E013 - Personalization - The Case For Building Hyper-Niche Products

Carlos shares what he learned about brand marketing from New Balance's turnaround.   TL;DR - For 15 years, New Balance watched its revenues decline. Consumers saw its sneakers as “dad shoes”—safe, comfortable, but uncool. Traditional direct-response marketing wasn’t reversing the trend. In April 2020, a new CMO, Chris Davis, arrived with a bold idea: flip the marketing mix from a 70% reliance on direct-response ads to a brand-led approach. It was a big gamble that took nearly 19 months to pay off, but when it did, New Balance emerged as a revitalized global brand.   Written version of the story: https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/how-new-balance-s-cmo-turned-around-a-15-year-decline   Where to find Carlos: LinkedIn Twitter/X   About the host: Carlos Caro is the founder of a New Market Growth, an agency focused on helping fintech lenders generate explosive growth on affiliate marketing channels like Credit Karma, Experian Marketplace, LendingTree, and others. Contact him at [email protected].

Carlos riffs on why CPA negotiations are a waste of time and 9 other things you should know about the topic as someone new to the channel.   Where to find Carlos: LinkedIn Twitter/X   Find Us: Don't forget to subscribe and review our show. Contact the host at [email protected].

We sit with Tomas Campos, CEO at Spinwheel. Spinwheel’s product caught my attention because affiliate marketers could use their product to reduce the friction in their application processes.    Timestamps: (00:00) Meet Tomas Campos, CEO of Spinwheel  (02:30) Ideal customers and use cases (06:30) Success metrics (12:35) Challenges building the business (15:37) Partnering with lenders (22:41) Uplift from pre-filling application forms (28:12) What holds lenders back from buying (34:10) The NerdWallet integration (36:05) Other challenges lenders have (46:52) Bank account verification (47:10) Wrap up   Where to find Carlos: LinkedIn Twitter/X   Where to find Tomas: LinkedIn   Find Us: Don't forget to subscribe and review our show. If you’re interested in being a guest, email me at [email protected].

We sit with David Nohe, CEO of FinGoal, to discuss the CFPB’s Rule 1033 on Open Banking and the implications it has for bank marketers.   Timestamps: (00:00) David Nohe, CEO of Fingoal (01:59) The 101 on CFPB Rule 1033 (09:32) Consumer consent (18:04) Future of subscription models (22:52) Funnel dynamics / friction (24:09) Credit bureau vs. open banking data (26:43) Why be concerned or optimistic (32:10) Banks' strategic opportunities (41:37) Wrap up and dinner bet   Where to find Carlos: LinkedIn Twitter/X   Where to find David Nohe: LinkedIn  Twitter/X - @fingoaldavid   References: Ten Take-Aways on 1033 for Community Bankers https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ten-take-aways-1033-community-bankers-david-nohe-yo8cc/?trackingId=WR0OUVGdRGahil7tCSZ48w%3D%3D   Find Us: Don't forget to subscribe to Affiliate Marketing for Lenders. If you’re interested in being a guest on the show (or if you have questions for a future episode), send me a note on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, or at [email protected].  

Personal finance platforms (like Credit Karma) are now at scale, with the ability to recommend products at the 1:1 user level. Further, they’re incentivized to recommend niche products that are highly customized to each user. Lending products, however, are designed for mass audiences. This disconnect presents a huge opportunity for lenders.   Timestamps: (00:00) Why personalization matters (04:06) Hyper-niche lending products (05:37) Social media and niche content (08:43) Opportunities in financial services (12:57) Where I see this all going (15:01) Wrap up   Where to find Carlos: LinkedIn Twitter/X References: The case for building hyper-niche lending products https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/hyper-niche-lending-products   Find Us: Don't forget to subscribe to Affiliate Marketing for Lenders. If you’re interested in being a guest on the show (or if you have questions for a future episode), send me a note on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, or at [email protected].

