NerdWallet: Meta Ads
The following ads either have run or are currently running across Facebook and Instagram, both of which have proven to be effective platforms for our brand. In early July 2023, Meta launched Threads — we’ve already done some really fun organic stuff over there, and I’m excited for the opportunity to create ads for this new platform soon!
1st Half 2023
Along with my design partner, I created these ads in late 2022, and they began running the day after Christmas through the first six months of 2023.
Animated Ads
Per the brief from marketing, each of our animated ads needed to:
Leverage NerdWallet’s brand voice and visuals, including our SpokesNerds, signature green facets, and “smartest decision” tagline
Define NerdWallet’s offering (we are the place for consumers to compare and find top financial products, like high-yield savings accounts and cash back credit cards)
Speak to consumer insights (they want to get the most out of their savings, they’re spending more on gas and groceries, they have kids, etc.)
We developed four animated ads in total: two for our high-income Thriver audience, and two for our middle-income Balancer audience.
Post copy: Get the most out of your savings. Compare top rates side-by-side to find the right high-yield savings account for you.
Post copy: Compare top credit cards to find one that earns cash back where you spend the most — like on gas to all those away games.
Post copy: Are you getting the most out of your savings? Compare top rates to find the right high-yield savings account for you.
Post copy: Compare top cards to find one that earns cash back where you spend the most — like on groceries for your family.
Film Ads
In addition to our animated ads, we also ran ads across Instagram and Facebook showcasing the amazing short films we created with our agency partner, Deutsch LA.
Post copy: Up in the air over savings account options? Compare top rates and find the smartest high-yield savings account for you.
Post copy: Credit card options coming out of the woodwork? Compare top cards and find one that earns cash back on dining or groceries.
2nd Half 2023
Our Meta ads that ran in the first half of 2023 showed great success, especially our animated ads, which drove an average CTR of 2.47% — nearly triple our benchmark of 0.9%. So it was no surprise to hear we’d be expanding our advertising presence in the second half of the year. For the latter half of 2023, we decided to run brand-new animated and carousel ads in addition to re-running the film ads we co-created alongside DLA back in 2022.
In the interest of brevity, I’m only including a selection of those new animated and carousel ads below. Each of the ads below was subject to a different A/B test to determine if small creative changes would make a meaningful impact on user behavior. Stay tuned for results!
Carousel Ads
Thriver Cash Back Credit Card Carousel A: Side-By-Side Comparisons
One of the things we wanted to test was if our Thriver audience was more interested in our side-by-side comparisons of credit cards or our objective ratings and reviews of credit cards. We created the carousel asset below to speak to our side-by-side comparisons…
Post copy: Maximize your cash back with a credit card that rewards you for getting gas or going out to eat.
Thriver Cash Back Credit Card Carousel B: Objective Ratings & Reviews
…and then we created a nearly identical carousel asset to speak to our objective ratings and reviews instead.
Post copy: Maximize your cash back with a credit card that rewards you for getting gas or going out to eat.
Thriver Investing Carousel A: Light Animation
From a design perspective, we wanted to test whether or not animation was a positive or negative attribute in carousel ads. We created the following asset with light animation in three of the four frames…
Post copy: Make a smart decision for your future with a top-rated investing account.
Thriver Investing Carousel B: Static
…and then we created this version with all four frames static.
Post copy: Make a smart decision for your future with a top-rated investing account.
Animated Ads
Thriver Travel Card Animated Ad A: Lifestyle Imagery
Historically, our Meta ads have used our brand colors and facets instead of lifestyle imagery, but we wanted to find out for certain if using photography at the beginning of an animated ad would grab users’ attention and lead to increased views and clicks. An ad focused on travel credit cards felt like a natural fit for this test, so we decided to devote the first few seconds of the following asset to a photo of a beautiful beachfront resort.
Post copy: Without a top travel credit card, you could be missing out on hotel and flight upgrades.
Thriver Travel Card Animated Ad B: Lifestyle Imagery Control
We created the unit below as a control version of the animated ad above. You’ll see that instead of using lifestyle imagery, this ad features our brand colors and facets all the way through.
Post copy: Without a top travel credit card, you could be missing out on hotel and flight upgrades.
Thriver Travel Card Animated Ad C: N Mark
Another opening we wanted to test was using our logo as a mask to transition between different steps of copy. Because of the way the timing worked out, the copy is a bit different here than in the ads above, but it still hits on all of our key terms and messages: top, smartest, compare and find, etc. I love how this asset turned out; I think the creative usage of our logo at the beginning of the animation is a really slick way to catch users’ eyes and reinforce our brand.
Post copy: Without a top travel credit card, you could be missing out on hotel and flight upgrades.
Thriver Travel Card Animated Ad D: N Mark Control
And of course, we created a control version of the asset above using the same timing and copy, but with with our standard opening instead of the N mark transition.
Post copy: Without a top travel credit card, you could be missing out on hotel and flight upgrades.
Content Strategist: Laura Orozco
Visual Designers: Jay Borrelli, Natalie Garnett, Christine Okazaki
Motion Designers: Chloe Dalby, Matt Stark