Evaluating the Success of Banks’ Influencer Marketing Programs

Contents:

• Why Influencer Marketing is Essential for Banks
• How to Benchmark the Success of Banks’ Influencer Marketing Programs
• The Top 3 Influencer Marketing Programs in the Banking Industry
• How American Express Elevates Experiences with Influencer Marketing
• Case Study: Mastercard's Influencer Program’s Winning Play is to Engage Global Audiences
• Visa Scores Gold with Influencer Marketing at the Paris Olympics
• Banks Ranked by Visibility on Instagram in 2024
• In Summary

Why Influencer Marketing is Essential for Banks

In today's digital age, influencer marketing programs have become essential for banks looking to move beyond brick-and-mortar branches and traditional advertising. Almost all banks and financial institutions have embraced influencer marketing, collaborating with social media influencers to reach potential customers and build brand trust. In 2023, a staggering 88% of banks were active on social media, according to Insider Intelligence. With 63.8% of the world’s population on social media (Kepios, 2024), it's crucial for banks to engage in meaningful conversations and establish robust influencer marketing strategies.

How to Benchmark the Success of Banks’ Influencer Marketing Programs

Banks must rely heavily on key performance indicators (KPIs) to gauge their influencer marketing programs' effectiveness accurately. These metrics provide insights into competitors' strategies and prevailing market trends while highlighting what works best for individual brands to tailor approaches that maximize impact.

Influencer marketing platforms, such as Lefty's, offer comprehensive tools indispensable for measuring KPIs. These platforms enable brands to track influencer marketing programs meticulously, record influencer campaigns, track content performance, and deliver detailed reports on top-line KPIs. The ability to analyze competitors' strategies through an influencer tracking platform like Lefty offers banks a broader understanding of the market landscape, allowing them to identify opportunities for differentiation and growth.

For brands not using dedicated influencer marketing platforms, several crucial KPIs serve as benchmarks for evaluating campaign success:

• ROI Tracking: Measuring the return on investment from influencer marketing efforts is fundamental. This KPI helps brands understand the financial impact of their campaigns and justify marketing expenses through automated campaign tracking.
• Average Engagement Rate: Monitoring how often audiences interact with influencer-generated content provides insights into the resonance and relevance of the content. A higher engagement rate indicates that the content connects well with the audience.
• Number of Influencers and Content Output: Tracking the number of influencers involved and the volume of content they produce is essential for understanding influencer marketing programs' scale and reach. This KPI helps assess the breadth of influence and the diversity of content shared with audiences.
• Impressions and Engagements: Evaluating the reach and depth of audience interactions with the content gives brands a clearer picture of their visibility and the strength of audience connections. High impressions coupled with strong engagement suggest effective messaging and influence.

These KPIs collectively reveal how effectively an audience engages with influencer marketing programs and identify which partnerships yield the best results. By leveraging these insights, brands can optimize future campaigns and ensure their influencer marketing efforts are strategic and impactful.

The Top 3 Influencer Marketing Programs in the Banking Industry

How American Express Elevates Experiences with Influencer Marketing

American Express has mastered leveraging its global customer base and exclusive cardholder benefits through a strategic influencer marketing approach. According to data from the Lefty platform, 71% of American Express's Instagram audience is aged between 25 and 44, influencing their influencer marketing campaigns to focus on larger purchases and experiences.

Sponsoring Concerts and Ticket Sales: American Express collaborates with artists to sponsor concerts and exclusive ticket pre-sales. Partnerships with artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish amplify their reach in the music industry, where influencers post content about these collaborations.

• Travel Lounges and Flying Perks: Amex offers cardholders access to exclusive airport lounges and cashback on flights. They partner with travel influencers to promote these perks to primarily affluent travelers.

• Exclusive Access at Sporting Events: Collaborations with influencers to showcase exclusive lounges for cardholders at major sporting events, like the US Open and F1 Grand Prix, highlight their appeal.

American Express effectively utilizes its exclusivity and cardholder perks in its influencer marketing strategy. By leveraging partnerships with prominent influencers in music, travel, and sports, they create intrigue and a desire to join the Amex community, engaging diverse audiences with varied interests.

American Express’s Influencer Program Stats (January - November 2024):

Overall Rank (EMV): #1

Influencer Tier Driving the Most Visibility: Mega (1M+ followers)

Most Impactful Influencer: @billieeilish $670K in Earned Media Value

Mastercard's Influencer Program’s Winning Play is to Engage Global Audiences

Much like American Express, Mastercard tailors its influencer marketing strategy to align with major cultural events such as travel, music awards, and sports. Lefty's platform reveals that Mastercard's Instagram audience is predominantly 25 to 34-year-olds, with over half being male. The brand has a significant foothold in the Brazilian market, where some of its top partnerships for 2024 are based. In Brazil, Mastercard focuses heavily on travel and football events, while in the US, it emphasizes award shows, travel, and Major League Baseball (MLB) partnerships.

