Marketers of Technology
00:07:24 · Andres Figuera, Philipp Blankenagel
[00:07:24] S1: No, I get that. And regarding, you mentioned at one point demand generation and that you're using AI to help you get leads, what is the best channel or the best way that you're seeing potential leads or better so, more qualified leads coming into the space of your funnel so that you're able to convert those to clients? [00:07:44] S0: Yeah, that's actually an interesting shift we're just seeing. Right? So I think a year ago, of course, you know, everyone was starting to to become AI native and introduce AI native workflows and and then into the company and so on. But we didn't really see the the change of AI in our funnel as we're seeing it today. So I would say roughly 30 to 40% of our qualified leads are already coming via the AI chatbot. So geo, as you would probably call it, which used to be SEO in in the the old times. And I think that's that's quite a massive change and it's an awesome one, right? Because it's basically us benefiting from the positioning groundwork we we did all over the years, and, you know, we don't have to pay extra for it. So it's it's what we would do anyways, but it's paying off in a in a really nice way.
00:07:44 · Philipp Blankenagel, Andres Figuera
[00:07:44] S0: Yeah, that's actually an interesting shift we're just seeing. Right? So I think a year ago, of course, you know, everyone was starting to to become AI native and introduce AI native workflows and and then into the company and so on. But we didn't really see the the change of AI in our funnel as we're seeing it today. So I would say roughly 30 to 40% of our qualified leads are already coming via the AI chatbot. So geo, as you would probably call it, which used to be SEO in in the the old times. And I think that's that's quite a massive change and it's an awesome one, right? Because it's basically us benefiting from the positioning groundwork we we did all over the years, and, you know, we don't have to pay extra for it. So it's it's what we would do anyways, but it's paying off in a in a really nice way. [00:08:31] S1: I'm loving how the fact it's that that you... With all the work you did beforehand, and and all the positioning you got with the brand, and after AI has entered the space, and now everything is generative engine optimization, so that whenever somebody looks up in an LLM for a fintech company that needs to help them out with the services that you give, then you guys are the first to appear almost always in these LLMs when they are looked for, right? [00:08:57] S0: Yep. Yeah. I wouldn't say we're always the first one to appear, but Yeah. [00:09:01] S1: That's a bold statement.
00:09:01 · Andres Figuera, Philipp Blankenagel
[00:09:01] S1: That's a bold statement. [00:09:02] S0: Exactly. We're trying to get there. We're trying to get there now. But we do get a good amount of leads, it's really great to see that. Of course, it's not only the work we've done in the past couple of years, but it's also continuously our ongoing work, right? So basically every week you see study, a new report, what you can do on your own page, in your own content to optimize for these kind of citations. Of course, so you need to stay on the ball basically to keep it running. But I would say without the groundwork you built over years, you don't have a chance. Right? So that's that's where I think it's actually, yeah, a good combination of the different marketing activities we've we've built over the years. [00:09:41] S1: Of course. And in terms of trust that you need to provide potential clients, because for FinTechs and in regulated environments such as where the ones you're advising your customers with, how have you been able to make sure that they know you are a person that can help them out, will look out for their best interest, and that your platform would not fail them when when they most need it or anything like that.
00:10:05 · Philipp Blankenagel
[00:10:05] S0: Yeah. I think one thing I already mentioned in the beginning is PR is a great, you know, helper for you in that regard. It's it's obviously not a tool. It's the relationships you build with journalists. It's the work you put into positioning to really stand out, to really transport kind of like the the value your product has. And of course then the trust you build over time by being in the market, by showcasing numbers, you know, our case that we've given out more than or we arranged more than 200 millions and 200,000,000 in debt funding, for example. Those are the kind of things you need to communicate in order to build trust. But then, of course, it's also about the customer marketing you do. So I think very early in the days, we started to work on on case studies, obviously. We found different types of companies, different types of founders, different types of problems they had and they allowed us to tell their story and how re:cap could help them by arranging financing for them. So I think it's those kind of things which really help you building trust and one of the most important channels since day one has been actually word-of-mouth and referrals. So it's really founders, witches who have worked with us, who have experienced our product and they are eager to recommend us for free, of course, and, you know, that's one thing which I think is the best source of trust, especially if you're in financing.
00:11:29 · Andres Figuera
[00:11:29] S1: Yeah, that was exactly what I was just gonna mention, and it's something I've noticed really a lot with FinTech companies, because financial services has been around forever, and it really is an unorthodox industry, and then when it's mixed with technology, you really require that referral and that approval from a previous client you had that then recommends you to a friend of theirs, another CEO, or somebody else, another CFO that is looking for what you guys can assist with, and that way they're like, yeah, no, this works so well for me, I recommend them to you so much, and that is like the best way to generate a proper lead that is looking for what you guys offer, but I totally understand how that would be a very nice channel that's working for you guys. And, Philipp, now looking towards recap internally, how are you guys looking as a team? Like, how many people compose the company? How many people do you have in the marketing department? So what what... If you could share any insight about that.
00:12:26 · Philipp Blankenagel, Andres Figuera
[00:12:26] S0: Yep. Happy to. We're actually 30 people at re:cap, and only two only two people in the marketing team. We We got a bit leaner this year also due to AI, meaning we really kind of like looked at all the different processes we have and figured out how to make them AI native in a way that, you know, we have AI agents running our customer support, for example. We have a lot of workflows and agents running our marketing stack right now. So it's really me and someone working on the demand generation and growth side running the full thing right now. And I mean, obviously it's it's been it's been talk of the town in the past couple of months how companies try to get AI native, how it enables them to have a different kind of business model, how... And especially kind of like organizational setup, how a lot of the companies are moving into kind of like a player coach and individual contributor kind of setup. And I think it's something we can really see at re:cap and in our industry. So yeah, definitely one of the stories I would say which which hold a lot of truth. [00:13:32] S1: Okay. Okay. No, I understand that. And technically, like, I understand you're you're leveraging, like, generative engine optimization, but how are you leveraging AI internally besides this automation of your processes? Can you shed a bit more light in that regard, like a bit, be a bit more specific?