Over the 10 years I’ve been creating fintech content, I’ve written my fair share of the following:
- Generic SEO articles that were designed to generate traffic, without much regard for the interests or knowledge level of our desired reader. You know the sort: What is a merchant account? How does a merchant account work? Etc.
- Rambling ‘thought-leadership’ pieces based on existing content published elsewhere (otherwise known as Google Research Papers).
- Irrelevant anecdotes designed to ‘hook’ a reader in, but really just waste everyone’s time.
- ‘Advice’ articles explaining to people much more qualified than me how to do their jobs. For example: Has it ever occurred to you, as an ecommerce manager, to make your ‘pay’ button more prominent?
And even if I was proud of some of my well-written gambits, I couldn’t ignore the little voice in my head asking:
- Is this actually useful?
- Is anyone reading this stuff?
- Is it helping to drive business?
As a content creator, I want to know I’m delivering value. I want to look my boss or client in the eye and say: “This is working — look at the amazing results we’ve achieved.”
So, when I came across Mint Studios and started to read about its approach to content as a lead-gen tool, I felt like I’d found my people.
Here are a few things I enjoy about working at Mint:
Getting to focus on content that genuinely drives business
Mint founder and Managing Director, Araminta Robertson, once wrote:
“No one is reading your content to be entertained. You should be writing about how your product works, answering your prospects’ questions, and educating them on topics you’re an expert on.”
This really resonated with me. Why are we wasting so much energy trying to make our content all things to our readers? They’re not going to visit our fintech blog for a laugh. And in most cases, they’re not even going to visit your fintech blog on purpose. They’ll land there, either because someone they admire on LinkedIn has shared a link or (more likely) because you’re ranking for a keyword they were searching for.
In that case, the job of your content is very simple: To persuade someone searching for a solution that they’re in the right place.
This is Mint’s philosophy, and it’s refreshingly no-nonsense.
Of course, just because you’re not flexing your creative writing muscles doesn’t mean good writing goes out the window. Quite the contrary. You have to write well, clearly, and convincingly; otherwise, the content won’t perform.
And, since evaluation is so key to what Mint does, there’s nowhere to hide.
Being able to prove value every step of the way
I’ve often heard it said that it’s hard to measure the impact of content. The standard approach is to look at unique page views and time on page. Some bold souls will even measure the number of readers who respond to on-page conversion prompts (like: Get in touch for more information).
But this doesn’t give you the full picture
That’s why I love Mint’s holistic approach to measuring content performance tracking:
- Impressions: What keywords are working to get your company in front of your audience?
- Traffic: Is the content driving traffic? And, if SEO is an objective, is it driving organic traffic?
- Leads: Using multi-touch attribution, did the content form one part of a lead’s journey?
- Lead quality: With HubSpot, Salesforce, BigQuery and tracking tools like WhatConverts, we can actually report on the quality of the leads. Are they actually turning into customers?
- Keywords: What’s the company ranking for? What’s working? What’s not?
Even after just a couple of months of publishing content (depending on the situation of the client), you can expect to start seeing results. And, whether you’re a content lead or a freelancer, being able to demonstrate how many leads your content helped to generate in the past 30 days is deeply satisfying.
Following a clear, tried-and-tested process
When I joined Mint as a writer, I’d been in charge of my own content production pipeline for a long time. It was a shock to the system to suddenly have a very prescriptive process to follow.
But I rather liked it.
First, I had to fill out a detailed questionnaire based on listening to a recorded interview with an expert:
- What problem is the reader looking to solve when they read this?
- What else has been written on this topic? How can we do better?
- What are the specific pain points, and how does the product solve them?
This stage also involves a very detailed outline, including every point you’re going to make. So by the time you sit down to write a V1, you know exactly what you’re going to say and why.
Every step of the way, my work was thoroughly appraised, and I was given clear feedback.
It had been years since I’d been edited so thoroughly, and I loved it. Every edit or suggestion was clearly explained with examples (none of those random rewrites of an entire paragraph with no reason given). It was always totally clear what they were looking for, so I knew where I stood.
After 6 months, I had the opportunity to step into a strategist role. Here, again, process is everything: How we approach keyword research, how we work with writers, and how we present results to clients on monthly calls.
I might have done all these things before in my own (slightly haphazard) way, but I found it very helpful to lean on a tried-and-tested framework. It makes proving value to clients so much easier. We can explain our approach, show our process, and demonstrate results.
Being part of the AI vanguard
Every marketer today is clamoring to make sense of AI and how it will impact our processes, our buyers’ journeys, and how customers interact with our brands. It’s a huge topic, and can feel overwhelming if you’re facing it alone.
So it’s very nice to work with a group of people who are making it their business to be on top of AI as it evolves. We’re collaborating with clients to experiment with LLMs, and we’re testing different AI content workflows. The fact that we can work with several businesses at once means we can learn fast and advise in-house content teams on AI best practices.
It’s great to be part of a team and work with clients who aren’t afraid to experiment. And we’re constantly learning, which is reassuring at a time when no one wants to feel left behind.
Feeling valued (as a professional and as a person)
Freelancing can be a lonely business. So it’s very nice to be part of a team again — without sacrificing all the flexibility and freedom freelancers value so much.
I really welcome the opportunity to be able to sense-check ideas, discuss issues, and brainstorm with other experienced strategists.
I also appreciate how much care Mint takes of its people. Normally, when you’re freelancing, it’s usually your job to worry about your professional development; no one else is going to.
But that’s not the case with Mint. Both freelancers and in-house employees get regular check-ins with management and opportunities to develop our skills. For example, I was invited to take a content strategist’s course and will soon be tackling GA4.
It’s also a rare and unexpected treat to be taken away once a year for a team offsite. Freelancers don’t normally get to go to Faro and hang out with other freelance and in-house colleagues while learning how to cook cataplana. I was also surprised and delighted to receive a box of chocolates to mark my first year working with Mint.
When you’re self-employed, it is unusual and extremely gratifying to feel so valued.
Balancing freedom with opportunities for growth
Whether you’re self-employed or full-time, with Mint there’s a good balance.
I have the autonomy and freedom I value, coupled with the structure and support I was missing from my in-house days.
But best of all is the sense that what we’re doing is genuinely having an impact.
And we’re having a lot of fun at the same time.
