Extensive Marketing Strategy of Citibank with an Overall Analysis

In our previous article, we learned about the SWOT analysis of Citi. In this article, we are going to elaborate on the marketing strategy of Citibank. 

The objective is to help you gain insights into Citibank’s marketing strategy and how Citibank offers many of the benefits you’d expect from a large national bank, such as a diverse product offering and a large ATM network. However, it has fewer locations than some of its competitors, such as Wells Fargo and Bank of America, and its most competitive savings account isn’t accessible in all areas.

Marketing is a part of a company’s DNA that can either make it or break it. As users across the world go digital, marketing has followed them to the digital realm as well. If you are interested in new-age digital marketing, then you should check out IIDE’s Free MasterClass on Digital Marketing 101 by our CEO and Founder, Karan Shah.

We will fully cover our marketing strategy of Citibank in this blog. Before we begin our deep dive, let us start by learning the company’s story, target audience, and digital presence.

 

Marketing Strategy of Citibank 

Nikhil Rastogi, Citibank’s Head of Marketing and Digital Acquisition, spoke at the recent Content Marketing Summit Asia to debunk the misconception that banking is dull and exclusively about savings accounts. Banking, he claims, is no longer a dull industry and has become as consumer-focused as any other FMCG firm. 

Citibank’s marketing approach revolves around five areas of customer interest: family and friends, travel, sports, cuisine, and money. Citibank’s marketing approach is also focused on social media and is mobile-friendly. 

We will further look into the details of the marketing strategy of Citibank:- 

Segmentation, Targeting, and positioning

Companies must employ data-driven marketing techniques that enable them to cultivate positive relationships with the appropriate clients. Citibank used segmentation, targeting, and positioning to figure out who its customers are, which products are appealing to them, and which markets the company should target, among other things.

Because Citibank has the backing of Citigroup, it chooses to focus on numerous market segments in order to attract more customers and generate revenue. Because enhancing customer focus and service quality is at the core of Citibank’s business culture. Therefore, Citibank’s credit card may be used by people of various levels. The target market for Citibank includes both high- and low-income individuals, recent graduates, wage earners, and businesspeople. This is to guarantee that Citibank Target has the proper clients.

By using the goods of competitors as a benchmark, a company may determine how much attention a consumer is paying to a product’s various features or traits. so giving the company’s goods a unique and remarkable image that is then communicated to the buyer. Consequently, to choose the product’s proper position in the market. For greater value propositions, Citibank submits more applications. Realistically speaking, the goal is to identify the guys who will contribute the most. One of the more popular cards in Citibank is the Citi Prestige card.

Marketing Campaigns 

Live richly 

“Live richly” is one of the great advertisement campaigns in the history of marketing. 

The promotion lasted several years and gave the company a more “human” aspect. Citi was able to separate itself in a market characterized by staid, even aloof conduct, particularly from the “big banks.” Ads with such appealing titles were also unusual for a bank brand. The innovative use of media was also a trademark of the strategy. 

Although television was employed, the campaign’s success was mostly due to the outdoor-led strategy. It was a miraculous combination of blog strategy, consumer intelligence, cultural context knowledge, and creativity that pierced through the noise and altered people’s impressions of the brand. The ad went on to win big at the Effies, increasing visitors to the branch, new account openings, and home equity loan applications, all of which helped the brand grow.

Today, in the year 2022, not just the United States, but the entire globe has been through an extraordinary series of events in the last few years. The COVID-19 epidemic has caused us to rethink our objectives and re-establish a work-life balance. I’m not sure if the phrase “Live Richly” is as applicable today as it was two decades ago.

Celebrate with Citi 

Citi India launched a campaign to promote its ‘Celebrate with Citi’ program, which aims to provide consumers with the opportunity to enjoy and pamper themselves over the festive season while also earning rewards. Publicis India created the campaign ‘We Deserve to Celebrate’ in response to the commercial realities surrounding this year’s festive season. 

Social and digital media were used to promote the festive promotion. Influencer marketing, newsletters, greetings, fresh holiday discounts, and continuous digital and social media engagement competitions were just a few of the activities planned. The campaign was actively pushed on social and digital media platforms as well.

Stare at greatness 

To highlight its connection with the Paralympic Games, Citi has created a social media campaign with Publicis. Using the hashtag #StareAtGreatness on Twitter and Instagram, athletes from Team Citi express what makes them “stareworthy.” The goal is for people all around the world to relate their own experiences with handicaps to improve others’ perspectives. 

