Armed Forces Bank is a full-service bank that serves military members across the world, the majority of which are new recruits who never walk into a branch and have little experience with handling finances. This and the fact they are gone for 8 to 12 weeks for basic training makes onboarding these customers especially tricky, which is why Armed Forces Bank approached us to help develop an onboarding and financial literacy campaign to turn these recruits into lasting customers who can start their financial lives on the right foot.

We developed and implemented the strategy, content, copywriting, and design for a 90-day, 6-part email series called Basic Banking that had amazing results:

• Lifted customers’ average account balance by 29%
• Led to 40% more recruits opening a second account (like a savings account)
• Doubled engagement of new customers
• Earned a 230% return on investment, paying itself off in the short and long term

Where You Are in Basic Banking

Branded as a play on basic training and an introduction to customers’ banking tools and resources, the Basic Banking series included design elements to show customers how far along they were in the series to help set expectations and give a sense of accomplishment.

Tailored Content, Advice, and Tone

We focused on developing engaging, personable, well-paced content with easy next steps to take action. This content took the form of charts, checklists, video, and even advice from financial experts.

Made for Mobile

Recruits are almost always on the go. With mobile use making up half of readers and two-thirds of clickers, we developed the emails to be responsive and optimized for mobile.

Importance of Financial Education

The Department of Defense heavily emphasizes how important it is for service members to have strong personal financial management skills. So, as a bank serving the military on installations across the country, Armed Forces Bank was really able to show they’re listening.