Meet Intention.ly, a women-founded fractional CMO service for fintech companies

She’d spent a large part of her career working in-house at companies including eMoney Advisor and Orion, but when the pandemic hit, she did some soul-searching.

“Like everyone else, I asked myself, what do I want to do next?” she said.

She and partner Meghan Richter aimed to bring a “more modern” approach to marketing and growth within financial services, which as an industry tends to move slowly, Waltrich said. In May 2021, they launched Intention.ly, which builds inbound marketing engines and inquiry channels for fintech customers.

The company builds the framework, technology, advertising plans, marketing automation and digital marketing strategies for financial institutions to bring in new clients. Intention.ly’s clients include legacy institutions, asset managers and advisories, as well as small, early-stage fintech startups, Waltrich said. And Intention.ly is building custom solutions for the needs of each client, so there’s no one-size-fits-all package.

We're connecting the dots for firms that otherwise couldn't do that themselves.

Waltrich recently outgrew her living room-turned-home office, and is opening a space in King of Prussia on Friday. She was aiming for a space where she can meet with clients, and build out a studio as the company often makes digital content, videos and podcasts for clients. She’s also recruited several of her current employees from eMoney and Orion, and though leadership won’t be making an official in-office working policy, she thinks folks will use the space away from home to work.

“We like seeing each other,” Waltrich said. “We won’t go in everyday, but it’ll be nice to reconnect and work together.”

Though she has experience in the space, Waltrich said she’s learning a lot as a first-time founder. She stressed that hiring has been “even more important” when you’re working for yourself. She and cofounder Richter have aimed to build a “strong foundation” with their team of 15 full-timers and additional contractors and freelancers. The company is bootstrapped for now.

She’s learned that outsourcing can be an attractive option to companies while they’re facing an economic downturn, and Intention.ly’s services have helped fill some marketing holes that companies may not want to hire for themselves.

“What I came to realize is there are a few very large firms in financial services that have budget to be everywhere and loud,” Waltrich said. “And all these amazing firms that don’t have a voice, they’re focused on building software or building clients. We’re connecting the dots for firms that otherwise couldn’t do that themselves.”