Financial Advertisers Bank on Q1

May 4 2016
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Driven by tax season, Financial Services opened 2016 strong as the top advertising category by impression volume across display and mobile+tablet for the First Quarter. Considering that, it’s not surprising that a third of the top ten financial display advertisers are tax software companies. Coupled with the gusto of finance powerhouses such as Capital One Financial Corporation, American Express Company and Progressive Casualty Insurance Company, the financial services category is stacked, to stay the least.

Let’s take a look at the buying strategy behind the top ten display advertisers in the financial services category, including top buying channel and partner by spend, and top site by impression volume.

10. Geico

Geico spent an average of $89,500 per day during Q1, across an average of 279 sites per day. With 55% share of Geico’s total display spend, direct buys won out as the top purchase channel for the Insurance brand. DoubleClick Bid Manager was the top partner for Geico during Q1, with almost half (44%) of the spend share for the quarter while Yahoo.com, eBay.com and msn.com were the top desktop sites. 
 

9. TaxACT

Hitting an average of 402 sites per day, msn.com was the top site during Q1 for the tax preparation software, followed by yahoo.com and amazon.com. With an average daily display spend of $82,500, direct buys dominated the brand’s strategy, consuming 68% of their total display spend share. Ad networks took the remaining 32% share of spend, led by top partner, Yahoo! Advertising (12% spend share). 
 

8. Discover Financial Services

Discover Financial Services favored direct buys during Q1, taking 79% of the brand’s total display spend share. Rocket Fuel was the top partner for Discover, with 10% share of display spend, as the credit card company spent an average of $112,900 per day across an average of 460 sites per day. Yahoo.com led as the top site, accounting for 39% of Discover’s total site spend share, followed by aol.com and msn.com.
 

7. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company

Cheery spokeswoman, Flo, spent a lot of time in front of consumers in Q1, as the insurance giant spent an average of $119,800 per day on display, on an average of 419 sites per day. The top buying channel for Progressive was direct to publisher, with direct buys taking 79% of the brand’s display spend share. Advertising.com was the top partner for the insurance company, with 10% share of Progressive’s display spend. The top sites were msn.com, yahoo.com and aol.com.
 

6. H&R Block

H&R Block spent an average of $95,200 per day on display, promoting their tax preparation software during Q1, with 55% of their spend share funneled through ad networks. Buying direct was the second top purchase channel for the brand, accounting for 42% of the brand’s display spend while the top ad network partner was Advertising.com, with 47% share of spend, followed by Dstillery (formerly Media6Degrees) with 3% share of spend. The top three desktop sites were amazon.com, aol.com and yahoo.com.
 

5. LowerMyBills, Inc.

Ad networks accounted for 75% of LowerMyBills’ spend share on display, with Advertising.com taking the lion’s share at 69% of the brand’s spend. Direct buys filled the remaining 25% of the finance company’s display spend. Aol.com was the top site for Q1, with 36% of total site spend share across display, followed by stack.com and huffingtonpost.com. Spending an average of $80,200 per day on display, the money lender spread that across an average of 367 sites per day, with spend spikes happening after the first of the year and in mid-March.
 

4. American Express Company

Promoting its suite of credit card options, The American Express Company distributed creatives on an average of 745 desktop sites per day in Q1, with average daily spend topping out at $137,900. Direct buys accounted for 66% share of the brand’s total display spend, with ad networks taking 22% share led by Advertising.com (13% share) and RadiumOne (6% share). eBay.com led as the top site overall, followed by amazon.com and aol.com.

3. State Farm

While 84% of State Farm’s display spend share was on direct buys during Q1, the top partner for the insurance company was the trading desk Accuen, with 13% share of spend. Creatives framed with red backgrounds prompted prospects to ‘Get A Quote,’ ‘Apply Now,’ ‘Find An Agent,’ and to contact insurance agents directly. The average daily spend for State Farm on display was $198,700 for the quarter, on an average of 365 daily sites with Aol.com, zillow.com and weather.comcapping the top three sites for the brand.

2. TurboTax

The number one tax advertiser by impression volume for Q1 was TurboTax, using a very direct buying strategy to market their tax preparation software. 96% of TurboTax’s display spend was on direct buys, their top purchase channel, followed by 3% of their spend share going to ad network Advertising.com. TurboTax spent an average of $362,000 a day on an average of 142 desktop sites for the quarter, with the top site (and top direct site) being msn.com.
 

1. Capital One Financial Corporation

Capital One Financial Corporation led the financial services category for desktop, by impression volume, for the First Quarter. Average daily spend for “the top dog” on display was $403,300, driven by a heavy direct strategy, accounting for 100% of display ad spend. Fostering their credit card services and 360 Checking and Savings accounts, Capital One advertised on an average of 103 desktop sites per day, the top site being yahoo.com, which accounted for 58% of Capital One’s total site spend share. Msn.com and amazon.com followed as the second and third top desktop site respectively.

Source: Spend and impression estimates from Pathmatics US Desktop Data, 1/1/16-3/31/16. 
**All trademarks & copyrights property of their respective owners. 

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About Author

Jordan Kramer
Jordan Kramer

An out-of-the-box thinker with a love for disruptive ideas, Jordan's background spans PR and events for the wedding & hospitality industry in Los Angeles and Scottsdale and also launching one of America's most unique food trucks. She jumped from the food start-up scene to the tech start-up scene in 2013 to join one of the most unique companies in ad tech. Jordan is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication.

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