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In today’s economic climate, any opportunity to generate additional capital for fewer marketing dollars is as welcome as it is hard to come by.
There are a number of ways to generate deposit dollars online, and many of them can be less time consuming and costly than traditional advertising. With a relatively simple online banking platform and application, financial institutions can take advantage of a multitude of online marketing channels that are inexpensive and easy to implement.
Pay per click advertising
Pay per click (PPC) advertising opportunities can be found on search engines, advertising networks, content sites and blogs. For instance, if you search for anything, the pay per click ads, otherwise known as “sponsored links,” appear at both the top and right hand side of the page.
These advertisements are purchased on a “pay per click” basis, meaning you only pay if someone actually clicks your advertisement. These clicks currently average $1 to $1.50 in the financial services industry. Once users click on your ad, they are sent to a page on your Web site.
Statistically, 25-30 percent of searchers view and may click on these ads. So, for someone marketing a new online checking account, buying pay per click advertisements for the keyword “online checking” will result in 60,500 views of your ad per month nationally (based on recent averages), assuming that you are presented on the first page every time. There are options from a number of these PPC advertising channels that allow you to geographically or demographically target site visitors.
To get started, here are a few basic tips regarding pay per click advertising:
* Test, test and test some more. Just because it costs $10 per click to be on the first page does not always mean you should be there. Some institutions may find better leads for some keywords on the second or third page, as these users still haven’t found what they’re looking for–and it might be you, and it also will be less expensive.
* Write great ads. In Google, you have 125 characters to explain yourself, so make sure your offer and message are strong and to the point. Tell the users why they will benefit from your offer.
* Don’t go for the monster keywords. “Checking” may seem like a great keyword for your company, but it will be extremely expensive and may not convert. Choosing less competitive keywords that can be found by using Google’s keyword tools can typically bring better returns. If you do want to compete on some of those highly competitive keywords, make sure to geographically target your ads so you are competing only in your markets. You can also choose keywords that are already geographically targeted like “Georgia bank” or “Virginia checking account.”
Online display advertising
Online display advertising is similar to that of newspaper or billboard advertising, but online and with the ability to target. Opportunities exist for this, not only on local Web sites, but also on national Web sites that allow geographic targeting. These types of ads are typically paid for in cost per impressions (CPMs). So, for a highly targeted Web site, you as an advertiser may pay $15 for every 1,000 impressions, or views, of your ad.
These ads can be anything from a simple image to complete page roadblocks where you take over the Web site. One of the best examples of a page takeover is Nintendo’s online campaign for WarioLand Shake It!, a video game available for Wii (www. youtube.com/experiencewii).
A few thoughts regarding online display advertising:
* Give them a reason to “click here.” Make sure that you’re advertising in the right places to find your target market–and to appeal to it. Also, don’t forget a call to action, even if it’s a generic “click here.”
* Monitor your results. Many advertisers simply post an ad online and think of it as “brand advertising.” If the ad you are running on any site isn’t bringing a return on your dollars, find out why and correct it.
* Maximize your visibility time. For instance, if you are running an ad at the top of a news site, as the second users land on the page, they will scroll down to the body of the news article and your ad is no longer present on the page. In this instance, make sure the user is presented with a call to action immediately–instead of showing your call to action at the end of an animation after they’ve scrolled to the bottom of the news article.
A case study
If I told you that you can gain $20 million dollars in deposits in a month, would your financial institution pursue it? Many bank marketers would jump at this kind of opportunity if it involved traditional advertising. Yet, this opportunity involves online marketing–and many smaller financial institutions around the country have not yet taken advantage of the many online opportunities that are available every day.
During the summer of 2008, a community bank in Kilmarnock, Va., began planning to create an online bank, a subsidiary of their own, that could generate additional deposits for the roughly $500 million-asset institution. Other banks have had a great deal of success from doing this, and, well, why couldn’t Chesapeake Bank? Chesapeake worked with vendors to find the simplest applications as well as authentication services to prevent any additional compliance issues as well as to add security for these online customers.
Author: Nick Kastner