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Market like a Fintech is a podcast by Mint Studios and the Fintech Marketing Hub, on a mission to find out what marketing strategies and tactics the top fintech companies in the industry use to acquire real customers, build a brand and grow revenue.
Araminta Robertson: We recently had our
full day FinTech marketing conference here
in London, and it was our biggest one yet.
It was a full day that I
co-organized, uh, with Annie.
We do these every year.
But yeah, this one was, uh, bigger
and it was really fantastic a great
day and one theme kept coming up.
With AI remote work, just
more tech in general.
In our lives, in-person events are
becoming more important than ever,
and that means that they're becoming
a bigger part of the marketing stack
for B2B FinTech marketers, whether
it's sponsoring, having a booth, or
organizing your own events, and I think
they're only gonna get more important.
But managing B2B and, and the
whole world of B2B FinTech
events can really be a minefield.
There's so many to choose
from, and different events will
help you meet different goals.
So it's really important
to have expectations there.
So how can you get it right?
What does success look like?
When it comes to doing events as
a FinTech, that's what we cover
in today's episode with Nikolay
Sabev, a leading FinTech growth
strategist and marketing expert.
With over a decade of experience driving
commercial growth and brand innovation
across FinTech financial services and
digital platforms, he's played a pivotal
role in building and scaling marketing
functions for high growth companies.
Most notably helping shape the
go-to market strategy and brand
presence of FinTech company.
PayTechs, a leading European
embedded finance provider.
In this episode, we talk about
how to pick which events to go to.
You know, should you go to the large ones,
the small ones, vertical, horizontal,
the power of satellite events, where to
meet to help you meet your sales goals,
how to stand out at large events like
Money 2020, and what are the type of
speaking engagements that work best.
I really enjoy this episode,
and I hope you do too.
You are listening to the
market like a FinTech podcast.
My name is Ara Minta, MD admin studios
and partner at the FinTech Marketing Hub.
And with this podcast, my aim is to
explore the strategies and tactics
that top marketers around the world
use to grow FinTech companies.
We have discussions about how to navigate
compliance, the intricacies of marketing
technical products, and targeting
hard to reach ideal customers, all of
that while living the startup life.
I hope you enjoy this episode.
So, um, I'd love Nick
to start with events.
Uh, I, if anyone goes to your
LinkedIn and Scrolls, we'll see
that you attend a lot of events.
You speak at a lot of events.
You've, uh, helped the
companies that you work at.
Organize and, I guess go to
events and sponsor events.
So let's start with that.
What would you say?
Well, just for, for the listener and for
me as well, like what would you say is
your experience with, , events in the B2B
space and B2B FinTech space specifically?
And yeah, what have you found a little
bit works there or what do you think
is really valuable about events?
Nikolay Sabev: Yeah, as you
mentioned, uh, my experience is, um.
All different like sides of event going.
So visitor, organizer, uh, exhibitor
speaker, uh, that actually truly enjoy.
And every time it's just, um, you know,
depending on your strategy, like how
we go there, you go to speak or you go
to meet people, you're gonna go through
like a lead generation, et cetera.
It takes like a different shape.
The event, I think one of
the important things, um.
When I go to events or a team
member go to events is really
to , strategize the purpose, uh, why
you go there do a bit of a research.
I think it's quite important to actually
know who is gonna be there and, um, target
audience of the event you're going to.
Whether it's a speaking opportunity
or like lead generation or
you just have a boat there.
So from my experience,
I've been to kind of.
Most of the FinTech events that
happen, mostly Europe and the UK
because, you know, I've been involved
heavily in the markets there.
They're like different
sizes depending on the.
Companies going there.
Each of like, these events have
a different appeal in a way.
Like, so you have the large conferences,
like money 2020, et cetera, that have
like a specific, um, side to them.
At the same time you have like mid-level
or even smaller events that they
offer different kind of opportunities.
So I think it's all about really
mapping out why you go there
and what you can achieve if you
do a bit of planning before.
I think it always helps
in a way after that.
Araminta Robertson: Yeah, I'm
seeing, uh, quite a few marketers
in this space are invent investing
less in the bigger events.
They're getting a little bit
tired of those and doing more.
Smaller community driven niche events.
Do you have an opinion on which
one's better or when it makes
sense to do one versus the other?
Nikolay Sabev: Yeah, you know,
it's a topic I've been discussing
a lot recently, in a way.
I think there is no one magical formula
which event works best for everyone.
For example, I understand the point of
the big events and not having a appeal
to every single company, but imagine if
you're like one of these huge FinTech
brands they gotta be there, right?
Like if you're MasterCard or Visa or Ad
or Stripe, uh, there is no way if your
main competitor that you're fighting out.
Goes there with a huge boot, there's
no way that you don't go there.
