| By Jim Bruene on February 3, 2009 6:16 PM | Comments (1) |
In my pre-Super Bowl post about E*Trade's "baby" franchise, I wasn't aware of several other ways the company is using social media to increase awareness:
- Baby's Twitter page (screenshot #1 below and note 1;): This is a new effort launched Jan. 22, the same day the 2009 outtakes clip was released into the wild via YouTube and press release. The baby Tweeted a few times on the days leading up to the game, and a few since, but the funniest part was the 26 game-day Tweets that actually incorporated real-time events into the script. There are only 650 followers today, but that's up 150 since Monday morning -- not a bad start for a low-cost marketing tool.
- Baby's Facebook page (screenshot #2 below): Also launched around Jan. 22, the E*Trade baby Facebook page already has 3,825 fans. The commercials are posted along with a photo album.
The E*Trade homepage has also been used before and after the game to take advantage of interest in the baby ads. The baby dominated E*Trade's homepage the day after the big game (see screenshot #3 below of the Monday morning homepage).
Lessons for financial institutions
You don't have to be a Super Bowl advertiser to use social media to support your advertising campaigns. Banks and credit unions of any size can use these relatively low-cost tactics.
Here are the eight key support elements to consider for your next campaign:
1. Press release
2. Blog entries
3. Facebook page
4. Twitter stream
5. YouTube page
6. Homepage placement
7. Landing page
8. Google keyword buys (see screenshot #4 below)
1. E*Trade baby Twitter page (link, 3 Feb. 2009)
2. E*Trade Facebook page (link, 3 Feb. 2009)
3. E*Trade homepage the morning after Super Bowl XVIII (2 Feb. 2009)
4. E*Trade is running Google ads on searches for "etrade baby"
(3 Feb. 2009, 6PM Pacific)
Note:
1. Thanks Jeffry Pilcher for the Twitter tip.
2. See our Online Banking Report: Bank 2.0 for more ideas.
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These commercials were the highlight of the game until the exciting four quarter. My favorite was the golf one in the locker room. It’s interesting to see the use of social media as a response to their highly viral campaign. Usually social media is used to jumpstart viral. I’d love to see some conversion metrics off the baby’s profiles on Twitter and Facebook!