NOTE: This article originally appeared in the March 2020 Issue of Great Lakes Banker magazine.

Community Banks early in their digital advertising journey tend to run ads for a few months, see lackluster results, and ultimately let the campaigns fizzle out. 

But being seen on digital is the only way to make your bank relevant in a world where over 60% of people do a Google search before making a purchase (HubSpot).

In our experience, these banks usually end the campaign feeling digital ads are too expensive, or just won’t work for them. But with the right approach, digital can be far cheaper – and more effective! - per lead versus traditional methods like local newspaper, radio, and television. To maximize ROI, it’s important to pick the platform that will best drive results for your bank’s particular geography, competitive landscape, and goals.

Here, we outline the three most popular forms of digital advertising for banks. Start with just one platform and master it – and ideally the ROI from this will provide you with budget and motivation to add more digital advertising in the future.

1. Google Ads

• What Are They: Text-based ads that appear at the top of a Google search results page, denoted with the word “Ad” in a box

• Who Can They Help You Find: People in your area that are actively searching for banks, banking products, and services

• How Much Do I Need to Spend: $5-10 per day, to start

Now the old standby of digital, Google Ads are the most popular and easiest to get started with. Formerly called AdWords, these are the ads that appear at the top of many search results. They are often the most expensive per lead, but the leads are people actively searching for relevant products and services, and therefore more ready to buy. Do a Google search for “banks near me” and see if there are any results that appear with the word “Ad” in a little box next to them. These are Google Ads.

Set up a campaign with Google’s wizard at https://ads.google.com. Choose 10-15 keywords that you think customers would search for, and add a competitor’s name or two as well. Link to either your bank’s homepage or a contact page with some high-level info about your bank and products. Start simple! Lots of free tutorials exist that can help you later with sophisticated features like call extensions and dynamic ads.

Start with a budget of $5-10/day, and let the ads run for at least 2-3 months. Google will email you recommendations and notices that you can follow, and you may even get a call from a Google account rep (really a sales call, but they often make helpful recommendations).

2. Facebook Ads

• What Are They: Image or Video-Based Ads that Appear in the Facebook News Feed, denoted with “Sponsored Posts”

• Who Can They Help You Find: People based on specific interests, location, or demographics that you can choose

• How Much Do I Need to Spend: Test with $10-$25 one-time “boosts”, or $5-10 per day, to start

Your bank’s Facebook page primarily reaches those who have followed your bank’s page – aka not prospective new customers. Facebook Ads on the other hand, can find people that look similar to your customers, but are not customers yet. Or, you can set up a campaign to target a specific age group, or relevant interests like home renovations, child care, or saving.

We’d recommend starting by boosting one of your existing popular posts for $10-$25, and seeing how that performs for your bank. Each area is different, and Facebook is more effective for some targets than others. You could also run a $5-$10/day campaign like with Google, but using good images or video is a step up in complexity.

3. Targeted Display (or Programmatic) Ads

• What Are They: Image-based ads that appear across the internet, sometimes called banner ads

• Who Can They Help You Find: Literally anyone on the internet – by choosing very specific targeting parameters on interests, past purchases, demographics, psychographics, or geography (including geofencing)

• How Much Do I Need to Spend: Set aside $500-$1000/month to start, for a minimum 3 months. You will need an outside professional to help.

Unlike Facebook and Google Ads, programmatic ads are not self-service. You need access to a programmatic bidding platform and a graphic artist to create the ad creative for you, typically done through an outside digital advertising agency. And, although programmatic ads are far cheaper per person reached than Facebook or Google, your monthly budgets need to be higher because the platforms won’t work as well at lower spends.

Think of programmatic like the digital newspaper ad – you can blanket large groups of people, or even target everyone in your county or service area – for a few hundred dollars a month (more if you’re in a large metro). The trick is honing your targeting parameters to find people most likely to need your services, and this can take time and expertise because the programmatic platforms are complex.

But once you do, often you can have your ad seen several hundred thousand times per month in your area, for less than $1000. It’s most effective for getting your brand and logo seen on the internet – which will make you more relevant to younger demographics.

Master these forms of digital advertising, and you will make your bank more relevant to any customer demographic you’d like to reach.