To encourage people to open an IRA with Betterment, we ran a 1% match promotion on new contributions. While our match wasn’t the highest on the market, we used it as a chance to get creative, crafting a digital campaign with eye-catching visuals and playful language that highlighted the match percentage.
Role: Art Direction, Design, Illustration
Objective
Incentivize IRA deposits and drive new IRA account openings from both tenured and new customers.
Approach
We used bold match numbers placed in unexpected visual contexts, paired with playful headlines to draw users in. A 3D illustration style set the campaign apart from the brand’s typical flat illustrations, while the tone and color palette still ensured cohesion.
Results
The campaign drove a 19% increase in new contributions from promo users with funded IRAs in the four months following launch. The majority of deposits (73%) came from tenured customers who already had IRAs, while adoption among new-to-IRA customers was lower, likely because the promotion was less aggressive than competitor offers.
