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If doing digital advertising themselves (or managing vendor relationships), bank marketing directors have to keep up with changes, explain those changes to CXOs, run different types of campaigns, etc. Then, they need to report on how those campaigns are performing for the bank’s overarching goals.

This guide aims to identify crucial conversations about digital advertising by providing a comprehensive resource to meet your bank’s strategic objectives.

When to Consider Digital Advertising

Most banking customers have three to six devices for connecting to the internet, like smartphones, tablets, laptops, and smartwatches. This means that connecting with your customers digitally is no longer optional, and digital advertising should be a key part of any marketing strategy for banks. The question isn’t “Should we use digital advertising?” but rather “HOW should we use digital advertising?”

To answer that question, you must start by clarifying what your bank’s goals are in the first place.

Goal 1: Understand Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

Understanding your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is crucial as the first step in the process. Who are the people you want to reach, and what are their characteristics? What stage of life are they in? What’s top of mind as it pertains to their finances? The more clearly you can define your ICP, the more precisely you can target your ads. A clear ICP not only helps advertising software with targeting, but it will also heavily inform your messaging and creative for your campaigns.

Goal 2: Set Your Product Focus

In most cases, when a bank wants to engage in online advertising, it’s to build visibility for a particular product or service. Your strategy will be different if you are promoting mortgages versus wealth management services or checking accounts. Figuring out which product you want to focus on will help you choose the best advertising channel and approach.

Goal 3: Identify Your Competition

In many cases, we see community banks get aggressive with digital advertising to fend off new (and often larger) competitors entering their markets. With digital advertising, you can make sure your bank shows up when potential customers search for your competitors, aka competitive bidding. It’s a good way to protect your market and make sure people know what your bank offers. Community banks often pride themselves on personal service, and digital ads can help remind customers of exactly that.

Types of Digital Ads Banks Can Run Today

The beauty of digital advertising is the control it gives you to place your message in front of the right person, in the right place, at the right time. Here are the main types of digital ads that community banks should consider:

1. Search Ads

Search ads, also referred to as Pay Per Click ads, are seen as "Sponsored" results in Google or Bing, and are a highly targeted way to reach people actively looking for financial services. These ads work well for specific product campaigns because they show when someone is specifically looking for a product or service that matches a set of targeted keywords and search terms. They can be targeted geographically as well as by keywords, making them highly effective for specific offerings.

Considerations: You can also add your competitor’s brand names to your targeted keywords so that when someone is specifically looking for your competition, you can show your ad. Also, keep an eye on what’s known as ‘Ad Impression Share’ to ensure you’re not leaving opportunities on the table and missing out when search volume exceeds your budget allocation. If that happens, consider narrowing your focus by either getting more intentional with your keywords or tightening your market area. 

2. Display Ads

These ads are typically in image or banner formats that promote brand awareness, highlight specific products, or retarget previous website visitors. Display ads appear across websites within Google’s Display Network or other ad networks and are effective for awareness campaigns.

Considerations: Display ads are less targeted than search ads and may not convert as effectively, but they are highly beneficial for brand recognition and awareness. They provide a great opportunity to visually communicate your brand's identity and core values. Incorporating eye-catching visuals and clear calls to action can enhance their effectiveness. That “top of mind” visibility can help boost the performance of your search ads by keeping you in front of your prospects.

3. Retargeting Ads

Retargeting helps you stay connected with people who have already visited your website but didn’t take action. These ads remind potential customers what they showed interest in, nudging them to come back and take action.

Considerations: Retargeting ads often have high conversion rates because they target people who already know about your bank. You can make these ads even more effective by tailoring them to what the customer is interested in, like a specific product or service.

4. Video Ads

Video ads have become increasingly popular on platforms like YouTube, social media (such as Facebook or LinkedIn), and even connected TV (like Roku and Hulu). Video content can help explain products in a more personal, relatable way and also generate tremendous brand visibility.

