INSIGHTS
TradeTech 2025: Trading tech providers, are you speaking the buy side’s language?
Conferences always sound great. Pipeline gold. A chance to brush up on industry trends. And if we must do it in Paris, all the better.
But halfway through the morning of Day 1, your feet are already aching, your lead quota is gnawing at the back of your mind, and your prospects seem more interested in snagging branded tote bags from your booth than in talking to you.
At a fast-paced event like TradeTech 2025 — just two days long — you’re not just competing with other vendors. You are also up against a packed agenda, headline keynotes, and the gravitational pull of peer networking.
As a former journalist, I understand the pain all too well. Not just the literal pain of pacing conference halls in tight shoes, but also the challenge of crafting clear, crisp messaging that differentiates you.
To make the most of these two very short days, you need to come armed with a tight, focused message that positions your offering as a solution, and your brand as an authority on the buy-side’s pain points.
Are you speaking your (potential) clients’ language?
For decades, Greentarget (GT) has helped trading tech firms sharpen their message and speak compellingly to the buy side.
A few themes GT is seeing at TradeTech 2025
The future is multi-asset
Markets like fixed income and derivatives that stubbornly clung to manual trading are now rapidly electronifying.
They are catching up with equities, and fundamentally altering how the buy side navigates capital markets.
The trader of the near future will expect seamless cross-asset workflows and rapid availability of data.
Data is powerful
Yet, these kinds of static systems can’t cope with the vast amounts of data now produced by electronification and increasing regulatory reporting mandates.
Firms must master this data to compete, to drive alpha and reduce risk.
In this environment, single-asset systems will no longer cut it.
AI scepticism is rising
Generative AI is a buzzy topic right now, but decision-makers are increasingly wary of silver-bullet promises.
Sure, you’ve integrated the latest tech, but what problem are you actually solving? Shout that from the rooftops.
Buyers are tired of hype. They want to know that trading tech providers understand this ever-shifting landscape and that tech solutions fit ‘real world’ challenges.
Is your message simple and useful?
Capital markets technology is evolving rapidly.
The buy side is navigating a complex landscape: shifting liquidity, tighter margins, new asset classes, and persistent macroeconomic uncertainty.
Your audience isn’t looking for buzzwords and sales talk. They want to know that you can help, that you understand their challenges, and that you offer real solutions.
Suggestions for trading tech provider marketers
Avoid buzzword overload
Get to the value quickly. No one wants to decode a mess of acronyms and trendy jargon to figure out what you’re offering.
Don’t spotlight upgrades or components of your solution in isolation
Maybe you’ve added new analytics or improved latency — that’s great.
But unless you’re talking about it within the context of your larger solution and grounding your narrative in its relevance for the user, it’s just noise.
Lead with relevance
Focus on the outcomes you deliver, not just the great features you’ve built.
Get to know exactly what your customer’s concerns are, and open with how you as a technology provider are there to help.
Are you getting your story straight?
In our work with clients, we’ve seen strong results from firms that create lines of constant internal communication across product, sales, and marketing teams.
Sales knows what clients are struggling with, product refines the roadmap, and marketing creates the messaging.
Unfortunately, many organisations, especially as they scale and everyone gets busier, can lose a culture of internal knowledge sharing.
To grab and hold attention at a busy conference, you need a consistent and defined view that draws from all these departments. That requires planning and getting together to develop and align messaging.
All of this is especially urgent when other vendors are tackling similar themes in a similar way. In the mind of buy side delegates, every trading tech provider becomes synonymous without careful, compelling messaging. This is your time to shine – Make every connection count.
Want to discuss this at TradeTech 2025?
GT has long committed to WBR events, including TradeTech, and would love to discuss this and other pressing issues facing buy-side capital markets firms.
Get in touch to arrange a coffee meeting, or head to the GT Press Office at the event to meet with Joanna, Jeff, Indre or Eléonore.
Get in touch today
