The conversation that I used to have five years ago with marketing directors of Banks or Credit Unions used to begin, "Are you doing digital advertising?" But it's a different world now. Nearly half of all banks' marketing budgets are allocated to digital ads. 71% of banks increased their digital ad spend in 2021 and plan to increase it further in '22. And with 84% of banking customers saying they plan to maintain the level of online banking that they adapted during the pandemic, digital is here to stay.
The question is no longer, "Are you doing digital?". It's "Are you doing the right digital for your bank or credit union?" As the need for digital advertising in financial has skyrocketed, so have companies that offer those services. And let's be blunt; there's a LOT of wasted ad dollars out there. Low-quality ads being wasted on unqualified prospects in the wild-west that is the internet. On top of that, with so many digital platforms and websites out there, smaller banks and credit unions are easily being railroaded, pushed aside by big-box names and major financial institutes that can outspend them on every platform.
Unsure if you're doing it right in the digital marketing realm? Fear not! Wheeler Digital works with banks and credit unions of ALL sizes, large regional institutions with several locations or scrappy, single branch credit unions with very specific audiences. And while we always believe in customizing every single campaign to align perfectly with your goals and challenges, we've noticed some undeniable trends across all the financial partners that we help.
These three products are a great place to start to ensure your investment is going to pay off!
Video Pre-Roll Ads
Video Pre-Roll are the ads that you see before the content you are consuming. For example, if I am on ESPN.com and I click a video to see last night’s game highlights, a video pre-roll ad is going to run before I can watch the highlight video. Video Pre-Roll ads are :15 or :30 in length and can be done with behavioral targeting, keyword targeting, artificial intelligence, and retargeting, and can run across all devices. These ads can be skippable or un-skippable, but that isn’t something that the advertiser is able to dictate, as that is determined by the website in which they are appearing. Un-skippable ads aid in branding and awareness, and with skippable ads, research shows that people who have the option to skip but don’t, are the consumer who are really interested in your product or service. So, it makes sense to have your message delivered both ways.
Native Ads
Native, whether you’re using video or display ads, go across all devices and they match the look, feel, and context of the website. Here’s an example as to how ads could vary to match the site/app that they are served on.
Native Ads are effective because people are reading these ads since they are imbedded into the content on the website or app that they are viewing. Reading the ads requires BOTH hemispheres of the brain, resulting in higher engagement, recall and influence.
Social Mirror Ads
Social Mirror ads look like your social media display or video posts but appear on other websites and apps and run across all devices using our targeting strategies. Social Mirror ads mimic the look and feel of top social media platforms however, the ads appear not on the social platforms, but on thousands of other websites and apps and run across all devices. Each ad links back to the social platform it is mirroring and, has a second call to action button that links to the advertiser’s website! Ads contain unique social actions related back to the originating platform (for example, the like icon, the heart icon, the pinning icon, the retweet icon… those actions are available). These ads can integrate with all the major social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linked In, Pinterest, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube. Ads can run as display, video or carousel.
Whether you are talking about Video Pre-Roll, Native or Social Mirror Ads, there are four strategies:
· Behavioral
· Artificial Intelligence
· Retargeting
· Keyword
With Behavioral Targeting, we are targeting people based on previous online behaviors and what they’ve shown an interest in, and Ads run on all devices. Since, as consumers, we leave breadcrumbs of data about our behaviors online which are compiled into Behavioral Categories, companies can pick and choose which Behavioral Categories they want to target. For Banks and Credit Unions, here are some of the categories that could be used for a digital campaign:
Artificial Intelligence is going to use machine learning to target customers based on who is engaging with the ad, across all devices. Think of AI Targeting as a funnel, the targeting starts wide and gets narrower as the machine learning algorithm gets more data about who/what is causing clicks and conversions. The machine learning technology is looking at our overall pacing to make sure we hit our impressions goals and optimizing towards when users are online and engaging. The system optimizes based on the internet traffic patterns of users for when they are online and engaging. Looking at device type, browser, what website or app, creative, audience behaviors, how frequently the user has been served impressions, how recently the user has been served impressions.
Retargeting is where we follow people after they leave your website and showing them your 15 or 30-second video pre-roll ad, on other websites and apps they go to, across all devices. Since only 2% of traffic converts the first time they come to a website, having Retargeting included in your campaign aids in the frequency of seeing your ad.
Keyword Targeting is showing your 15 or 30-second video pre-roll ads on webpages and apps that contain keywords related to your business, across all devices. Most keyword lists size are around 75-100, but you can utilize up to 500 keywords within a campaign.
Just like choosing a financial institution, there are TONS of options in the digital ad world and rarely is one solution right across the board. The same way that your financial managers work with and guide your clients to financial success, Wheeler prides itself on doing the same for their digital clients. Video Pre-Roll, Native Ads and Social Mirroring might very well be the key to your marketing success! But if you want to be sure, call us up to get started today!