
Introduction
Tune in as we chat with Charlie Liang, Head of Marketing at Finch, a groundbreaking platform that connects applications to the sources of truth in the employment ecosystem.
Discover how Finch solves the data connectivity challenges faced by HR, finance, and IT teams by offering a unified API that integrates seamlessly with almost any payroll system.
Learn how he developed their marketing strategies, the importance of website optimization and how they keep up with marketing trends.
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Ernesto Quezada: Pathmonk is the intelligent tool for website lead generation. With increasing online competition, over 98% of website visitors don’t convert. The ability to successfully show your value proposition and support visitors in their buying journey separates you from the competition online. Pathmonk qualifies and converts leads on your website by figuring out where they are in the buying journey and influencing them in key decision moments. With relevant micro-experiences like case studies, intro videos, and much more, stay relevant to your visitors and increase conversions by 50%. Add Pathmonk to your website in seconds. Let the AI do all the work and get access to 50% more qualified leads while you keep doing marketing and sales as usual. Check us out on pathmonk.com. Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Charlie from Finch, Head of Marketing, out there with them. How are you doing today, Charlie?
Charlie Liang: I’m doing great. Thanks for having me on, Ernesto.
Ernesto: It’s great to have you on. I’m sure our listeners are tuning in, wondering what Finch is all about. So let’s kick it off with that, Charlie. In your own words, can you tell us a little bit more?
Charlie: Yeah, sounds good. Finch is a platform that helps applications in the employment ecosystem connect to the sources of truth, right? Think of where you get your paychecks—HRIS and payroll systems. In today’s market, when you’re selling to people in HR, finance, and IT, it’s expected that your tool connects to the other tools the company is already using. Instead of building all the integrations yourself in-house, you can leverage Finch’s unified employment API to offer direct connections to almost any payroll system that your customers are using.
Ernesto: All right, awesome. That’s great to hear. And so that way, our listeners could get a good understanding of your company. Charlie, what are some problems that you solve for clients?
Charlie: Yeah, so I think because we’re an API, the main problem we solve is data connectivity. We are the plumbing, if you will, between different systems in the employment space. Without us, a lot of companies still make their customers send CSV files back and forth to transmit sensitive data. For example, if you’re updating your deductions in your retirement platform, the HR person has to upload those files into the 401K platform and then update the payroll system to match the deductions. It’s a pain, as you can imagine. So we offer those integrations to eliminate that manual work for HR or admins.
Ernesto: All right, awesome to hear. So then, as far as an ideal ICP, is there someone that you guys like to go for—a vertical or segment?
Charlie: Yeah, great question. We help any application building in the employment space. Some examples include benefits companies, insurance companies, business fintechs, compliance, and tax credits. These niches are where we play really well and have a lot of customers. The problem we’re solving is offering direct integrations to the payroll systems their customers are using. This saves them engineering costs and allows our customers to expand their target addressable market by working with more payroll systems.
Ernesto: Definitely. All right, awesome. So then, how would somebody usually get in contact with you? What would you say is Finch’s top client acquisition channel?
Charlie: Yeah, we actually get a lot of press. We’re solving a huge problem, so we get a fairly good pickup for a company of our size. Recently, we won GGB Capital’s Fintech Innovation 50 and Hacker Noon’s Startup of the Year in San Francisco. That just got announced earlier this week. We get a lot of word of mouth because our customers talk to peers in the space, and we’re solving a painful problem for them. Of course, we run your typical demand gen channels—ads, emails, events. We’re getting into ABM as well. So we’re harvesting interest through those channels, but word of mouth and press are significant drivers for us.
Ernesto: All right, awesome. And so that way, our listeners who are tuning in can visit you guys. You can visit them at tryfinch.com. What role does the website play for client acquisition, Charlie?
Charlie: Oh, it’s so important. Our website is the digital storefront. For almost all customers, that’s their first impression of Finch. Naturally, it’s critical real estate. It’s like an art piece we keep working on—work that’s never done. We keep improving it. One thing I wish we could do more of is A/B testing. I’d also love to de-anonymize all the traffic to send that info to the sales team for follow-ups. But yeah, the website is very important.
Ernesto: Definitely. Would there be any tools, tips, or methods you’d recommend to our listeners for lead generation from the website?
Charlie: Yeah, gathering data about who’s on your site is super important. Knowing who they are isn’t easy since much of the traffic is anonymous. We spend a lot of time on Google Analytics, Clearbit data, and A/B testing with tools like VWO. I’d love to serve different landing pages depending on the visitor’s company. Of course, we use HubSpot and Salesforce to manage demand capture. It’s not just about capturing data—it’s how much time you spend analyzing it that matters.
Ernesto: Definitely. Great to hear. Let’s switch it up a bit, Charlie, and talk about you as the leader. You’re the Head of Marketing at Finch. What are some key tasks you focus on in your day-to-day work?
Charlie: Good question. These days, I’m focused on ramping up new team members. We just doubled the marketing team from two to five people in the last couple of months, so that’s been a big shift. I’m building scalable processes and focusing more on strategy and planning for 2024. I’m aligning that plan with the other leaders at the company while handing off day-to-day tasks to the talented marketers we’ve brought on.
Ernesto: Definitely important. Great to hear. Let’s jump into our rapid-fire question round. Are you ready?
Charlie: Let’s do it!
Ernesto: All right. First off, what’s the last book you read?
Charlie: Honestly, I don’t have much time to read books these days. I prefer short-form content like blog posts or LinkedIn updates. Marketing moves so fast that by the time a book gets published, tactics can already be outdated. I network with peers and read a lot of up-to-date content online instead.
Ernesto: Fair enough. Next, what’s one thing your company is focused on the most right now?
Charlie: Pipe gen—generating enough pipeline to hit our ambitious new business goals for fiscal 2024, which just started. We’re tweaking our go-to-market approach to include more vertical-specific marketing and outbound tactics.
Ernesto: Awesome. If there were no boundaries in technology, what’s one thing you’d want fixed for your role as a marketer today?
Charlie: Email marketing. Email is overused and low quality right now. I’d love a better way to connect buyers and sellers, maybe through an app where buyers can signal when they’re in the market and sellers can bid for the opportunity to engage with them.
Ernesto: Interesting. What’s one repetitive task you’d automate?
Charlie: Reporting and analytics. A lot of it is still manual, and I’d love a way to automate it completely and get everything spoon-fed.
Ernesto: Lastly, what’s one piece of advice you’d give yourself if you were restarting your marketing journey?
Charlie: I’d advise myself to get more exposure to B2C marketing early on. You get access to so much data and can translate it into sophisticated campaigns. I wish I had done that earlier in my career.
Ernesto: Great advice! Thanks for sharing that, Charlie. If someone forgets everything about today’s interview, what’s the one thing they should remember about Finch?
Charlie: Finch helps you save costs if you’re building in the employment space. We offer integrations with almost any payroll provider in North America. Check us out at tryfinch.com.
Ernesto: Fantastic. Thanks again for being on the show, Charlie. And to our listeners, thanks for tuning in. Looking forward to our next episode at Pathmonk Presents. Thanks a lot, Charlie!
Charlie: Thanks, Ernesto. Super fun. Thanks for having me on.