01

Finance Consumers are on the Open Web, Don't Miss them.

To create successful financial marketing campaigns, financial brands must leave the oversaturated worlds of search and social behind and explore the lucrative land of the open web.

Social media and search platforms place your ads beside user-generated content (UGC) that brands can’t regulate, are skipped by users when they’re shown before a video that the user wants to watch, and at worst, placed in an entirely irrelevant environment to be promptly ignored.

Advertising on premium publishers offers the opportunity to surround your campaigns with brand-adjacent editorial content from news sites, blogs, digital magazines, mobile devices, and so much more and delivers a 130% higher attention than on social media platforms.*

Taboola’s network of publishers saw 55.8B pageviews on financial topics in 2021. Readers are seeking out and engaging with financial articles, and that’s where you should be putting your money. It just makes cents.

*IAB, Ads on Premium Content Sites Result in Nearly Three Times More Attention then Task Sites, July 2019

In this guide, you’ll learn about the opportunities on the open web for financial brands, how to find the right people where they’re most-engaged online, and the ins-and-outs of campaign optimization to reach your KPIs.

We also dive into creative strategies to uncover what makes a good image or video ad, how to use trending keywords to boost CTR, and much, much more.

We can “insure” your “interest” in this guide won’t “depreciate.” (Insert more financial puns.)

Follow the money and see where it goes…

$27.63 Billion

2022 projections show that financial service advertisers will spend $27.63 billion on digital campaigns.

~13%

Financial service advertisers
will spend about 13% more than they did in 2021.*

Over the last few years, marketers in the financial services industry have increased their digital ad spend to meet the demand of growing consumer interest in financial information and advice. Driven by the pandemic, and the rapidly evolving financial service landscape, consumers’ attitudes towards their finances are changing. Marketers can meet the moment by adapting their campaign messaging and advertising strategy.

*eMarketer, US banks and insurance companies slow down ad spending to compete with fintechs, Aug 4, 2021

**Data pulled May 8th, 2022

Data across Taboola’s network of premium publishers shows that the terms “investing”, “loan”, and “ethereum” trended in 2021, and continue to spark interest among readers.**

Investing

15,491,710,090

pageviews in 2021

2,142,930

pageviews over
the last 90 days

Ethereum

2,417,411,400

pageviews in 2021

2,761,700

pageviews over
the last 90 days

Loans

547,464,080

pageviews in 2021

1,027,870

pageviews over
the last 90 days

*eMarketer, US banks and insurance companies slow down ad spending to compete with fintechs, Aug 4, 2021

**Data pulled May 8th, 2022

And were not the only ones seeing the rise of interest in financial topics.

Think with Google’s 2021 Google Search Data Insights depicted a 60% YoY increase in searches containing ‘how to invest,’ and a 200% YoY increase in searches for ‘calculator for home loan‘ and ‘buy now pay later apps.’

Meanwhile social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram have given rise to a niche community of “finfluencers” or finance influencers. As Insider reported, TikTok videos tagged #finance, #investing or #stocktok have generated billions of views. Gen Z also named social media influence as a key factor in their decision-making process.

The open web should be a vital part of each finance marketer’s media mix. That’s because it allows you to reach audiences through premium publisher properties — like news sites, magazines, and blogs — outside of just search and social. Marketing on the open web also gives you the control to share your message in the right context, such as through contextual targeting.

Capture the attention of finance consumers with Taboola ad campaigns today
Let's Go
01 06

02

Who should

you target?

Marketers often believe they know their target audience based on the results from their search and social media ad campaigns. The truth is, people don’t behave the same way on the open web as they do on these platforms, so you shouldn’t copy and paste exactly who you’re targeting on Facebook and Google and expect the same results.

Nothing is more convincing or affirming than objective data, which Taboola can provide. What if the data revealed the most engaged audience has traits that were never considered or campaigns appearing alongside content that wasn’t thought of as contextually relevant performed the best?

For example, Mack Weldon, a Modern Menswear brand, turned to Taboola when looking for a channel to acquire new customers cost effectively. To their surprise, Taboola’s Data Marketplace revealed that targeting women and sites about women’s issues worked well. With Taboola Mack Weldon achieved a 39% increase in conversion rate and thousands of new customers per month.