So for, I think for bigger brands
you know, the big events are very
important even for just presence, right?
I do get the point about smaller
events being a little more productive
for companies who maybe do not
have like huge budgets and they
need to actually make a decision.
And we're getting back to the point
that I mentioned in the beginning
that it's very important to.
Map out initially obviously having the
budget in mind, but map out what can
you achieve from these kind of events.
I had an interesting experience, um, with
fanatics, uh, for money 2020, for example.
Last year we had a booth there, right?
Uh, it was a, we, we invested
quite a lot in having a booth
like at the event itself.
This year we totally changed the strategy.
We actually, we got rid of the idea of a
booth and we organized a satellite event,
which in our case worked out much better.
Because it was purely for lead generation.
So I think bigger events tend to help a
lot for brand building and reputation.
Smaller and mid-size events, they're
much, much better for actually
relationship building, which is extreme.
Araminta Robertson: Yeah,
that's really interesting.
Can you tell us a bit more
about the satellite event?
So what, what, um, what was the event?
What is this?
What was the satellite event?
What did it consist of?
What did you do?
And also how did you try and get the
people you were targeting in that room?
Nikolay Sabev: Yeah.
Oh, it was, it was, it was interesting.
It was, um, quite recently.
It actually happened in, in June.
So, um, I was running it from the
side of tics and it was done in
cooperation with a CI at worldwide at.
Like leading payment gateway.
That was sort of a partnership in
terms of organization and we decided
to have, um, like a booked, like a
smaller venue up to a hundred people
targeted specifically to payment service
providers, like a core target audience.
It wasn't really marketed publicly.
It was a very much a personal
approach to every single invitee
that we wanted to actually get there.
And it worked out, uh, it worked
out in, in, in a great way
to actually bring the people.
Um, one of the good things about these
huge events like Money2020 Pay360
mp, Berlin, , and so on, is that.
It's quite clever if you actually manage
to do a satellite event during that
time because you use the fact that so
many people from the industry are there.
As long as you don't do them on the
last day, when everyone is going to
the after party and the show part of
things, um, you actually have a good
chance of getting a lot of people,
uh, from the conference itself.
So in that case, it worked out.
We also, as a marketing
tool, we did a white paper.
That was on, um, it was actually
on, um, I think it was Title PSP of
the Future or something like that.
It was, you know, talking
about the idea of psps.
They need to be a one-stop shop nowadays
in order to remain competitive, et cetera.
So like a content piece that's
quite relevant to the people
coming to the event and, um.
Yeah, we, we even like printed it out.
It was like a nice booklet that
we were giving away to, to,
to people attending the event.
Uh, obviously after that it was kind of
like distributed more vastly on the web.
But, um, yeah, with this event it was
really like sales driven, like sales
purpose, having this sort of people
that we wanna, you know, uh, get like
on the, on the pipeline for sales.
Um, so not that much of brand.
Building and brand awareness.
Um, but you know, as I said, there
is a different avenues you can go
towards in terms of like, if you
wanna pursue just sales, if you wanna
do some more like strategic long
term, , direction you want to go.
I think, , talking about some traps
that a lot of FinTech companies, um,
they actually fall into with events is
that usually they just treat them as a.
Lead capture opportunities only.
So they're like, oh,
we're just gonna go there.
We are gonna put the
salespeople on the floor.
Uh, we are gonna just lock in meetings.
But I think, you know, as a CMO,
I think it's quite important
to really pitch the value of.
Go to an event just from brand
awareness and strategic point of view.
Just to be present there because there
is no, and it's a long term thing, like
some, sometimes you have to be, especially
if you're a bigger brand, you have to
be every year, as I mentioned to this
kind of events, to become like this
sort of a top of mind for the visitors.
Like I was at Slush last year.
It was a great event.
Have you been there?
Do you know it?
Araminta Robertson: No,
but, uh, it looks great.
I, I would love
Nikolay Sabev: Yeah.
Oh.
So, you know, it's, it's, it's
actually, it's, it's amazing.
Uh, so it's not that much a FinTech it
has all sorts of different things, but,
you know, when I was going there, I, I saw
like a huge boot of like, visa and I was
like, okay, now MasterCard must be around
and you see them just on the other side.
As a visitor, you expect to
see specific brands there.
And you know, I think these guys, they
just do it because, you know, they have
to be there and people expect that.
So, yeah.
But I think with the satellite
event is something that, I'm not
sure your experience, but to me
it happens quite a lot recently.
A lot of companies, especially like
mid-size, smaller ones, they, they
turn to this instead of investing
into having a booth at a, a big event.
Hmm.
Araminta Robertson: Yeah, I mean, I think
you're right about if you're a really
big brand, you just have to be there.
But I think most people listening
to this podcast are probably
gonna be at smaller or mid-market.
