FIRST SOUTHERN NATIONAL BANK
A Focused 90-Day Digital Campaign
Digital marketing has made up a significant portion of the overall efforts tied to the First Southern National Bank rebrand. That said, until 2023, our efforts had been ongoing with adjustments being made along the way with no specific beginning or end. Performance was calculated and communicated monthly, but goals, content, and assets remained fluid.
The “We Believe In Your Goals” campaign was different because it was designed with a specific 90-day timeline to simplify attribution. For those unaware of the privacy laws and general regulations associated with the banking industry, tracking return on investment is more difficult for banks. While an online retail store might be able to track customer interactions end-to-end, banking conversion data can be lost in transit from ad impression to account sign-up. This is especially true for financial institutions (like First Southern) without a CRM in place for team members to log customer interactions and decisions.
This campaign was an effort to maximize the conversion data that could be harvested manually while improving targeting, and growing deposits.
THE CHALLENGE
Increase awareness, and utilize effective targeting and tracking methods, while making a measurable impact on deposit growth using a short-term digital advertising campaign.
Fuzzy Conversions
Banks are held to higher standards when it comes to privacy and protecting customer information than other businesses. As a result, ad platforms can place artificial limits on targeting capabilities and core processors make little effort to connect new accounts to leads sourced from marketing efforts. This can be accommodated effectively by implementing a CMS to enable bank-wide customer interaction and decision tracking. At the time, First Southern had not implemented that kind of system, which meant that a lot of legwork would be involved to suss out conversion data and ROI.
Bridging The Gap
With no CRM in place for tracking and a closed checkout process for account sign-ups, we would need to use tools like UTM links, lead forms, and Google Analytics to bridge the gap. The theme of “We Believe In Your Goals” was chosen for creative assets as it aligned with overall branding and suggested that FSNB provided solutions to meet the needs of potential customers.
THE SOLUTIONS
Build an organized campaign to drive customer action across multiple channels to increase product awareness and deposit growth.
Creative Direction
We sought to effectively tie First Southern’s products and services to financial solutions for customers. The imagery portrays customers with positive expressions in banking or lifestyle situations. The most desirable images evoked nostalgia and pride in family connections to reinforce existing affinity for traditional values. The messaging shared specific benefits of products and practical life examples. Consistency across platforms drove recall and credibility to facilitate conversions.
Delivery Platforms
- Meta Digital Ads
- fsnb.net
- Emails to Customers
The most relevant goal in advertising is to get the right message in front of the right person at the right time. Hitting that mark sometimes takes investment in tools and training, but it almost always requires trial and error.
Methodology
- Limit paid advertising to Meta only to isolate channels for attribution
- Focus on a narrow selection of deposit products, including consumer checking, business checking, and consumer savings
- Create 6 ads with separate target profiles based on product, geography, age, gender, and interests gleaned from audience data available via Google Analytics for fsnb.net and core processor pages
- Implement additional methods to target visitors by specific actions taken on fsnb.net
- Monitor data weekly and update targeting and creative assets as performance varies
The idea of lookalike audiences in marketing isn’t new, but the general concept is that you can most effectively target new customers by understanding your existing customers and finding more people like them. We analyzed demographic and interest data available in Google Analytics for fsnb.net and the account sign-up platform.
We pulled the top 10 interest groups shared by visitors for each site and then looked for overlap. Without getting too specific, if we saw that many folks who followed through on signing up for accounts were aspiring chefs and avid news readers, it made sense to target potential customers in the markets who watched cooking shows and/or cable news channels. This methodology required adjustment over time, but it was very effective on the whole.
Accurate targeting and high ROI require robust tracking practices. Without a CRM, First Southern lacked some of the structure and practices needed to effectively connect all the dots. The alternative was to combine available tracking tools with account sign-up data manually pulled by the bank.
Methodology
- We utilized a lead form to serve as a sorting point. This allowed us to track those who exited to sign up for an account and those who exited to fsnb.net to learn more. It also gave us a method for harvesting contacts for future emails.
- We implemented methods to track visitors by actions taken on the lead form and website. This made it possible to create audiences for retargeting with future ads.
- We collaborated with First Southern Operations to pull data on accounts opened during confirmed ad session dates
- We shared performance data with collaborators weekly to allow opportunities for feedback and adjustment during the campaign.
Online Account Sign-Up Journey Tracking
- User clicks Meta Ad and visits Lead Form
- User interacts with Lead Form and exits to sign up or learn more
- A UTM coded link connects visitors who choose to sign up from the Lead Form to core processor pages in Google Analytics. This allows us to see how many of these visitors completed sign up.
- Operations pulls data on accounts generated during the campaign period with deposit data.
- Using submission dates, and completion numbers, we can narrow down which account sign ups could be attributed to ads.
THE RESULTS
Campaign messaging reached at least 106,000 new people across paid and organic platforms to grow overall awareness in the markets surrounding our branches. We were able to isolate specific audience interest areas and asset combinations where ads performed best while providing accurate attribution data. Most importantly, we saw year-over-year growth in both the total number of new accounts and the deposit values of those accounts.