Don’t assume you know who will respond to your campaigns and which sites those audiences are on; let our data do the talking. To truly understand which audiences and sites you should be targeting, start with broad targeting and optimize based on campaign data. On Taboola, you can target by demographics, behavioral interests, and past activity of certain groups of people, or you can select certain websites to run your ads on.

Here’s a targeting and optimization flow we recommend for a month-long campaign:

WEEK 1
We recommend starting with no targeting at all to eliminate any bias. If you're uncomfortable with that, cast the widest net you can and use brand safety measures like blocklists to exclude audiences and sites.
WEEK 2
At the end of the week, check in. Are you surprised by who engaged or which sites performed the best? Choose several high-performing audience segments and sites to test further.
WEEK 3
This is an excellent time to take a look at creative performance. Is each headline, photo, or video resonating with every site? A/B test different combinations to find the best fit.
WEEK 4
When analyzing your campaign again, think about what surprised you. Test new audiences and new sites to expand your reach in the future.
REPEAT
Return to broad targeting, analyze and assess the new campaign results, and discover new audiences and publishers to test.
Previous
Next

Once your campaign starts receiving clicks, you can retarget and re-engage users that have spent a significant amount of time on your website, but haven’t converted yet, using Taboola’s Attentive Audiences.

You’re rich in data!
Now test these Taboola segments to zero in on the right people.

Our data marketplace includes data from leading data providers and data of our own.

Try testing some of these segments in your next campaign:

  • Interest > Finance
  • Interest > Investing
  • Interest > Finance > Investments > Personal >  Investments
  • Behavior > Shopping > Loans
  • Finance & Money > Loans
  • Finance & Money > Insurance
  • Finance & Money > Financial Services
  • Financial > Credit Card Holder
And many, many more!
Use Taboola’s contextual targeting capabilities to reach relevant audiences in a cookieless world.
Let's Go
01 05

03

Are your campaigns creative enough to cash in on consumers?

Creating educational pieces of text-based content might be your go-to strategy for reaching financial consumers, but there may be a better way to captivate your audience.

Video, for example, is a more interactive and visually engaging format that’s built to grab consumers’ attention and tell a dynamic story. As eMarketer reported, digital video viewership passed 3 billion people worldwide in 2020, outpacing pre-pandemic expectations, and it’s expected to reach nearly 3.5 billion by 2023.

Food bloggers and beauty retailers aren’t the only ones who can embrace the power of video, either. Finance advertisers can use video, too, such as to illustrate market trends and break down key features of their products and services.

A/B test multiple creatives with Taboola’s expedited learning, which lets our algorithm predict your highest-performing creative assets in less than 24 hours.

Taboola’s Creative Shop, advertiser campaign data, and trends data merged together provide all the intel you’ll need to design a winning financial campaign. Don’t believe us? We’ll put our money where our mouths are…

You’re rich in data!
Now test these Taboola segments to zero in on the right people.

Motion Ads use short looped videos or GIFs to help your campaigns stand out in Taboola Feeds. They perform exceptionally well for consideration or conversion goals and offer improved clickthrough rates (CTRs) and conversion rates (CVRs), and lower cost per sales (CPSs) and cost per actions (CPAs.)

Our US-based data* shows that video content outperforms photo and text content, making it the ideal format to gain customer attention.

*Data pulled February 6, 2022, and representing a 30-day period
Implement these video ad best practices and start cashing checks.
Make sure your video is exciting and will capture your audience’s attention. Our data reveals these are the best practices to follow:
  • Video Length: Less than 30 seconds. Keep it short with a clear message.
  • Optimize for Sound Off: Include subtitles for a non-intrusive experience.
  • Logo: Add your brand logo on the top left corner.
  • Call to Action (CTA) Button: Either place it on the bottom right corner, showing it 3-5 sec after the video starts, or add an End Card with more info and a CTA.
  • Optimize by Platform: Use a 16:9 ratio for desktop and a 1:1 ratio for mobile.
  • Added Value: Include a title and description below your video to provide additional context and info to the user.
  • A/B Test: When possible, we always recommend testing 2 versions of your ad to optimize for a better result.
What do finance fanatics want to watch?