And so then it's a little bit harder to
kind of justify a little bit, uh, a booth
just for, because everyone else is there.
So I think the sa maybe doing both, right.
Doing the satellite thing
is also really smart.
How many people did you invite
to your satellite event and how.
What did it, did the event consist of?
Was it just networking
or was there a talk?
Was there a fireside chat?
What else happened?
Uh
Nikolay Sabev: It was, um, yeah,
it was mostly, um, networking
and chatting over drinks.
So, because as I said, during
an event like Money 2020.
You have so many things happening.
So you actually, as a smaller brand, you
compete with big names like, uh, Revolut
or, or Visa or Mascot, and they do like
all these kind of like workshops and
talks and, um, you're originally having
like maybe an hour, an hour and a half.
Uh, in between the, the sort of
like a day conference before, like
dinner stuff to actually get these
people to stop by, have a quick chat.
Um, so you have to, you know,
keep in mind this thing.
Uh, so it was more like a,
a a chat and meeting people.
Obviously the, the white paper was
handed out and it was kind of like a
premier of the white paper, uh, thing.
But yeah, from invitation
point of view, it was maybe
around 120 people invited them.
80% of them like showed so quite good.
But it was a very, as I mentioned, I like
this idea of having a personal approach,
uh, um, to people who might be coming to
events and at the same time you know, that
goes for the post event follow up as well.
Usually when I meet someone at
event, I, I do the follow myself.
I don't use like some sort of.
Uh, automatic software,
software tool to do that for me.
So I think, you know, 'cause it's the
initial touch point, you meet them
at event, but you know, you have 5,
10, 15 minutes to have a quick chat.
Then the most important part is, you
know, timely follow up after that and
Araminta Robertson: Yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
I think it, it's really interesting to
that all this works so well because,
um, yeah, especially at our conference
that we just had a couple of weeks
ago, FinTech marketing conference.
A lot of people were saying,
especially with AI and technology,
more and more people are craving
this in person type connection.
And so I think, uh, if you're gonna
go to events, hosting an event and
trying to enable those is really.
Yeah it can go really far.
Right, because you're kind of enabling
those, those human connections.
Nikolay Sabev: I think, you know,
I've always wondered, for example,
if you do like smaller event for
like a hundred people, I've always
wondered when companies they use
these automated softwares to email.
Literally like sit down and you know,
at least to half of these people
that you have met, you can like.
Tailor like a message and just send 'em
out, whether it's LinkedIn or email.
Um, because it really
makes a difference, right?
It really makes a difference.
And you're right, because the AI now
kind of taking over everything, people
really getting back to that personal,
uh, contact, mentioning your event,
it was great and I was so happy that
you guys invited me to speak there.
It was amazing.
And, uh, I do enjoy this kind of
like how many people were there?
Maybe 150?
Was it
Araminta Robertson: No.
About a hundred.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Nikolay Sabev: Yeah, I mean it was, these
events are great and they're actually much
more productive because, um, and also you
have created this sort of a community.
Of people and, they kind of know each
other in a way, but at the same time
they're always like, new faces coming in.
And although I didn't have that much time
because I had to fly in and speak and
fly out this time, but, you know, it was
great to see the vibe and I think it's
very, very useful, especially for like
marketing communities, uh, in the FinTech.
So that's the best thing
about smaller events.
And honestly talking about small and mid.
Mid-size FinTech companies, I would
definitely recommend going for this
much, much better value for money to
go for this sort of like a gathering,
like a very structured, whether if
it's a satellite event with drinks
or whether it's like workshop.
Uh, at Slush for example, there were very
nice workshops by some FinTech brands.
I think was Solaris or someone else
did it wan maybe, um, it was like
a room in 20 with 20 people and it
was, I ended up there and it was
incredible to actually meet even like.
People from competitor companies and
they were having like super healthy,
uh, and productive discussions.
And I literally missed like maybe two or
three lectures on main stage to actually
go there because I, I saw the value.
So I think these little things are,
are much, much better because you
actually gain more value out of it.
Otherwise you spend your whole budget,
as you said, for a small company
going having a boot because the prices
are going up all the time there.
I don't think it really.
Would it make sense, even like
bigger companies, I hear they're
actually giving up on that,
Araminta Robertson: Well, really.
Nikolay Sabev: you know, because they
just, , don't see the rev out of it.
Araminta Robertson: Yeah, so I think
here what we're hearing is, you know,
for your money 2020, like the big events,
it's worth doing satellite events.
If you've got like a brand goal and also
a sales goal, it's worth doing both.
If say you're going to a smaller, uh,
event or conference, like a FinTech
talents or pay 360, what do you think is
a way to, to make the most of those where.
You, you, I don't know if there's enough
people really to do a satellite event.
