Community Bank Creates Digital Presence
““My other company I had to babysit and follow up. I am just tickled pink with 2Novas…they are our turnkey marketing department.””
The Opportunity
A 130-year-old community bank in Illinois had been using the same print newspaper and radio ads for several years, and had never done any digital advertising whatsoever.
The bank enjoyed a strong market share in their local area, but total accounts were declining and the bank was not attracting younger customers. The bank was the only bank-owned and operated in their county, and had a robust online banking program.
The bank needed to build its digital presence - Google Ads, Facebook following, and more - to drive awareness with younger, Millennial and Gen Z customers, and be seen as a relevant option rather than a “stodgy old community bank”.
The Solution
First, we developed a comprehensive marketing strategy for the bank as the first step in our proprietary Bank Accelerator, a 12-week intensive program that establishes and launches a new marketing program for community banks.
In a comprehensive executive workshop, we dove in to the bank's strategic goals and current marketing reality, uncovered who their ideal customers are, and analyzed their competitive landscape.
The bank had never done any digital marketing, their logo was over 30 years old, and the same ads had been running in the local newspaper and on local radio for many years.
They needed a brand refresh and a plan to ramp up digital advertising in a methodical, ROI-focused way.
We started with the bank’s existing Strategic Plan, and built a marketing plan around it. The plan was detailed down to a 90-day action plan (essentially, a to-do list for the quarter!) that would entail redesigning their logo, core customer-facing materials like the quarterly newsletter, and testing out Google Search, Facebook, and digital banner ads.
By building up the bank’s presence on digital media, the bank would be front-and-center with their most desired customers: Millennials.
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CONSISTENTLY UPDATED ADS
We started with a newspaper ad running for years and got the bank on a plan to refresh it weekly while layering in digital ads.
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ROBUST FACEBOOK PRESENCE
From haphazard posting on social media to 3x or more per week with our training and social media calendars.
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INCREASE IN MILLENNIAL CUSTOMERS
We increased inquiries from Millennial customers as a direct result of the bank’s improved digital presence.
The Results
By the end of the Accelerator, the bank now had an ongoing, continuously optimized, and ROI-focused digital marketing program.
The bank’s ads were appearing for nearly all banking-related searches (“banks”, “banks near me”, “best checking accounts”, and so on) in their local area.
Digital banner ads were being shown over 250,000 times per month in a county with just a population of 15,000.
The bank began fielding more calls and visits from Millennial and Gen Z customers. The digital ads started conversations in the bank’s Trust and Wealth Management division and drove interest and applications for car loans and personal loans.
A comprehensive strategy refreshed logo and creative assets, and a new digital marketing program allowed this bank to increase awareness in their communities and attract their ideal customers.
““The 2Novas team updated our outdated logo and ads, and taught us a lot about what we need to do to bring in new accounts in our small town.””