Challenge
As a small community bank in northeastern Iowa, Community Savings Bank relies on great customer service and word of mouth to extend its brand. Going digital continues to be a growing trend and has significantly stretched into the financial sector. In fact, 51 percent of adults in the U.S. choose to bank online, according to the Pew Research Center. Because of this, fewer people are coming into branches when they bank and are choosing to rely on online banking instead.
While this paradigm shift has created many opportunities for banks and customers alike, it further removes the friendly faces at each branch and warm atmosphere from the customer’s primary touchpoint. With this in mind, Community Savings Bank wanted to increase its marketing efforts to encompass new digital realms that could create and foster a comparable environment online, similar to what someone would receive from stepping into his or her local branch.
Objectives
Objectives for the Community Savings Bank Facebook launch and social presence included:
- Creating an active community of fans and customers online, receiving higher engagement than the financial industry’s average of .81 percent, according to Hubspot’s 2015 Social Media Benchmarks Report.
- Growing the Facebook page at a rate of 100 new likes per month, reaching 300 fans by the end of the launch.
- Constructing an online identity as a resource on each community and its events.
Process
A quality Facebook page needs quality content. Because of this, the content for Community Savings Bank was crafted to provide fans with an experience similar to what they would get by walking into their local branch.
Content was focused on giving fans insightful tips on how to save money, increase financial literacy, and better manage their finances. Then, Community Savings Bank promotions and marketing initiatives were mixed into this content along with local events and photos of bank involvement within the community.
Community Savings Bank reserved an ad budget of $300 per month, managed by a local third-party paid search agency. Each month, half of the budget is allocated to adding new likes to the page through Page Like ads, while the other half is used for post promotion, which were used to get CSB’s messages in front of more Facebook users. Most promoted posts were messages about CSB’s special offers, community involvement, or any contests that were running on the page.
An important initiative used to boost the page was a comment contest that ran during the second month of services. Fans were asked to comment on a post with how many state and county fairs they had attended. Easy entry and relevance to the community were main focuses of this contest, which gave a large boost to the outlined objectives for the launch. As a result, 10 winners received tickets to a local county fair for the following weekend, and three grand prize winners were awarded tickets to see Easton Corbin.
Three Month Results
Total Page Likes – 787
Average Engagement – 9.2 percent per post
Stories Created – 1,908
Impressions – 789,823
Comment Contest
Entries – 199
Post Likes – 133
Page Likes Gained – 225
Reach – 26,448
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Hurrdat is a Lincoln, Neb. digital marketing agency specializing in social media and content marketing. The company was founded in 2010 and merged with B² Interactive of Omaha, Neb. in 2014 bringing even more digital marketing specialties to both firms’ clients. Together they provide a full range of social media, SEO, and website development services to both national brands and local clients. The companies employ more than 75 people in Nebraska and have won multiple awards for their business efforts, company culture, and clients’ campaigns.
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