Maybe there is.
I don't know.
But maybe you have a booth there.
So what would you say there is the
best approach to making the most of it?
Nikolay Sabev: I think, um, as I said,
preparation is, is very important.
So if you go to, I mean, what we were
doing and like team wise, um, initially
we'll create a calendar with all the
events that we wanna go to and attend.
Like, and I'm talking about just
visiting events and we'll kind of like
split them into, obviously you have
the vertical and the horizontal events.
Um, and we'll then decide who is going
to who, whether it is an event for
sales only, whether it's the event for
marketing or for account management.
So usually what I was doing was, um,
doing like huge research on who's
actually gonna be, there's some events
they do share the sort of, at least
the companies who are attending.
So you can actually prepare
yourself and see, oh, you know,
they're gonna be interesting.
Maybe potential for a chat over there.
But, um, yeah.
One other thing I actually thought
about is that last year we, we
partnered up also with Visa to
sponsor a small event in Berlin.
There's this guy called Lars
Markull Have you heard of him?
So he runs this, um, incredibly insightful
newsletter called embedded finance review.
It's mostly for embedded
payments, embedded finance.
Uh, but yeah, if you haven't registered,
I, I would, I would recommend you to do
that because he's very much, , delving
deep, not just embedded finance,
but also some sort of vertical.
So embedded lending,
embedded, uh, payments.
And we did an uh, event with him.
We wanted to use the platform as some sort
of like, uh, a way to reach like wider
audience, and it was a small event around
maybe 50 to 60 people happening in Berlin
during the SaaS week, seeing other things.
So we used the fact that there was
a bigger event happening in town.
We did not do anything on that event.
It wasn't even like the audience for us.
But at the same time, we organized this
event with Lars and we invited like.
The, the best minds of embedded finance.
It was amazing to actually, , put these
people in the room and have this sort
of like, , very insightful discussions.
And, um, again, something that's
not extremely expensive, but it
works when you actually find.
A vessel in a way in that sense.
So, you know, let's reach out to Lars and,
you know, we can do something together.
Uh, it's not about being super expensive.
It's about, , connecting with
the right person and actually
getting the right people there.
Yeah, me and him, we formed some
sort of a nice friendship since then.
So we're still working on some things.
And he lives in Berlin.
I used to live in Berlin.
It's like my second home.
No.
So I think a you know, clever thing for
smaller companies is actually to identify
people like that who are sort of opinion
leaders in a way in the FinTech space.
And, um, somehow try to do a partnership
with 'em in a way, like any kind of,
sometimes can be our organic partnership,
but it really helps because, you know,
, most of these guys are trustful resources.
Araminta Robertson: Yeah.
, I think that's a really great approach
to do side events with also influencers.
'cause then you.
You get like also to, to, for them
to bring in a bit of their audience.
Just to go back to kind
of booths and stuff.
So how I think one challenge a lot of
companies have is they invest in a booth.
So say you've got your satellite
event, all that is great.
So you're hopefully using that to to
hit your sales targets or whatever.
But you know, if you're gonna do a
booth, what have you seen works there?
'cause I think one of the risks
is you just put the money and
it's a pretty bland booth and
you just look like everyone else.
And that is probably not gonna
help, , with brand building or
with the sales targets either.
So what have you seen, what are the
kind of booths that you've built at
pain tics and what have you seen kind
of works in terms of standing out here?
Nikolay Sabev: Yeah, I think this is
actually a very complicated question.
So I think, you know, um, again, going
back, if you like a huge brand and
you have like limitless amount of.
It's kind of easy to get this creative
agency that's gonna make you like
a, like a proper stage out there.
Right.
But if you're a smaller brand, and
usually you get this, I think three
by three boots, that's what we got.
You can't do that much can you?
Like, it's a, it's a tiny space and like,
you can try to make it like, as beautiful
as possible, but uh, you can try to,
you know, uh, put a, some sort of like
an engaging SWAT materials there, but.
Steel.
Most companies, they do pants and like
power banks and anti-stress boats.
Uh, over there, the anti-stress
boat, I think it, it works.
I, I kind of like it.
But yeah, you know, I think, I don't, I'm
not sure if it's about so much about the
boot itself, but it's about, I personally,
sometimes when I go and chat up people at
Booth, at conferences, I've seen that some
of these, the people that are sent there.
I don't, I'm not sure if it's a hundred
percent the right people to be there.
So they're kind of like, not a top line
of the product itself, but I would like
to see more actually engaged people
with, um, with the Brownton approach.
So what I'm talking
about is something that.
Is a trend happening now?
I think I mentioned it in, in, in the
panel that was part of your event.
It's about this personal branding
and, and actually identifying people
from the company, like C-level people
that can actually be brand ambassadors
or brand evangelists in a way.