Citibank had many campaigns, but “Live Richly” was the most successful one. 

Social media marketing

Citibank is active on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter.

Facebook: 1.1M likes 
Instagram: 95.8K followers 
LinkedIn: 3.7M followers 
Youtube: 61.8K subscribers 
Twitter: 914K followers 

The most followers are on Citibank’s LinkedIn account, followed by Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, in that order. Various hashtags, such as #citithankyou, #songwallet, and #incredouble, are used in Citibank’s social media strategy to increase fan interaction and bring clients closer to Citibank’s services.

SEO Strategies 

This information indicates that the website has been properly optimized. Citi has about 1.1 million organic monthly visitors and over 145,000 organic keywords. Last year, Citibank’s SEO efforts resulted in a considerable boost in traffic and conversions, with online credit card applications rising. 

SEO helps in achieving your long-term goals for your brand. A good ranking and a favourable placement help in raising the profile of your brand. In short, SEO strategies are crucial for the development of the website and to provide more visibility to the relevant audience.

Influencer marketing 

To market its services, Citibank has teamed up with several influencers, bloggers, and YouTubers. Citibank sought to become customers’ go-to credit card business by offering the finest discounts in the industry because Diwali is a holiday linked with buying and giving. So, leveraging social media influencers and a good brand reputation, our objective was to generate strong word of mouth. 

They planned a campaign that covered both online and physical elements. Citibank’s experience movies were created at Vijay sales, and a Twitter contest was held with intentional pre/post-hype to increase interaction.  In addition, they selected three influencers and produced a feature film demonstrating how Citibank made purchasing easier by offering flexible EMI choices. Citi’s offline partners were also involved and invited to upload video clips related to their Diwali plans. 

And, this influencer marketing turned out to be very successful for Citibank with 28.7 million impressions, 51,000 microsite interactions, videos received over 2 million views, and the campaign received 8000 shares.

Ecommerce Strategies 

Citibank offers a variety of online banking options. Taxes, online cash transfers, credit card payments through Citibank accounts and e-payments through other accounts, and other bill payments are all examples of online payments. 

Domestic Funds Transfer over the Internet. Online Banking is a convenient way to send money internationally, Citibank Bill Pay is a service provided by Citibank, Recharge your prepaid phone, Payment using a credit card through the internet, Payment of EMI on a Personal Loan over the Internet, Payment of EMI on a Home Loan over the Internet. Citibank now offers a variety of online services, including online tax remittance.

Mobile Apps

You may transfer funds using NEFT/IMPS from your Citi Mobile App to your connected Citibank accounts, other Citibank accounts, or other bank accounts. The Citi Mobile app also allows you to replenish your Paytm wallets. 

Content Marketing Strategies 

According to Digiday, Citibank is expanding its content marketing into new publications, focusing on health and personal finance material, and is now including relevant offers with the content in an attempt to attract millennials. Citibank is displaying digital display adverts with offers for the first time in chosen articles. 

The adverts are being used by the corporation to monitor customers who accept the offers. The Well+Good x Citi content portal, which launched this month, was created in collaboration with Well+Good’s branded content and editorial teams. Yolande Piazza, the CEO of Citi FinTech, appears in a unique film delivering financial guidance for several life phases. The Citibank stories will also be featured on Well+Good’s homepage in the “Featured Collection” section. 

This ends the elaborative marketing strategy of Citibank. Let us conclude our learning below from the marketing strategy of CitibankCitibank.

Conclusion- What’s Unique in CitiBank Marketing?

Citibank uses the right marketing methods to handle and overcome challenges in the industry. The most prevalent advertising tactics are advertisements on billboards, TV, the internet, and in newspapers. The bank’s successes, as well as its facilities and services, are all clearly stated in the commercials. Citibank’s communication approach is value-based. The study highlights the need of having an online platform to compete and enhance service quality. 

Digital marketing is crucial since it links a company with its clients when they are online and is effective across all sectors. It links businesses with ideal consumers through SEO and PPC on Google, social media marketing, and email marketing. If you would like to learn more and develop skills, check out IIDE’s 4-Month Digital Marketing Course to learn more.

Alternatively, you can enrol in one of our free online masterclasses led by IIDE’s CEO, Karan Shah, to gain insight into the field of digital marketing. 

We hope this blog on the marketing strategy of Citibank has given you a good insight into the company’s marketing strategies.

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