Bank of America customers can make everyday spending more rewarding with the BankAmericard Cash Rewards credit card, but with so many cash rewards cards available, we were tasked with ensuring that ours stands out. With 2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs, and 3% cash back on gas, we sought to focus our messaging on the unique ways customers can get the most out of their cash back rewards.
We enlisted the help of up-and-coming home and design experts Erin and Ben Napier who, with a home renovation show on the horizon (and endearing Mississippi accents), were sure to resonate with our audience. Erin's "old soul" nature and beautiful design sense combined with Ben's ability to build and fix anything (really, anything) made them a perfect match for our DIY-hungry audience. Through a series of short videos, Erin and Ben dispensed tips and tricks, and shared all the clever ways they use the BankAmericard Cash Rewards credit card to get the most out of their everyday purchases.
We created seasonally-relevant, elegantly-captioned videos for Facebook and Twitter, and visually striking custom Instagram content using cinemagraphs, 3D videos, and flat-lay tutorials to connect with our audience. And to make things even sweeter, we partnered with Buzzfeed's "Tasty" to provide our social audience with additional tips from a source they already knew and trusted.
As summer came to an end, we shifted our strategy away from lawn care and popsicles to align with holiday planning. Utilizing holiday- and winter-specific tips from Erin and Ben, we made use of Pinterest's new video product, becoming the first financial services brand to do so. And on Facebook, we took advantage of seasonal video content, carousels, and Canvas ads to bring the tips to life—all while communicating how the Cash Rewards credit card can help you save on everyday projects.
Erin and Ben drove strong engagement across all of our social platforms, exceeding past behavioural benchmarks, producing a 5-point lift in product awareness, and outperforming 94% of financial services studies on Facebook. The social videos with text overlays led to an increased average duration of video viewed. On Instagram, we drove a like rate 6 times above our 2016 social average. Our first-to-market video pins drove a 5.3-point lift in product awareness and a 2.3-point lift in message association, showing that the relevant holiday messaging really resonated with our audience.
