B2B marketing case #5
Expanding the geographic footprint to win over new markets
Situation
SVB was well known in its initial primary markets of San Francisco and Silicon Valley, New York City, LA, and Boston. Startups were increasingly launching in other emerging markets where SVB was less well known, such as Miami, Austin, and Seattle.
The task
Create an advertising campaign for three emerging markets to generate awareness and quality leads that sales would convert.
What I did
After reviewing competitive advertising in those markets and conducting interviews with locals in those markets, it became apparent that SVB needed to convey that the bank understood and respected the special nature of those markets.
As a result, a campaign was developed to incorporate a local hook, e.g., "Keep Austin innovation weird."
In addition, the bank had not yet experimented with out-of-home advertising, so tests of advertising channels were tested in various markets with Seattle serving as the control group with only geographically-targeted digital ads run on social media and relevant websites.
Business impact results
The testing revealed that out-of-home advertising generated a "halo" effect that increased response rates in digitally trackable advertising, such as LinkedIn. The campaign also found QR codes used in out-of-home ads could also generate quality leads, which was a first for the bank.
Billboard ads appeared in neighborhoods where startup founders tend to congregate.
Landing pages were unique for each market and featured local bankers.
Sample banner ad appeared in social media and relevant websites with geo-specific targeting.