New Customers Sourced Online During Campaign
This data includes all new accounts that were signed up for online during the 90 days when campaign messaging was being shared. We have not included data for new accounts that were created for customers who made first contact prior to 8/10, even though much of the messaging was delivered on channels like email and social media that are targeted at existing customers.
Date Range | Total New Accounts Opened Online | Total Average New Deposits |
8/10/23 – 8/31/23 | 24 | $236,735.40 |
9/1/23 – 9/30/23 | 25 | $86,172.22 |
10/1/23 – 10/31/23 | 39 | $3,276.48 |
11/1/23 – 11/10/23 | 3 | $66.32 |
Totals | 91 | $326,250.42 |
New Accounts Comparison for 2022 versus 2023
Month | DDA | SAV | TDA | Balance |
August 2022 | 375 | 124 | 16 | $9,665,010 |
August 2023 | 385 (+10) | 151 (+27) | 97 (+81) | $14,615,162 (+$4,950,152) |
September 2022 | 347 | 105 | 17 | $5,199,585 |
September 2023 | 365 (+18) | 149 (+44) | 89 (+72) | $27,207,794 (+$22,008,209) |
October 2022 | 303 | 119 | 31 | $6,201,678 |
October 2023 | 368 (+65) | 169 (+50) | 72 (+41) | $11,946,263 (+5,744,585) |
November 2022 (10 Days) | 93 | 48 | 15 | $2,352,206 |
November 2023 (10 Days) | 134 (+41) | 60 (+12) | 26 (+11) | $2,592,130 (+$239,924) |
Totals | +134 | +133 | +205 | +$32,942,870 |
Platform | Impressions | People Reached | Clicks | Engagement | New People |
6,612 | 6,331 | 51 | 125 | 42 | |
500 | 476 | N/A | 14 | 26 | |
Meta Ads | 663,674 | 118,524 | 6,120 | 3,146 | 106,536 |
fsnb.net | 2,092 | 1,868 | N/A | 5,783 | 1,679 |
Emails | 10,313 | 3,912 | 29 | N/A | N/A |
Totals | 683,191 | 131,111 | 6,200 | 9,068 | 108,283 |
New Online Customers ROI Model
Deposits Generated | Meta Ad Spend + Staff | ROI % |
$326,250.42 | REDACTED | 429.7% |
New Deposit Growth for 2022 versus 2023 ROI Model
Deposits Generated | Meta Ad Spend + Staff | ROI % |
$32,942,870 | REDACTED | 4,438.7% |
New Customers Sourced Online During Campaign
This data includes all new accounts that were signed up for online during the 90 days when campaign messaging was being shared. We have not included data for new accounts that were created for customers who made first contact prior to 8/10, even though much of the messaging was delivered on channels like email and social media that are targeted at existing customers.
Date Range | Total New Accounts Opened Online | Total Average New Deposits |
8/10/23 – 8/31/23 | 24 | $236,735.40 |
9/1/23 – 9/30/23 | 25 | $86,172.22 |
10/1/23 – 10/31/23 | 39 | $3,276.48 |
11/1/23 – 11/10/23 | 3 | $66.32 |
Totals | 91 | $326,250.42 |
New Accounts Comparison for 2022 versus 2023
Month | Accts | Balance |
August 2022 | 515 | $9,665,010 |
August 2023 | 633 (+118) | $14,615,162 (+$4,950,152) |
September 2022 | 469 | $5,199,585 |
September 2023 | 603 (+134) | $27,207,794 (+$22,008,209) |
October 2022 | 453 | $6,201,678 |
October 2023 | 609 (+156) | $11,946,263 (+5,744,585) |
November 2022 (10 Days) | 156 | $2,352,206 |
November 2023 (10 Days) | 220 (+64) | $2,592,130 (+$239,924) |
Totals | +472 | +$32,942,870 |
- 6,612 Impressions
- 6,331 People Reached
- 51 Clicks
- 125 Engagements
- 42 New People
- 500 Impressions
- 476 People Reached
- 14 Engagements
- 26 New People
Meta Ads
- 663,674 Impressions
- 118,524 People Reached
- 6,120 Clicks
- 3,146 Engagements
- 106,536 New People
fsnb.net
- 2,092 Impressions
- 1,868 People Reached
- 5,783 Engagements
- 1,679 New People
Emails
- 10,313 Impressions
- 3,912 People Reached
- 29 Clicks
Totals For All Platforms
- 683,191 Impressions
- 131,111 People Reached
- 6,200 Clicks
- 9,068 Engagements
- 108,283 New People
New Online Customers ROI Model
Deposits Generated | Meta Ad Spend + Staff | ROI % |
$326,250.42 | REDACTED | 429.7% |
New Deposit Growth for 2022 versus 2023 ROI Model
Deposits Generated | Meta Ad Spend + Staff | ROI % |
$32,942,870 | REDACTED | 4,438.7% |