Considerations: Video ads typically require a higher production budget, but they are incredibly effective for storytelling and showcasing the human side of banking. Videos can be used to introduce your team, highlight customer success stories, or explain complex financial products in a simplified manner. With video, community banks have a unique opportunity to create an emotional connection with their audience, which is often a key differentiator from larger competitors.

5. Social Media Ads

Ads on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn allow you to target potential customers based on interests, behaviors, and demographics. Social ads work well for generating awareness, promoting new products, or retargeting existing customers.

Considerations: Different social media platforms have different user bases, so selecting the right platform depends on the audience you want to reach. Facebook can be great for reaching individuals and promoting everyday banking products like checking accounts, while LinkedIn is ideal for business financing or treasury management offerings aimed at professionals. Social media ads also provide an opportunity for interaction—people can like, share, or comment on your ads, providing valuable engagement metrics and feedback.

The Power of Digital Advertising

Digital advertising offers a level of capability (and flexibility) that traditional advertising just can’t match:

• Instant Feedback: Unlike print ads or billboards, digital campaigns provide instant feedback on performance. You can monitor which ads resonate with your audience and adjust accordingly in real time. This feedback allows you to experiment with different messaging and creative formats, ultimately optimizing your campaigns for better performance.
• Adaptable Budget: With digital ads, you can change your budget based on how well your ads are doing. If something is working well, you can put more money into it.
• Creative Options: Digital ads come in many formats—text, images, and video—and you can run different ads for different products at the same time. For example, you could run a video ad for mortgages while using display ads for business loans.
• Tracking and Performance Management: Because you have the ability to control so many elements of a digital ad campaign (audience, offer, conversion objectives on the landing page, etc.), digital advertising makes it a lot easier to determine ROI and understand the performance of your marketing efforts.

Setting Expectations and Benchmarks

One of the hardest parts of digital advertising is setting the right expectations, especially when sharing results with senior leaders.

How Long Until You See Results from Digital Advertising?

Depending on your campaign, you may start seeing meaningful results within a few weeks, but many successful campaigns mature over a few months as data is collected and optimization occurs. It’s important to communicate to senior leadership that digital advertising is a dynamic process—continuous monitoring, testing, and tweaking are required for long-term success.

For instance, a new product awareness campaign might take 2-3 months to hit its stride as the algorithm learns more about your audience and effective placements. By setting realistic timelines and benchmarks, you can ensure that everyone involved understands the iterative nature of digital campaigns.

As an agency that has run digital advertising for banks for years, we typically see signs of performance in the first 30-45 days. This type of feedback helps to refine the process and ensure we’re adjusting campaign settings to do more of “what’s working” to maximize campaign performance. 

Typical Click-Through and Conversion Rates in Digital Ads for Community Banks

There are two key metrics that you’ll want to pay close attention to, one of which is easier to track than the other due to third-party platform limitations. The first of these is your Click-Through Rate (CTR), which is the percentage of people who saw your ad and decided to take action and “click” (or tap on mobile) to visit your landing page. 

CTRs for search ads north of 5% are a good sign that your message is relevant to the target audience and you’re presenting an offer (message) that makes them want to learn more. For display ads, a CTR above 0.10% is good, keeping in mind these are likely “interrupting” the viewer since they were not actively looking for a solution (like with search ads).

A Conversion Rate (CR) can sometimes be a bit trickier to measure, as this value represents the number of people that actually did what you wanted them to do (i.e., “convert”) after they arrived at your landing page. At a high level, you could consider a click (or tap) on your Apply Online button as a conversion. Ideally, you’d want to count an actual new account or closed loan as the actual conversion. But depending on the platform that is responsible for your deposit or loan application, that may not be an option if they don’t allow tracking code inside their platform.

 All that being said, for search ads, a good conversion rate is typically between 3-5%. For display ads, conversion rates tend to be lower, often around 0.5-1%. Retargeting campaigns generally see higher conversions because they’re targeting warmer leads. It’s also important to note that conversion rates can be influenced by the quality of your landing page, the clarity of your call to action, and the overall user experience.