So I was, a couple weeks ago,
I was in Dublin and I spoke
with a friend at HubSpot.
They've been doing something
extremely interesting now.
So they have identified seven to
eight, I think C-level people.
And they have pushed like big
time their profiles on LinkedIn.
And if you go to these guys' profiles,
they have like 20 plus thousand followers
and they push like a lot of personal
content positioning in themselves as a, as
a knowledgeable thought leaders in a way.
So going back to your question
about the booth, I would love to
see these kind of people at the
boots, you know, or Yeah, exactly.
'cause I think it's, it's always
been fascinating for me that some
brands, they managed to, you know,
put a face next to the brand.
People like to have that, like,
you know, back in the days you had,
uh, Richard Branson with Virgin
and, and Steve Jobs with Apple and
more to present day with FinTech.
Um, you have Nick
Storonsky Revolut, right?
Like this guy, he spoke at Slush.
In an interesting way.
He's super interesting, right?
And super attractive.
And, and, um, and, and he's the
face that people connect, Revolut.
So I think even if you're a smaller
brand, you can still try to do that.
Try to identify, not every single person
is comfortable to be on stage or like
podcast or whatever, but usually at
least, you know, some of them will be.
And I think that's a great thing.
And then if you build this and.
You can complement that with, you
know, sending this person to a booth.
Right?
And I think, you know, you see the
different value now even though the
booth is small, tiny, but then if you
see this kind of recognizable person,
you can, you know, stop by, have a chat,
and obviously these guys, they can really
sell you the product or they can really
like, you know, make this first touch
point very productive that you can.
You know, put a basis
on and, and continue.
But again, other thing, you know, like
it depends on what you sell, right?
So if your service is something
that can be tested, I would always
love to see at a booth actually an
opportunity to really see the product
that, um, the brand is selling, right?
Not just having.
A brochure or, or two people
that can explain it to me.
But some products, I understand that
not every service can be, you know, test
driven for five minutes at a booth, right?
But at the same time if this is allowed
in a way, I would love to see it.
So I'm talking about a bit more
interactive way of showcasing what you're
doing because you can get creative.
Again, three by three is a small space,
but like you can get creative with
what you have there and in a way to,
to show the, the service that you do.
So, uh.
it's, you know, it's about a mixture of
creativity, sending the right people as
well, and maybe producing a bit more,
uh, engaging swap materials because you
cannot completely like go without them.
Right.
Araminta Robertson: I remember reading,
um, a kind of a, a guide by these, I think
it was a CFO or COOI think of Brex and
how they were able to, I mean, they had
huge funding obviously, but still they
were able to get so much more out of sas.
Which is this huge SaaS,
uh, conference in the us.
And they just had, they got, had like
wacky ideas and they just put a group
of people together in a room with a
whiteboard and they were like, go crazy.
What would you put?
And they came up with like a magician.
They came up with b breakfast burritos,
so like burritos with, with brax in them.
Um, and a bunch of other funny ideas.
And I think.
You know, it is gimmicky, but
at the same time, that is what
catches people's attention.
And it's better to be a little bit
gimmicky if you want to better than
that, than just being like everyone else.
And you, if you don't have the, the
Visa brand, the MasterCard brand,
then this is a way to stand out and
then to be memorable, um, I dunno
if you've had, what are some of the
gimmicky things that you've done
at Pane or at previous companies?
What, what have you seen
has been good for catching
Nikolay Sabev: with pays
not that much because, um.
Uh, you know, we were kind of
like, uh, you know, a little bit
straightforward with these things,
but, you know, I spent back in the
days when I worked in Berlin, I spent
four years working for booking.com.
Uh, so not that much of a FinTech, but
it was interesting time for me 'cause it
was between 20 12 20 16 when booking.com
was just about to be
purchased by Priceline.
So they were still having this
sort of like startup mindset.
. They were investing a lot in the like
different booth and conference, et cetera.
So I think one time there was
a conference that they built,
like a whole, a booking.com
town with different like
attractions, insights, and so like
a rollercoaster, so, or whatever.
So, I think I like the idea of being
creative and going crazy, but at the
same time, first of all you have to be
brave as a company, as a brand sometimes.
As a CMO, if you go to other
C-level people sit on the table and
suggest these ideas, especially.
You know, FinTech space is still a
tech space, but sometimes the fin part
of it is a little bit conservative,
so you don't really get like a
green light for all the crazy ideas.
And it, you know, again,
it depends on the brand.
Like for example, going back to Richard
Branson and Virgin, these guys were doing
incredible job and they were kind of like.
You know, at the forefront
of creative marketing ideas.
So people are connected virgin
with freshness, with something
like creative and crazy in a way.
Ran there or similar at the moment.
