Company news

Originally posted on Finextra

It seems that the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation have managed to overcome the crisis known in psychology as the Kübler-Ross model. It describes five stages of dealing with a crisis situation, beginning with denial and continuing with anger, bargaining, depression, and, finally, acceptance. Apparently, this is what happened with cryptocurrency in Russia. The government has accepted that digital currencies are the new reality and stopped thinking about banning them.

As we see it, two concerns have hindered the recognition of cryptocurrencies in Russia so far:

• The welfare of non-professional investors who could lose all their money on risky investments

• Massive cryptocurrency use on the black market

Interestingly, when you talk to people about cryptocurrencies, they often cannot imagine any other ways to use them: in the eyes of an average person, cryptocurrencies are still considered a way to get rich quickly.

As it happens, people in countries with a developed and open financial system (and Russia certainly belongs to them) often do not think about, or rather do not know about, the fact that in most countries of the world, where the vast majority of people live, any currency purchases or currency transfers outside of the country are strictly controlled. To understand the extent of the problem, it would be enough to say that these countries include China, India, and almost all of Africa and Southeast Asia, with a combined population of over 4.5 billion.

At the same time, in all these countries (except maybe China), cryptocurrencies are legal, thus creating a situation where they become a more convenient payment method than fiat.

This is especially important for small IT companies. At UpTrader we develop software for small companies in finance, and this type of business is the most common in emerging markets.

Therefore, the legalisation of cryptocurrencies in Russia is a real gift for us. Moreover, I think that it will favour the inflow of foreign capital into Russia and the country's image. It also means that there will be more money, which means everyone will be better off.

Elena Berestovaya, CMO UpTrader

In UpTrader we often see forex brokers that struggle with sales growth stoppage. In their efforts they often try to improve soft, add new assets, change employes or find new Forex CRM. All of these things make sence, but let’s talk about marketing tools that can help beyond Forex CRM and other software forex solutions.   

Every Forex broker has probably faced a situation where the sales growth plateaued and did not want to budge. Some of them encounter it soon after the company's launch, while others face it already when the sales are at a solid volume. To understand what will launch your company’s growth again, you need to analyse your own business model to look at the situation as a whole: the region, product, sales department, reputation, licence, marketing strategy, how to deposit and withdraw funds. Everything is important. We will consider a few marketing techniques you should start with and see what ready-made products you can add to your business to increase sales.

Customer Segmentation

The very first thing to start with is probably to understand whether you are dividing your customers into segments and whether your methods of working with them are different. A clear definition of who your customer is will be the foundation of your marketing strategy and sales team.Your company could very well be only focused on one client type: for example, you might only work with large clients from Asia, or you only offer investments in managed PAMM accounts, or maybe you are a broker offering products to traders, investors, and clients with any deposit amount. Your sales funnel depends on the answer to this question. It will define whether you will have one funnel or several, one for each type of client. Funnels could differ dramatically from one another in tone and content of your emails, products you sell, services you plan to launch, marketing promotions, trading conditions, and sales methods. If you are a multi-product broker, you should categorise customers into different groups, identify key audiences, and build tactics to work with each. Many companies do not segment customers, which leads to blurred advertising, unclear offers, and too much traffic on the website. As a result, the client does not find anything for themselves and gravitates towards a competitor with a clearer offer. Separate funnels for different segments help increase the conversion of leads into customers and keep the customer with the company, thereby increasing sales. 

Narrowing or expanding the audience

This point flows seamlessly from the previous one. There is nothing wrong with narrowing your audience. It allows you to focus on what your team does best. It helps you get to know your client well, understand their needs, and not be spread out over everyone looking for ways to make money in the Forex market. Narrowing down the audience, sharpening your communication with it, fine-tuning the product is a painstaking job. However, if this job is well done once, and with good results, it can be scaled to new regions. You can then add new products and new target audiences, expanding your business. 

Choosing a flagship product

This point also complements the previous two. When a customer chooses you from a variety of other companies, your offer should be obvious to them. What do you consider your number one product, why do you have the best product? In our experience, a common mistake that brokers make is not emphasising their main product, the showpiece of the company. They offer everything at once, thinking that a variety of options is better than having no choice. Indeed, the variety of options is very good. Nevertheless, if a potential client visits the website and sees a bit of everything, they might enter a state of procrastination, not knowing what to choose. It will be easier for the client if you make the initial choice for them. And then, when they choose you, you can offer them so much more. If you attract experienced traders and expect them to make their own choice, make sure you have a licence, because professionals are well aware of the cost of non-compliance. 

Copy Trading platform

Many novice brokers are wondering: is there a magic service which easily allows you to increase the sales volume? Yes, there is. One simple and popular way to activate beginners or hesitant audiences is to offer them the copying trading platform with experienced traders. Many traders who are new to the market are understandably anxious over the potential to lose their deposits and struggle to understand how to trade in general. A procrastinating client equals a lost client. Sometimes, copy trading can help them make their first step. A clear rating system, transparent terms of copying, risk limitation, and instant deposit of profit to the account make the service attractive enough for the customer to start earning in your company. The only problem to be solved is attracting traders to the service. Good trading conditions, a user-friendly interface, and good rewards can help.