In addition to those best practices, including specific video characteristics, like people in action or winter scenes, can increase your video viewability and completion rates.

Taboola’s US data* across all verticals reveals the following video trends:

*Data pulled March 11, 2022, representing a 30-day period

ALL
DURATIONS

All Platforms, All Durations, Viewability: For best viewability across all platforms, no matter the length of your video, consider removing furry friends from your videos.

No Animals

+119%

Viewability Rate

Desktop, All Durations, Viewability: For desktop campaigns, increase viewability by including people stretching.

STRETCHING

+95%

Viewability Rate

Mobile, All Durations, Viewability:  Increase viewability of mobile video campaigns by making them text-free.

NO TEXT

+214%

Viewability Rate

Tablet, All Durations, Viewability:  To increase the viewability of tablet campaigns, choose videography over illustrations.

NO ILLUSTRATION

+100%

Viewability Rate

All Platforms, All Durations, Completion: For video ads running on all platforms of any length, consider integrating sports content for video completion.

Sports

+14%

Completion Rate

Desktop, All Durations, Completion: Boost desktop video ad completion rates by showing people eating.

EATING

+44%

Completion Rate

Mobile, All Durations, Completion: For mobile campaigns, increase completion rates with videos that feature marriage scenes.

Marriage

+108%

Completion Rate

Tablet, All Durations, Completion:  Improve tablet campaigns by including people in the video.

PERSON

+110%

Completion Rate

6-second
Videos

All Platforms, 6-second, Viewability:  For these short videos, using colorful video content has a higher viewability rate.

COLOR

+301%

Viewability Rate

All Platforms, 6-second, Completion: Using winter scenes can increase completion rates.

WINTER

+100%

Completion Rate

15-second
Videos

All Platforms, 15-second, Viewability: Boost viewability for 15-second campaigns by including food.

FOOD

+59%

Viewability Rate

All Platforms, 15-second, Completion: Increase completion rates by showing someone reaching new heights.

CLIMBING

+623%

Completion Rate

30-second
Videos

All Platforms, 30-second, Viewability:  For your 30-second videos, increase viewability by including scenes with air travel.

AIR TRAVEL

+230%

Viewability Rate

All Platforms, 30-second, Completion:  Improve video completion rates for these campaigns by featuring cars in motion.

DRIVING

+9%

Completion Rate

Start Your Taboola Video Campaign Here
Let's Go
01 10

04

Bet your bottom dollar these image ad formats will capture the right attention.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, make your images count! You’ll have the best chances of increasing the CTR of your lead generation campaigns by including images with specific characteristics.

Taboola Image Trends data* shows US-based financial campaigns can benefit from the following:

CTR Impact for Finance Images
Targeting Lead Generation

All
 Platforms

Across all platforms, increase the CTR of your article and photo gallery campaigns by using colorful images instead of black and white.

BW

COLOR

+100%

CTR

Desktop
Improve the CTR of desktop article and photo gallery campaigns by selecting photos over illustrations.

ILLUSTRATION

PHOTO

+25%

CTR

Tablet
For your tablet campaigns, select close up images for the best chances at increasing CTR.

DISTANCE

CLOSE UP

+23%

CTR

Mobile
When launching article and photo gallery campaigns for mobile, use indoor images to boost CTR.

OUTDOOR

INDOOR

+13%

CTR

* Data Pulled March 11, 2022, representing a 30-day period

01 02

05

Take these valuable headline insights straight to the bank.