But if you're like some sort of
a B2B FinTech brand, you gotta
be careful because especially
if you have a lot of like.
You know, compliance and legal side
of your business, you don't wanna be,
you, you have to, you know, you don't
wanna be accepted as a, as someone who
is like, you know, going and building
up like a rollercoaster, typhoon,
typhoon part at a, at a, an event.
So it all depends on your brand, uh,
willingness at the company in general to
be brave and, and push forward in terms
of like creative ideas and marketing.
Um, and also your audience.
So your example you gave is
amazing, and I guess the brand
knew that their audience and target
audience might enjoy that thing.
So again, if you, if you, if you
believe in that, I totally support it.
But I've had situations where I have,
suggested this sort of creative ideas
and sometimes they were like, turned
down just because, you know, not
every company wants to risk it out.
Yeah.
Araminta Robertson: Sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Makes sense.
The other part of kind of events
and stuff is speaking right?
And I know as the marketing person, it's
quite rare actually for you to speak.
So it was nice that you were able to
speak out hours a couple of weeks ago.
Uh, usually you're, you're trying to get
other people on your team to speak, right?
So what, what have you seen works
a little bit, you know, trying to
get on stage on Money 20, money
2020 or some of these other events.
Do you ha, have you worked on that, tried
to get people on your team to speak at
these events and have you seen that?
Work in any way?
Like as in I don't know, like how,
what would you say is the benefit
of doing these kind of things and
what have you seen as a result?
Nikolay Sabev: Yeah, I mean, for all
these big events like money 2020 slash
et cetera, I think it's no secret
that, um, almost every single speaking
opportunity goes along with a sponsorship
Araminta Robertson: Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Nikolay Sabev: which in a way you
know, it's a bummer, but at the
same time, it makes sense because
a lot of these events they fund.
Themselves through that.
Again, if you're next to or someone on
that level, I'm sure you don't pay right?
But there're like very limited number
of people who can afford to do that.
Um, every time I've been in contact,
because I've been in contact with
all these big events for speaking,
produce, et cetera it was a question
of of, uh, having some sort of package.
To speak there.
With Slush, we actually
had a speaker there.
But again, it was through a package
of some, like a sponsorship deal.
I personally in my case for the last
year and a half, I've been quite active
speaking around, usually it's earned
media, which I, I enjoy actually, and
I think that's the best thing to do.
And I, I, I enjoy it.
You know, for me it wasn't
like a, it happened kind of.
F you know, on the go.
In a way, for example, the
first opportunities were
booked through our PR agency.
Uh, again, it was, uh,
it wasn't a paid one.
So you, you're definitely, absolutely
it's possible to find a speaking slot that
Araminta Robertson: Start small, I guess.
Nikolay Sabev: pay for.
Yeah, I mean, some of them, even
like, because I spoke at this
event, um, in London as well.
Was it Ario?
It was called Financial Promoter.
So it was kind of like a, so I was
there, it was a totally earned media.
It was amazing.
Um, so.
Uh, it is quite possible to do
that, but at the same time for this
huge, like, you know, top line ones,
if you go to the main stage, it's
about,, having the budget to do that.
I think as usually with every
single new venture, the beginning
is the most difficult thing.
So I'm seeing myself after the
first few talking opportunities
and speaking opportunities.
It's kind of like the ball starts
rolling , and, you know, if you build
like a nice personal branding looking
LinkedIn profile, you start to get
really approached in a way and, um.
I'm in a sort of situation like that
at the moment that, and I, I do enjoy
it, you know, for me being on stage,
um, speaking is nothing extremely new
because as, um, side life of my FinTech
corporate career, I've been DJing for
20 years and I'm like, I'm kind of like.
You know, getting used to being in the
eye of the storm, as I like to say.
So, you know, DJing helps you a lot,
like to switch from everything that
happens around you and concentrate
what's happening on stage.
And I, I find it extremely useful.
And now when I go and speak different
events, sometimes it's like a hundred
people, sometimes a few hundred there.
But, you know, I manage to switch
off and do, do enjoy that because
I'm saying this because a lot of
people they, uh, I've seen, they just
struggle really to enjoy being on,
Araminta Robertson: but I guess, I mean,
the question is more like if you're trying
to get your CEO or your, you know, the,
the executive or the leadership team
speaking at some of these events, right?
What have you seen?
Is it always sponsorship package
or have you tried in any way.
To get them speaking opportunities
aside from, you know, these
bigger events or the Yeah.
O other types of events rather
than your typical sponsor slash
Nikolay Sabev: Yeah.
I mean, the thing is usually if
you're a company that's kind of
like aiming to be a market leader
in the, in the space, you would, uh,
usually go to the bigger ones, right?
Because they give you like a.
Better, value in a way in terms
of reaching out, et cetera.
