Emerging Fintech Brand? Here’s How to Make the Most of Money 20/20 

It’s now just a few weeks to go until this year’s Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas. Arguably the biggest and most important event for the global fintech ecosystem, it can also be a challenging event to navigate for emerging brands.  From the financial investment to the time commitment to the simple challenge of breaking through a frenzied news cycle, it’s critical to have a plan beforehand. Here are the questions we advise our own clients to ask themselves before making a commitment to Money 20/20:

Should I attend Money 20/20?

For emerging fintech brands, Money 20/20 is a major financial commitment. A single standard pass to the event costs a staggering $4,049. If you fancy elevating your experience with luxury transfers, front-row keynote seating, and exclusive lounge access expect to pay $5,995. If you’re hoping to host a booth at the show, then you need to add some zeros to the fee. Costs run around the $33,000 mark. 

You need to ask yourself how much value to expect to see in return for this investment. The keynotes and thought leadership tracks are all worthwhile, but I’d suggest that unless you intend to line up meetings with prospects, partners, and media, then it may be better to sit this one out. 

Importantly, your ability to line up those valuable meetings directly relates to your level of activity around the show. You cannot go in cold and expect to see results.

Should I launch news during Money 20/20?

The short answer to this is “no.” Unless you’re announcing something truly game-changing, or if you happen to do PR for one of the bigger beasts of the fintech ecosystem, then it’s highly likely your news will be lost in the general noise around the show. Journalists are stretched thin at the event, so they will only be able to cover the biggest and most important news stories.

That’s not to say, however, that you shouldn’t align your news agenda with the show. We increasingly advise clients to launch big announcements in the days and weeks leading up to the show. This approach means that your announcements are not lost in the hubbub of the event itself. What’s more, raising your profile in advance of Money 20/20 acts as a launchpad for the event itself. It gives you an opportunity to talk to the journalists who will be attending, and arrange face-to-face meetings at the conference.

Will journalists meet with me if I don’t have any news?

Sometimes. This isn’t a straightforward answer, but reporters are often extremely busy during the conference and only occasionally will they have extra time for relationship-building.  There are ways to engineer such meetings, however. The secret lies in being able to offer journalists something more than a meeting with a single company. One approach that we’ve found highly successful is teaming up with industry partners to jointly provide a lunch, dinner, or panel debate. Leveraging partner relationships in this way makes it much easier to set up journalist meetings, particularly if you and your partners are from an important industry body.  

So is it worth it?

If you are attending for no other reason than enjoyment of the conference then I’d suggest you save the money for activities that directly contribute to your marketing and communications efforts. However, if you forearm yourself with some strong pre-announcements, and leverage your industry partnerships to the max, then there’s a lot of value to be found at the conference. There are plenty of opportunities for sidebar meetings, panel debates, networking events, and much more. All it takes is some forward planning, strategic thinking, and thoughtful media outreach.