Other Reporting Metrics

Effective communication with senior leadership about campaign performance often requires simplifying complex metrics. Here are a few key performance indicators (KPIs) that CXOs are interested in beyond Click and Conversion Rates mentioned above:

• Impressions and Reach: How many people saw the ad? These metrics help gauge the overall visibility of your campaign.
• Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): What did it cost to acquire a new customer? CPA helps determine the efficiency of your advertising spend and whether the campaign is delivering a positive return on investment.

These metrics, when communicated effectively, can show how the advertising efforts tie back to the overall goals of the bank, whether it’s acquiring new customers, promoting products, or protecting market share. Visualizing these metrics through dashboards or reports can make it easier for senior leaders to understand campaign performance at a glance.

Working with an Agency

If you’re considering working with a digital advertising agency, it's important to understand what that relationship should look like and what it shouldn’t.

What It Should Look Like

• Clear Strategy Before Launch: A good agency will take at least 30 days to research, strategize, and create your campaigns before launching. This preparation ensures that campaigns are aligned with your bank’s specific goals. A well-thought-out strategy is the foundation of any successful campaign, and this step should not be rushed.
• Transparency: You should have visibility into how campaigns are performing, with clear, understandable data that you can access at any time. Transparency builds trust and helps ensure that all stakeholders are informed and aligned.
• Collaboration: Agencies should work as an extension of your team, offering consistent communication and being open to ongoing adjustments. Regular check-ins and updates ensure that the campaign remains on track and any necessary changes are implemented promptly.

The WSI Difference

At WSI, we pride ourselves on delivering comprehensive and transparent digital advertising solutions to community banks. Here’s what sets us apart:

• End-to-End Solutions: We manage everything from strategy development to ad creation, ensuring campaigns are optimized for success. Our approach is holistic, ensuring that every aspect of the campaign—from creative to targeting—is carefully considered and aligned with your goals.
• Transparency in Reporting: You can access your campaign performance any time, 24/7, through an easy-to-use dashboard that provides insights across all platforms. This transparency helps you stay informed and allows you to communicate results effectively to senior leadership.
• Customizable Data: The metrics can be adjusted and customized based on what is most important to your bank, making it easier to report to senior leaders and tie metrics to larger goals. Customizable data allows you to focus on the metrics that matter most, whether that’s new account openings, loan applications, or increased brand awareness.
• Monthly Video Briefs: We provide monthly video briefings that explain performance in plain language, making it easy to share insights with your team and gain buy-in from executives. These video briefs help translate complex data into actionable insights that are easy to understand.
• Follow-up Calls: We’re here to answer any questions you have and help adjust the strategy as needed to achieve the best possible results. Our commitment to ongoing support ensures that your campaigns are always optimized for success.

Final Thoughts

Digital advertising offers community banks an incredible opportunity to reach customers where they are—online, across multiple devices, in real time. When executed thoughtfully, digital advertising can significantly impact your bank’s growth, brand recognition, and customer acquisition.

Understanding the different types of ads, knowing when and why to use them, setting realistic expectations, and communicating those expectations effectively with senior leadership are all essential to a successful digital advertising strategy. It’s not just about running ads; it’s about creating a cohesive strategy that aligns with your bank’s overall goals and objectives.

For Marketing Directors, it’s about having the right conversation—with your internal team, with senior leadership, and potentially with an agency partner—so that everyone is on the same page and working toward the same goals. By doing so, you can ensure your digital advertising investments yield positive results and support the bank’s long-term success.

Digital advertising is a powerful tool, but success depends on careful planning, good execution, and clear communication. By setting the right goals, choosing the right ad formats, monitoring performance, and keeping everyone informed, community banks can use digital advertising to stand out and grow in today’s increasingly competitive landscape.