Market Analytics in your Forex CRM

A fairly inexpensive, but an extremely useful sales tool is daily trading recommendations. It can be used for both marketing and sales. This is a great way to interest your audience and stir up their greed by showing forecasts for the market and the potential profit. Nothing motivates better than numbers. One of UpTrader's clients who sends analytics to their customers through it’s Forex CRM allowed me to analyse their trading account data for 2021. It turned out that customers who read analytics deposited on average 15% more per customer compared to those who did not use this tool. The median bill was 25% higher. At the same time, their trading volume increased by 230%!

Bonuses/Promotions: are they effective?

This is a tricky question. No two bonuses are alike. Welcome bonuses, popular in the Forex market, work great for lead generation. But do you need clients who come for freebies? Do you know how to work with such clients? Will the sales team be able to sell these customers something beyond free bonuses? Are you willing to spend the resources of your customer support team to help the clients to understand the bonus allocation and bonus withdrawal rules, burden your staff with dealing with complaints from clients who believe that they have been unfairly written off a bonus, etc.? We believe that bonuses can be used, but they should be distributed carefully. They must not become the primary source for lead generation, because they attract an audience that you might not need. Bonuses for the deposit and accrual of interest on the account balance have proven their value. In general, all clients like bonuses and promotions, the key here is to use them in moderation. In UpTrader Forex CRM for instance we have all kinds of bonuses, but they are not really popular among our clients. Copy trading platform is more popular. 

In this article, we went over some strategies to increase sales. If you are currently considering what you would like to improve in your brokerage business or if you are thinking about starting your own firm from scratch, contact the UpTrader team. We will help, guide, and consult you.

The annual professional Forexrating Awards announced the results of 2021, according to which UpTrader became the best company in the “Fastest-growing social trading platform” nomination. The service is significant for its exceptional technical features, demonstrating the highly skilled team that deeply understands the market and is able to create the right service.

Vasily Alexeev, CEO Uptrader

“The award is a honor for the team. We have worked hard to create a service that can satisfy almost any broker’s request, and we are pleased to see recognition from colleagues and clients. In 2022, we plan to pay more attention to improvements in the interface.”

Investment service - UpTrader Social Trading Platform for MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 was launched in 2021. The product was created for different needs of customers, so it can work as MAM, PAMM and Social Trading. The service is significant in its high stability of operation due to the fact that all transactions are copied at the MT core level, in addition to a guarantee against loss of transactions, this provides maximum speed. The service also ensures the accuracy of copying transactions and the distribution of profits between investors to the cent. The service is easily integrated and managed both by staff and by traders and investors.

Read more about UpTrader Social Trading Platform here.

Dear clients, partners, and colleagues! 

I wish you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The end of the year is always the time when we look back to assess the results and, based on this foundation, plan the future. I sincerely wish that the business plans for the coming year are implemented fully and on time, and that the financial performance in 2022 is above and beyond expectations. And most importantly, may you and your loved ones be happy and healthy! 

Vasily Alexeev, CEO UpTrader

2021 is almost over, and it is time to wrap up and make plans for the next year. Reflecting on the results helps us take another look at the work we have done and assess what we have done well and what we need to work on. It helps us evaluate the market situation and the competitiveness of our products and analyse trends in our business.

Trends

MT5 vs MT4

As is often the case in times of crisis, financial markets begin to rise. In those turbulent times, an uncertain future is fuelling the financial services markets. Therefore, brokerage firms keep opening and the demand for brokerage products is growing. It is interesting to note that all our new clients prefer an MT5 terminal, contrary to last year, when only MT4 was requested. With this trend, we can expect that in 5 years time, MT5 will completely take over. This change in preferences primarily has to do with the Metaquotes pricing policy. Currently, the cost of your own MT5 server is comparable to the cost of a White Label MT4, both averaging at $4000-5000. In this situation, brokers often make the obvious choice to buy their own server which leads to licences for MT4 not selling at all. 

Cryptocurrencies

Recently, interest in cryptocurrency margin trading has grown. Almost everyone now gives 1:10 leverage and trading is available 24/7. In 2021, UpTrader clients were more likely to ask for cryptocurrency than Forex, although back in 2020, Forex was leading the way. 

Social trading

You could say that interest in social trading has been consistent for a year now. It is not a new trend but it is certainly growing. Our new service UpTrader Invest attracts clients and many brokers consider it a core product. 

Products

Platform for social trading

In 2021, UpTrader's team launched UpTrader Invest, a new platform for social trading. It is designed for MetaTrader 4 / 5 trading terminals and works in three modes: MAM, PAMM, and social trading. UpTrader Invest is easy to integrate, has a user-friendly interface and the highest copying stability thus solving the issue of losing trades. The service also has several reward calculation modes available. The demand for the platform was high even before it was released, and after the release, the popularity has grown many times over. It is  especially true for the MT5 version, since our client reviews are more favourable than those of our competitors. The platform was also positively received by the professional community.

CRM 

2021 is the year of CRM improvements. We are constantly improving the functionality and introducing new features to account for the constant feedback we get from our clients. This year, we have greatly expanded the flexibility of the withdrawal control and approval system which allows brokers to process requests faster and quickly detect fraudulent activity. We have also added an analytics feed to the CRM for all our clients.

Customer service

The quicker we solve client problems, the better business our clients are doing, the stronger our relationship is. That's why we strive to provide the best possible service and implement a personalised approach. Each client is assigned a personal manager who is always ready to solve their problem as quickly as possible.

Plans

In 2022, we are planning to improve the design in UpTrader Invest, the appearance of charts in particular. The CRM will be enriched with a long-awaited module for the sales department consisting of many new features.