FIRST SOUTHERN NATIONAL BANK
Shifting The Focus
First Southern launched their first website in October of 1999 with online banking (they called it “Net Banking” at the time) available for the first time less than a year later. The site saw redesigns in 2003, 2010, 2012, and 2016, but one thing that remained consistent was a focus on internal values and team members.
Heading into 2018, their leadership knew that change was coming. Focus on in-person interactions would continue to recede as the banking world was invaded by Fintechs with easy access and less need for lobby hours. For a business that has built its success on leveraging relationships, sustainability would mean shifting the methodology from assuming team members could do all the selling in person to clearly defining why potential customers should bank with First Southern online.
This shift in focus led to an opportunity to refine their branding and build a new online presence.
THE CHALLENGE
Shift the focus from selling services nearly exclusively in-person to selling effectively online.
Good Utility. Poor Outreach.
The version of the FSNB website launched in 2015 was much improved in terms of the overall look. While it lacked mobile responsive capabilities and carried the weight of the existing internal focus, it made it easy for existing customers to access their account information. Now it needed to function as a true external marketing tool.
Communicating Outside The Branches
While showcasing great team members or aspirational values might seem natural, it’s crucial to first communicate why potential customers should connect with your bank. Values and utility links are obviously important, but neither matters if potential customers don’t want to bank with you. It was our job to build a site that made reaching potential customers its primary function.
THE SOLUTION
Build a website with a clear focus on the needs of customers and the products and services First Southern offers to meet them.
As with the shift in branding, we decided to shift the prominence of the navigation from focusing on who First Southern was to what they did for customers. Content about board members, mission, and values was moved to secondary navigation so that those interested in that information could still easily find it without taking the primary focus off solving financial problems.
We also distilled the navigation grouping down to Solutions, Services, and Customers, with a more prominent button added to sign up for accounts online. Again, this was all about creating paths of least resistance for new customers.
Previous Website Hero Image Examples
New Website Hero Image Examples
The differentiation was also intentional in video content. When team members were interviewed, the goal was for them to communicate how they worked with customers to solve their problems.
Previous Video Example
New Video Example
A shift in focus in navigation and imagery also required a shift in messaging. Rather than paragraphs and testimonials on how great team members were or how different they saw themselves, we pivoted to bragging about customers. We went from “We believe everyone should spend wisely.” to “We believe you do spend wisely and that should be rewarded with benefits from your bank.”
Previous website copy:
Who We Are
We have deep roots in the communities we serve because these are the same towns we grew up in. We believe in our people, and in their ability to use good judgment and do the right thing. Our leaders have the authority to make decisions, and we make sure they have the skills to lead. In fact, becoming more effective leaders is one of our passions. We are constantly reading, planning, strategizing, and learning.
New website copy:
We Believe In You
When First Southern National Bank says, “We Believe In You,” it means we also believe certain things about you. We believe that you want to live a life of margin, where you can balance spending, saving, and giving. We believe that you want to make wise financial decisions to enable that kind of living. Because we believe in you, we are here for you every step of the way.
The shift may seem subtle at first, but the psychological impact can be profound. The first example suggests that because First Southern team members are so great and they always do the right thing, the bank trusts them to decide whether you are worthy or not. The second suggests that you are great and you want to do the right thing, so the bank is here to help you do just that.
The final website design was launched in 2020 and served as one of the primary channels to share the “We Believe In You” content associated with the First Southern rebrand.
Built on WordPress, the site was mobile responsive and optimized for SEO and advertising performance. Best practices were applied for keywords, sitemaps, backlinks, and more as we worked overtime to refine performance.
The site served as the main landing for digital ad campaigns and allowed potential customers to sign up for deposit accounts or apply for loans from their desktop or mobile devices. With convenient access to utility links preserved, it also continued to serve existing customers well.
It was important to us that the website offered customers access to tools that could help them improve their financial lives. First Southern had spent a long time talking about wise financial decisions, but they hadn’t provided tools that anyone anywhere could access to learn how to better manage their finances. The Financial Literacy Resource Center and My Credit Manager allowed the bank to offer tangible assistance on the road to financial freedom.
Financial Literacy Resource Center
Facing the task of creating an online content library to provide thousands of community members with the knowledge they needed to make wise financial decisions was a daunting task. Thankfully, it wasn’t a challenge that was unique to First Southern. Numerous vendors were ready to provide resources under their brand.
After a research period, we decided to partner with Banzai, a leader in the financial literacy space in schools, who was in the process of moving further into adult and community education. Banzai provided us with quizzes, courses, articles, and virtual coaches to help First Southern customers grow their knowledge base. Access to these resources is available on fsnb.net and on Banzai’s co-branded site at the link below.
My Credit Manager
It is no secret that a healthy credit score is crucial on the road to financial freedom. Instead of just providing information on how anyone can improve their credit profile, First Southern partnered with Array to provide free credit monitoring for every customer.
All users have to do is activate the tool within First Southern digital banking and they can access a comprehensive credit report anytime they’d like. This allows them to monitor the impact of wise financial decisions on their credit score quickly and easily. They even have the opportunity to activate identity and credit monitoring services to protect them from identity theft. Learn more about this tool at the link below.
THE RESULTS
The website redesign played a prominent role in overall efforts to increase awareness and product adoption for First Southern from 2018 to 2023. During that period, the bank saw its overall assets grow by more than 42% and its year-over-year net income grow by as much as 61% (from 2021 to 2022). Beyond those numbers, impacts could be measured all around.
FROM 2018 TO 2023
SOURCED FROM GOOGLE ANALYTICS
