How did we drive 279,036 app activations for SGB-Bank in the competitive banking industry?
How to elevate a banking institution’s digital presence through strategic mobile app promotion?
- Services
- Google AdsMeta AdsProgrammatic
- Website
- https://www.sgb.pl/
- Market
-
Poland
- Industry
- Banking
676 338
app openings achieved
279 036
app activations recorded
3 095 400
PLN spent on advertising accounts
Need a similar strategy?
“The campaign promoting the SGB Mobile app, carried out in collaboration with MTA, required a variety of activities and—given its specific nature—a great deal of flexibility as well. We tested different solutions that allowed for ongoing optimization. The experience and vast knowledge of the people involved in the project meant that we could calmly monitor the results and discover new opportunities. Throughout the many months of the campaign, the experts from MTA were part of our team—I wholeheartedly recommend them for even the most unconventional digital marketing tasks :)”
About the Client
SGB-Bank is one of Poland’s leading cooperative banks, serving around 170 affiliated banks. Although the brand has deep-rooted traditions, it has embraced a new generation of digital services by investing in the development of its SGB Mobile app. The goal was not only to refresh its digital offering, but to show that SGB-Bank is keeping pace with the modern world—serving existing customers while attracting a new wave of mobile banking enthusiasts.
Challenges
The lack of integrated customer lists meant campaigns had to be built from scratch, based solely on traffic generated by the sgb.pl website.
With many banks operating within a single group, each with its own domain, GA and GTM had to be implemented individually — a significant organizational and technical challenge.
A target of 300,000 installs by the end of 2021, plus another 300,000 the following year while simultaneously improving quality, called for a flexible approach and a readiness to redefine the strategy mid-course.
Combining performance goals (installs, activations) with the need to build a modern image for the bank required precise management of priorities and communication channels.
Our Solutions
In line with the tender requirements, we knew from the outset that reaching our goal would require three key tools:
- Google Ads
- Facebook Ads
- Display & Video 360
Our strategy was clearly defined. Thanks to its direct integration with the Play Store and Firebase, Google Ads served as a purely performance-focused channel. We launched app promotion campaigns as well as text-based search campaigns.
Display & Video 360 supported our secondary objective—building brand awareness—while Facebook Ads combined performance activities – driving app installs and in-app conversions – with reach campaigns based on video content.
To improve conversion rates even in campaigns that didn’t lead directly to the app store, we created two landing pages: a main campaign page and a dedicated landing page that let users open a free selfie account in the app. Both pages were fully aligned with the brand’s messaging and product strategy, and our CRO team optimized them on an ongoing basis.
Google Ads
Within Google Ads, we ran brand campaigns throughout the entire period, directing users to the app’s landing page after they searched for terms related to SGB and SGB Mobile. We also launched two app campaigns. The first aimed to acquire new traffic and was optimized for the “first open” event—the moment a user actually launched the app. The second focused on events tied to activating an account in the app, completed via one of three available methods.
Meta Ads
In the Meta environment, our advertising combined awareness-building with performance-oriented campaigns. We used app promotion campaigns, campaigns driving traffic to the landing pages we created, and reach campaigns.
Programmatic
Our programmatic campaigns in Display & Video 360 drew on a full set of graphic assets and video spots on YouTube. The content was organized into four thematic lines: Selfie, BLIK, Autopay, and Subscription Management. In December 2021, at the peak of the holiday season, we tapped into the potential of Display & Video 360 to run a Masthead ad on the YouTube homepage, precisely targeted to our audience.
Over the year and a half of promoting the app, we worked intensively to centralize analytics across the SGB group. Gaining access to data from the largest banks in the association and building audience lists from their domains allowed us to fully leverage remarketing and effectively encourage existing customers to use the SGB Mobile app.
By the end of 2022, we had completed 31 Google Analytics implementations in banks that chose to join the project. As a result, we gained an additional 90,000 users on our remarketing lists within 90 days.
Results
During the campaign, we achieved impressive results: the SGB Mobile app was opened for the first time 676,338 times, of which 279,036 resulted in full activation. The total budget allocated to advertising activities amounted to PLN 3,095,400, which translated into highly effective campaigns and significantly exceeded the project’s initial goals.
Results for Q4 2021. A visible downward trend in first-time app opens, accompanied by a simultaneous increase in the number of activations.
Summary
The campaign promoting the SGB Mobile app concluded in December 2022. That same year, we launched further promotional activities—this time tied to the brand’s new communication strategy, “Taka różnica!” (“What a difference!”)—which we again had the pleasure of carrying out. Our collaboration with SGB-Bank is still ongoing, with more inspiring projects ahead.