So my experience is mostly with, uh, these
kind of big conferences because this was
part of like a, a social marketing pillar
that we were trying to like, uh, pursue.
And I just wonder honestly,
if that's gonna change, we'll
continue, uh, go this way.
Because I think some events, they are
started to like balance out in a way
to maybe start providing slots for.
Like non-paid like
speakers, uh, to be there.
But yeah, it really depends
on the, on, on the events.
Usually.
I, I found easier to put c chief product
officers because they, they do speak, uh,
mostly about the service and the products.
Some of the CEOs I've worked with,
not all of them, feel extremely
comfortable being on stage.
Which I believe, you know, it's
if you have a, if you have a CE
that's kind of like knowledgeable
enough and willing to do, I think
it's a great asset, uh, to do that.
One thing that I have seen works is
actually some events, for example,
they're willing to offer free slots,
but if it's, for example, CEO I've, I've
had like this situation in few events in
the uk they're like, okay, we're gonna
provide you with like a speaking slot,
but it has to be the CEO of the company
Araminta Robertson: Yeah,
Nikolay Sabev: which, you know which makes
Araminta Robertson: very competitive,
Nikolay Sabev: If you have someone
like that who is willing to do that
I think it's easier and you don't
have to obviously budget that.
Araminta Robertson: Yeah.
No, that's cool.
What, what do you DJ you?
Nikolay Sabev: I do play
techno and house music
Araminta Robertson: Nice.
Cool.
Very
Nikolay Sabev: really, it helps me
balance out with my corporate life,
but they need to run both together
in order to sustain themselves.
So I cannot do just one of them.
They have to be kind of balanced out.
Araminta Robertson: Nice FinTech techno.
I think one question that a lot of people
have is that, you know, you, you look
at the calendar, let's say 2026, uh,
of events, and there's so many, right?
There's so many different ones.
You've got to, and you've
only got limited budget.
How do you kind of
prioritize a little bit?
How do you decide which ones to go for?
And I know, and, and a lot of marketers,
marketers will get like emails from their
leadership and saying, oh, we should go to
this event and we should go to this event.
How do you kind of prioritize and decide,
okay, we're gonna do these ones and
maybe those ones, that kind of thing.
Nikolay Sabev: Um, well, I mean, if
you're really, like in the FinTech space,
Europe, uk there's some events that you
have to go, so you start from there.
So I believe that again you know, even
if you're like a small and mid-size
company, still good to visit the big
ones, not all of them, they're like five
or six in Europe, I think I would say
Money 2020 have the Pay 360 MP Veeva.
In France and some others in the uk
at least, you know, a couple of them.
It's good to be there just to kind
of like test the vibe and, and, you
know, see , what's happening around.
And then it all comes to the
strategy I I told you about.
So it's about having marketing sales.
Uh, work together, very much aligned
in order to map out usually what
I was doing, we mapped out from
December the, the whole year, like
after that to 12 months, even earlier.
So Q4, you start planning
obviously, uh, the entire next year.
And then it's about, you know, filtering
it down depending on budget again, how
many events you can actually attend, and
whether if it's worth to attend, like.
All them or just select it
once and what do you aim?
And again, it's about strategy.
Like, okay, we're gonna send
sales to this event, we're gonna
send marketing over there, we're
gonna send a CFO somewhere else.
Horizontal events are usually, so
like, kind of money 20 rank, et cetera.
I usually, I think it's more like grant
building and a little bit of sales, but
vertical events, you have some events
for accounting, payroll like gig economy.
So if these are your target markets,
I think these are great events and
even they're more beneficial to
go there, send some salespeople
because these are the events where
actually your core audience will be.
So I think it has to be a
healthy balance between.
Like, uh, vertical horizontal events.
So industry like wide industry events,
which is more about, let's see what
the competitors are doing, but actually
where you get more business, I believe,
is this very specific events where
actually your target audience goes.
So, for example, if you're.
Per, if you're chasing the gig economy
players like Uber, boat, et cetera,
if you're selling embedded finance
to them, for example you have to
see where they go and you go there.
And I think for sales, I think,
you know, uh, business at the
moment are in a situation where
obviously it's all about sales.
Now.
It's not that much about
marketing, unfortunately.
It's more about sales and revenue and
this kind of like uncertain times now
with ai, you know, and everything.
So I think this sort of very much
industry specific events are gonna be.
A highlight next year.
I think a lot of companies, especially
smaller ones, will be going there
because this is where your potential
clients will be and uh, this is where
you can actually, without having a
flashy logo around this is where you
can make business unlike logo use.
Araminta Robertson: Yeah.
Nice.
I think that's a good answer.
Like kind of try and balance
it between the FinTech ones
and the, the vertical specific
Nikolay Sabev: Yeah, I mean, I, I
think, you know, the, the FinTech
ones are, are definitely a must.