• Travel and Flying Perks: Mastercard partners with diverse individuals, including actors, fashion creatives, and influencers, to create content showcasing its travel benefits, such as emergency assistance, baggage insurance, and travel rewards. Mastercard effectively taps into different audiences and markets by collaborating with a varied selection of key opinion leaders (KOLs), enhancing its global presence on Instagram through these campaigns.

• Award Show Activations: Mastercard hosted its second Grammy House activation at the Grammys, featuring music masterclasses and celebrations of women and the LGBTQIA+ community in music, culminating in a final party. This initiative positioned Mastercard as a pioneer in merging music culture with the banking industry. As a result, Grammy House became one of Mastercard’s most successful influencer marketing activations of the year, garnering significant attention from both attendees and the press.

• Sporting Events Sponsorship: Mastercard boosts its brand by sponsoring sports events year-round. In LATAM and Brazil, it supports major football events like Copa America and Champions Festival in London, drawing large audiences. In the U.S., Mastercard backs events like MLB’s All-Star Game, McLaren's F1 Team, and the PGA Tour. Mastercard effectively reaches its target market by partnering with popular sports events and engaging Instagram's mainly male audience. Sports-related content tagged with Mastercard consistently gains high visibility and engagement.

Mastercard's influencer marketing strategy effectively leverages global cultural events to enhance its brand presence and appeal. Mastercard successfully taps into diverse audiences by tailoring content to specific markets, such as focusing on football in Brazil and award shows and sports in the U.S. Collaborating with a wide array of influencers and sponsoring key sports events allows Mastercard to maintain high visibility and engagement on platforms like Instagram, strengthening its global brand image.

Mastercard’s Influencer Program Stats (January - November 2024):

Overall Rank (EMV): #2

Influencer Tier Driving the Most Visibility: Mega (1M+ followers)

Most Impactful Influencer: @carolinaferraz $1.21M in Earned Media Value

Visa Scores Gold with Influencer Marketing at the Paris Olympics

Visa's influencer marketing program in 2024 was heavily centered around the Paris Olympics. As a company with significant investments in event sponsorships, its prominent presence at the Olympics was no surprise. Visa served as an official sponsor for the Games and engaged in paid partnerships with various athletes, who created content for the bank throughout the event. A highlight of Visa's involvement was its exclusive Louvre concert featuring some of the most popular musicians pre-Olympics Games. According to Lefty's platform, 76% of Visa's Instagram followers are between 18 and 34 years old, a youthful demographic that underscores the effectiveness of Visa's cultural investments in capturing their attention.

• Partnering with Olympians: At the 2024 Olympics, Visa offered an exclusive lounge experience for cardholders and collaborated with prominent female athletes, including gymnasts Simone Biles and Aly Raisman, to create content highlighting Visa’s card benefits and the Olympic lounge. These strategic activations significantly enhanced Visa’s visibility during the Games. Notably, their most high-profile post of 2024 featured track star Allyson Felix, who promoted the Visa lounge.

• Visa Live au Louvre: One of Visa's most groundbreaking influencer marketing campaigns was a concert held at the Louvre. The concert featured renowned artists such as Post Malone, SZA, and Ayra Starr, with high-profile influencers like Léna Mahfouf in attendance. The event generated diverse content, including organic posts, press coverage, and material from the influencers and artists themselves, making it a highly visible online spectacle.

• Sponsoring F1 Team Alpha Tauri: A prevalent trend in the banking industry's influencer marketing programs is sponsoring sports teams and events, and Visa is no exception. As a principal sponsor of the F1 Team Scuderia Alpha Tauri, Visa is prominently featured in content related to the team, establishing a strong connection with the world of Formula 1. This partnership enhances Visa's visibility as most of the content in which the brand is tagged is linked to the Alpha Tauri team.

Visa's Influencer Program Stats (January - November 2024):

Overall Rank (EMV): #3

Influencer Tier Driving the Most Visibility: Mega (1M+ followers)

Most Impactful Influencer: @alyraisman $66.5K in Earned Media Value

Banks Ranked by Visibility on Instagram in 2024 – Earned Media Value (EMV)

• American Express: $5.2M EMV
• Mastercard: $3.6M EMV
• Visa: $2.7M EMV
• Capital One: $2.3M EMV
• HSBC: $1.9M EMV
• Chase: $1.5M EMV
• Santander: $1M EMV
• Revolut: $797K EMV
• Wells Fargo: $470K EMV
• Citi Bank: $331K EMV
• Emirates NBD: $320K EMV
• BNP Paribas: $310K EMV
• Bank of America: $299K EMV
• Venmo: $194K EMV
• Wise: $157K EMV
• Monzo: $102K EMV
• Morgan Stanley: $72K EMV
• Qonto: $17K EMV

In Summary

Influencer marketing continues to revolutionize the banking industry's approach to brand visibility and customer engagement. By leveraging strategic partnerships with influencers, banks are not only fostering authentic connections with younger, digital-savvy audiences but also reinforcing their presence in key cultural and social events. As this trend grows, the ability to measure and optimize influencer marketing programs through advanced platforms like Lefty will remain essential for staying ahead in an increasingly competitive landscape.