reasoned points that respects the intelligence of potential customers will help them to make sense of this hotly debated topic and further secure trust in an FS firm.

A measured approach will help develop a firm’s credibility with its clients.

2. Educate

Seeking to educate a firm’s clients on crypto and providing access to content that helps them to understand a subject that is often plagued by misinformation can be a great service that FS firms can offer their customers.

If customers feel that their financial providers can help them to understand the latest trends, they are more likely to trust and further deepen their relationships with them.

Our experts have years of experience developing reports, educational guides, and other similar pieces of content that can help your audience understand crypto.

3. Communicate your product lines to your clients, with empathy

Customers may approach your FS firm with different levels of crypto interest, sophistication, and risk tolerance.

Try to be accommodating. Akin to many investment firms that offer different funds to match their investors’ growth and risk preferences, FS firms may choose to offer a number of different product or service lines to match various customer preferences.

Likewise, different content and communications materials will need to be provided in respect of each product category.

4. Remain flexible

Bitcoin has grown tremendously over the past five years. As an asset, it’s grown in capitalization by more than 4,000%. Only five years ago, writing an article about communicating a firm’s crypto strategy would not have made sense.

Now, the timing feels right. If an FS firm does decide on a crypto communications strategy, it’s crucial that it continues to regularly take the temperature of the asset class and be open to shifting strategy on a quarterly, if not more regular, basis.

5. Hire a team of respected experts—or partner with one

Hiring top crypto talent, enhancing existing talent, or partnering with other firms—crypto- or fintech-focused research or venture-capital (VC) firms could be particularly helpful—to develop both a firmwide view and content that is sophisticated and true-to-brand could be very useful to any FS firm.

A crypto team will help to form an educated perspective on new technologies and trends that can be vital to any FS communication strategies or even investment decision-making.

Partnering with leading research or VC firms could help to develop valuable on-the-ground market insight that can shape perspectives both within the firm and externally.

4.Create content that provides unique insights

Creating industry reports or newsletters on crypto, blockchain, and fintech can help FS firms provide thought leadership for the industry.

This can attract a set of customers that are looking for guidance with respect to these new technologies, and shape the conversation among existing crypto investors.

Copylab writers have produced thought leadership that has been published in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, among others.

5. Develop strategy for a host of crypto products—NFTs, ICOs, and more

If an FS firm wants to not only be relevant in the crypto market, but also trusted and looked to as a leader in the space, it’s critical to be on top of the latest trends and armed with plenty of strategy or thought leadership.

Some products may seem unseemly, but thought leadership or wisdom can still be provided.

The latest initial coin offering (ICO) that a customer heard about from a friend is likely to be a scam, and FS providers will need to educate their clients accordingly. Likewise, FS providers can explain why NFTs can be a useful way to store digital assets.

Clients should be made aware of the kinds of potential inherent in these technologies and the pitfalls and benefits that investing in them can offer.

Being Savvy in the New Digital Economy: Some Parting Thoughts

Operating in the new fintech economy can be a grand new adventure for any FS firm. It’s critical for FS firms to both offer insight and stay on-brand—and see shifting technological, economic, and financial waters as an opportunity to build trust in their leadership rather than watch it fade away.

We’ve identified a number of strategies that we believe can help FS firms to further deepen their relationships with their clients and perhaps even help lead their respective markets.

Please contact us if you’d like to learn more and receive assistance and insight from one of our communications or content experts.