I think if you're based in the uk it's
quite good because you guys have a lot of
events happening there and, uh, I think
it's easier to kind of move around, right?
Like, uh, uh, but if you're based
somewhere else in Europe, then obviously
you cannot send your team all the time.
So you have to like prioritize.
In our case, we were definitely
doing, uh, Patri 60 in the uk.
That was for sure.
Uh, we were part of this, uh, some sort
of associations like payment association.
They were doing some smaller
events again where you can
actually meet potential clients.
Um, so I think you just have to mix it
out and it's about strategic road mapping,
Araminta Robertson: Yeah.
Yeah.
Nice.
Okay, fantastic.
I'd like to end on, uh, a fun wealth,
fun, I think an interesting question.
Are there any mistakes that
you've made when doing events or
any failures that you can share?
You can keep it anonymous, uh, if, if
that's easier, but I think we learn
a lot from the mistakes of others.
So anything that you tried with
an event and it just completely
flopped or something like that.
Nikolay Sabev: Yeah, I mean, uh, the SW
thing has always been an issue for me.
Like I, I can never decide what to
send over there as a merchandise.
Sometimes you have this like, um, hand
handy and like very nice things, but
they just disappear after one hour.
Of being in the book because people
get them and then you're like two
days at the conference, like you
have nothing on the book because
you haven't planned that in advance.
But on a, that's on the,
on the funnier side.
On a more serious note, I've personally
been to events that, as I told you,
especially earlier on in my career,
I wasn't really doing this sort of a
homework of like going to an event and
like researching who is gonna be there.
I was relying on the fact that that.
Walk around, make few circles, but
it's an event with like 4,000 people
and then you don't really like, you
know, you end up there walking around
realizing you dunno why you're there.
And that's a big problem because if
you haven't really prepared, but that
was like years ago when there were
no, now I think there are some apps.
That you can even like contact
before some people and make an
arrangement, it's much, much easier.
But I do hear feedback from event
organizers that, not that everyone
uses them, so you would pay like a
lot of money for like, uh, a pass.
'cause you know, these big events
are expensive and then you wouldn't
use like the, the, what was it, the
matchmaking app or whatever like that.
So I think, again, going back to
preparation, I think it's key because,
you know, you can easily fall into the
situation, especially if you have a budget
to spend to just, you know, invest into
a booth or, or a showcase or an event.
Uh, and then realizing that, um, you
know, in the end of the day it was great,
but it wasn't really helpful to you.
So it's about really knowing
what you want to get from a
specific, uh, B2B FinTech event.
If it's just pure brand awareness,
you're just gonna show up there,
say hi, you know, put the logo.
Uh, or if you just want to go there
strategically, wanting to meet
specific people, specific companies,
so then you can also obviously
build up on that afterwards.
Araminta Robertson: Yeah,
no, I think that makes sense.
And um, ultimately I, I think it's
also helpful to know others maybe who
have done event, uh, who have sponsored
that event or maybe done booths there.
And this is why like Arlington
marketing community is, is so helpful.
'cause you can hear from others
who maybe sponsored there and were
like, nah, it didn't really work.
Or Yeah, this was a really good event.
I think hearing how other marketers,
um, have done can be also helpful.
Right.
Nikolay Sabev: I mean, uh, I think the
good thing about FinTech community is, is
that it's quite tight, which is amazing.
And people know each other and
we speak between each other.
And I think it's a great thing, you
know, like, uh, even at some events,
you know, I speak with some competitive
companies like marketing, CMO people,
and we're very open to each other,
like sharing, um, what worked, whatnot.
And you know, it's a process
like everything at the moment
we're in a stage where.
Especially with AI and, and you
know, things kind of like changing.
We discussed that at the
event that you guys had.
Um, it's a bit of a, you know,
testing the waters now it's
like , in a transitional phase.
You know, a lot of.
Talk about ai, about SEL
disappearing,, about, uh, just the
whole like sales, like methods and
sales process changing in a way.
But, um, I think it's better to have
like some sort of a communal vibe
to the FinTech community that we
can obviously altogether try to like
, solve the issues and the problems and
just, you know, move on after that.
Araminta Robertson: Yeah, no, exactly.
That's, that's why we
built that community.
, Amazing.
Well thanks so much
Nick for, for coming on.
Really appreciate it.
And uh, yeah, look forward to hopefully
seeing you at, uh, future London event.
Nikolay Sabev: It was a pleasure.
Thanks for having me.
Araminta Robertson:
Thank you for listening.
You can find show notes and information
about guests at fintechmarketinghub.
com forward slash podcast.
And finally, huge thanks to Orama.
tv for producing this podcast.
We look forward to having
you on our next episode.