Today we chat with Tim Hong, the Chief Product Officer at MoneyLion. He walks us through a partnership they’ve built with Plaid and other data providers to offer cash flow data at the marketing stage to lenders in the Engine marketplace.   Timestamps: (00:00) Tim Hong, CPO at MoneyLion (04:06) The Engine marketplace (12:02) Open banking and UX (22:48) User permissioned data (25:15) Sharing bank credentials (27:25) Cashflow data in lending (31:09) Spark platform (37:20) Future of open banking (44:17) Wrap up   Where to find Carlos: LinkedIn Twitter/X   References: Plaid & MoneyLion’s announcement: “The power of cash flow underwriting with instant onboarding: Introducing Layer and Consumer Report” https://plaid.com/blog/layer-consumer-report-instant-onboarding/   Carlos’ piece: “Where's The Consumer Demand For Cash Flow Underwriting (CFU)?” https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/where-is-the-demand-for-cash-flow-underwriting   Find Us: Don't forget to subscribe to Affiliate Marketing for Lenders. If you’re interested in being a guest on the show (or if you have questions for a future episode), send me a note on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, or at [email protected].

I’m starting to worry that we don’t have an economically viable way to distribute cash flow underwriting (CFU) products to consumers. In today’s episode, we discuss the opportunity and challenges CFU lenders will have in distributing their products through direct mail, paid search, and of course affiliates.   Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction to Fintech and Cashflow Underwriting (01:21) The Article and Its Insights (02:38) AI-Generated Overview of The Petal Case Study (09:21) End of AI-Generated Overview (09:26) Analyzing Cashflow Underwriting (11:36) Challenges in Cashflow Underwriting (15:54) Marketing Cashflow Products (20:03) Potential Solutions and Future Outlook (25:26) Final Thoughts and Next Steps   Where to find Carlos: LinkedIn Twitter/X   References: Carlos’ piece: “Where's The Consumer Demand For Cash Flow Underwriting (CFU)?” https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/where-is-the-demand-for-cash-flow-underwriting   Alex Johnson’s piece on Cash Flow Underwriting: https://fintechtakes.com/articles/2024-05-22/cash-flow-underwriting/   Find Us: Don't forget to subscribe to Affiliate Marketing for Lenders. If you’re interested in being a guest on the show (or if you have questions for a future episode), send me a note on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, or at [email protected].

Today, we discuss the backstory behind my marketing agency, New Market Growth. I’ll share my background working in affiliate marketing at a connected home startup, my experience working on credit cards at Capital One, my 4 years at Credit Karma, and how my experiences came together to form a services business for lenders.   Timestamps: (00:00) What is New Market Growth (01:30) Early years in affiliate marketing (03:53) Credit Karma (06:50) My first business: legal services marketplace (09:10) Return to fintech + personal brands (12:19) Founding New Market Growth (14:27) Current focus + looking out to the future (15:55) Wrap up   Where to find Carlos: LinkedIn Twitter/X   Find Us: Don't forget to subscribe to Affiliate Marketing for Lenders. If you’re interested in being a guest on the show (or if you have questions for a future episode), send me a note on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, or at [email protected].

Today, we discuss high-level principles for your affiliate measurement (analytics) strategy. We’ll cover the 2 big questions your dashboards should be answering, we dig into 9 metrics you might not be watching, and we hit on the importance of connecting marketing stage and performance stage data.   Timestamps: (00:00) True North (01:34) Driving questions (01:53) Delivering for your partners (04:26) Partners delivering for you (06:35) Combining data sources (09:34) Effective dashboards (16:49) 9 key metrics to watch (22:26) Wrap up   Where to find Carlos: LinkedIn Twitter/X   Find Us: Don't forget to subscribe to Affiliate Marketing for Lenders. If you’re interested in being a guest on the show (or if you have questions for a future episode), send me a note on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, or at [email protected].

Today, we discuss the most common reasons that lenders don’t hit their volume, account quality, and growth goals in the affiliate channel. Based on Carlos’ experience talking to lenders in his affiliate marketing agency, New Market Growth.   Common struggles: Cross-functional dysfunction Model misalignment (Non)compliance  Application friction Mispricing Access to big affiliates Concentration Cold starts Lack of differentiation CPA game Thinking it’s easy   Timestamps: (00:00) Common Struggles in Affiliate Marketing (03:00) Reason 1: Lack of Cross-Functional Effort (04:54) Reason 2: Misaligned Targeting Model (06:36) Reason 3: Approval Rate Issues (07:59) Reason 4: Application Friction (09:01) Reason 5: Uncompetitive Pricing (10:39) Reason 6: Missing Major Marketplaces   Where to find Carlos: LinkedIn Twitter/X   Find Us: Don't forget to subscribe to Affiliate Marketing for Lenders. If you’re interested in being a guest on the show (or if you have questions for a future episode), send me a note on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, or at [email protected].