Award-winning, Yorkshire-based, B2B marketing communications agency, Engage Comms Ltd, was appointed by fintech firm Trustfolio in January 2022 to re-launch it into new target marketplaces following two acquisitions.
The Manchester-based ‘collective’ of industry experts from across the consumer credit, money advice, collections, insolvency, and fintech sectors, chose to work with Engage Comms because of the team’s in-depth experience in the debt sector which has seen them work with not-for-profit organisations the Credit Services Association, Money Advice Liaison Group, and Registry Trust Ltd.
Engage Comms advised on a new brand strategy which brought the newly acquired TIPTrust Debt Adviser Support Portal and Irish software company Asperitas Technologies under the Trustfolio Ltd umbrella. The rationale was to simplify the niche proposition and services to a complex set of audiences in sensitive sectors and highlight Trustfolio’s unique perspective across the full lifecycle of personal debt.
The new brand strategy focused on long-term, sustainable growth by building reputation and credibility off the back of the team and acquired companies’ existing achievements and relationships with sector influencers, while promoting the potential of its bespoke ‘debt-tech’ in a jargon-free way.
Once agreed, consistent content communicating the brand strategy was integrated into the website and on social media profiles, and an acquisition and re-launch email marketing campaign and press release were issued. The initial re-launch secured several pieces of coverage in key sector media, gained exposure and engagement with a host of relevant stakeholders via social media, and resulted in several immediate enquiries, including one from a prominent challenger bank. Existing clients of both TIPTrust’s Debt Adviser Support Portal and Asperitas Technologies were retained under the new Trustfolio banner.
Following the success of the re-launch, Engage Comms was appointed to work with Trustfolio Ltd on an ongoing basis to aid its long-term growth plans, and has since rolled out a fully integrated content marketing and PR campaign. This includes announcing the onboarding of new Local Authority creditor and Insolvency Practitioner clients and supporting with maintaining and building relationships with existing and new free debt advice sector clients.
Lou Yates, Trustfolio Ltd’s CEO, said:
“Engage Comms brought a completely fresh perspective to our group of companies and how to position our unique proposition and selling points, including coining the phrase ‘debt-tech’ which we’re now getting trademarked. As an entrepreneur, it can be difficult to ‘let go’ but my team and I had complete faith in their expert opinion and bit the bullet. A few months on, I can honestly say it was the best decision we could have made and we now wouldn’t be without Engage Comms as our full service marketing communications consultants.
“Their industry insight, expertise and relationships are second-to-none, and they are highly skilled at what they do. In an arena like debt, there are a lot of complexities and sensitivities and having a ‘safe pair of hands’, particularly when it comes to external affairs, is absolutely vital. I’d highly recommend Engage Comms to others in this sector and the other sectors they specialise in.”
Helen Gill, Founding Director of Engage Comms Ltd, said:
“We’ve spent years working across the debt sector and think Trustfolio’s proposition to transform the debt solutions market from within by making the processes and systems used within the industry more efficient and effective is a unique and exciting one. Our ‘quality over quantity’ strategic approach always focuses on long-term outcomes over ‘quick wins’ but it’s great to see that what we’re doing is already having such an impact.
“Our existing relationships with team members including Non-Executive Director Peter Wallwork have helped us to hit the ground running and we are now looking forward to untapping the future potential of the business working as an extension of the wider team.”