Headlines are crucial for successful native ad campaigns, and every word you choose matters. The below charts from Taboola Keyword Trends show trending keywords pulled from Taboola’s US financial advertiser campaigns.*

CTR Impact for Finance Keywords

Strong Engagement Keywords (Keyword correlated with high CTR)

Adults+116%CTR
Large+108%CTR
Month+89%CTR
Check+87%CTR
Born+63%CTR
Discounts+63%CTR
Seniors+57%CTR
Warns+57%CTR
Legend+57CTR
Quality+55%CTR

Strong Competition Keywords (Keywords correlated with low CTR)

Cards-61%CTR
Discover-51%CTR
Lenders-50%CTR
Small-42%CTR
Live-39%CTR
Financial-38%CTR
Personal-38%CTR
Year-38%CTR
Compare-34%CTR
Residents-32%CTR

Opportunity Keywords (Keywords correlated with High CTR at a low volume)

Merchant+25%CTR
Space+25%CTR
Trains+25%CTR
Airlines+25%CTR
Open+25%CTR
It´s+24%CTR
Warren+24%CTR
Buffet+24%CTR
Richest+24%CTR
World´s+24%CTR
*Data pulled February 17th, 2022
Put your headlines to the test with Taboola’s Title Analyzer.
We’ve given you the right words, let’s see how you’ll use them! We recommend implementing these best practices when writing your headlines:

Include Experts and Authority Figures
Including the names of a well-known expert increases reader confidence and CTRs, so don’t be afraid to include them in your title (with their permission, of course.)

Use Numbers
Consumers love to read lists or listicles. Including a number in the title tells readers how many concrete tips or suggestions they can expect.

Call Out Your Audience
Adding one of your target audiences’ demographic traits to the title can help them see themselves in your content before they even click.

Mention Relatable Topics
Many people struggle with the same things, so mentioning advice about tax filings, for example, will apply to a broad audience.

Here are 5 example headlines using trending keywords we would cash in on:

  • 1.

    Take This Financial Advice from Warren Buffet

  • 2.

    Experts Warn Against Using These Tax Deductions

  • 3.

    How Do the Richest People Spend Their Money?

  • 4.

    10 Stocks to Invest in This Month

  • 5.

    Which Checking Accounts Are Best for Seniors?

Now it’s your turn! Try the Taboola Title Analyzer right here, right now. Test your headlines today.

Six Sample
 Campaigns

These campaigns incorporate the image trends, keyword data, and headlines, making them likely to result in high CTRs.

Take This Financial Advice from Warren Buffet

FINANCE WEBSITE

Expert Warns About Using these Tax Deductions

FINANCE WEBSITE

How Do the Richest People Spend their Money?

FINANCE WEBSITE

Which Checking Accounts are Best for Seniors?

FINANCE WEBSITE

10 Stocks to Invest in this Month


FINANCE WEBSITE

What Warren Buffet Would do with his Tax Refund

FINANCE WEBSITE

Implement Creative Image Best Practices in Your Taboola Campaign Now
Let's Go
01 06

06

Are the financially-savvy on desktop, mobile or tablet?

Desktop, mobile, or tablet — which is the best platform to reach your audience? It all depends on what your performance goal is. These are the platforms finance marketers should target for the highest CTRs and CVRs.*

Performance
by Platform

Purchases

If your goal is purchases, the best opportunities are Desktop campaigns over Mobile and Tablet.
*Data pulled from November 6, 2021 – February 6, 2022

Leads

Marketers should focus on Mobile and Tablet campaigns over Desktop to attract the most leads.

Brand Awareness

Launch Mobile and Tablet campaigns over Desktop to drive brand awareness.
*Data pulled from November 6, 2021 – February 6, 2022
01 04

07

Implement these essential optimization recommendations to take your campaigns to the next level.

These top Taboola products recommendations can help financial marketers like you shape your campaigns and drive results.

Taboola Pixel:

Install the Taboola Pixel to boost ad performance by illuminating audience behaviors and your ads’ impact.

SmartBid:

Automate Bidding with SmartBid to maximize your conversions.

Fixed Bid:

Fixed Bid enables you to manually adjust your bids. We recommend only using Fixed Bid if you must.

Target CPA:

Set a target CPA to maximize conversions at your desired cost.

01 02

08

These financial brands have achieved incredible results with Taboola.

eToro Increases Users and Decreases CPM
Read Case Study
Look After My Bills Gains 10,000 New Memberships in Just 9 Months with Taboola
Read Case Study