Case Study
First Citizens Bank on the Path to Digital Transformation
First Citizens Bank has been offering convenient and easy banking to consumers and businesses for over 100 years. Headquartered in Raleigh, NC, they operate in 18 states across the U.S. with over 550 branches. However, they needed to modernize their digital presence and streamline the customer experience on FirstCitizens.com. The regional bank invested in Adobe Experience Cloud and partnered with Blue Acorn iCi to implement Adobe Experience Manager, Adobe Analytics, and Adobe Target.
The Challenge
Competitive Disadvantage
Compared to their competitors, First Citizens Bank was at a significant disadvantage in the digital banking space. Without a modern system, the marketing team could not optimize the B2B and B2C digital customer journeys, improve lead conversions, or attribute sales back to digital efforts.
Slow Speed to Market
The First Citizens marketing team had minimal tools to manage the website, personalize the experience, or cross-sell services and products. With existing workflows, it took several days to make simple changes to the site or deploy new campaigns and content. Additionally, all changes required the help of developers.
Disjointed and Inaccurate Data
First Citizens Bank lacked a cohesive and advanced data solution that offered a holistic view of their customers. Without a centralized data system, the First Citizens team could not turn data into actionable insights that would inform future design, feature, and marketing decisions.
The Solution
Leveraging their previous experience working with regional banks, including OCCU and Fidelity Investments, Blue Acorn iCi helped First Citizens Bank drive their digital transformation. As part of the solution, Blue Acorn iCi implemented Adobe Experience Manager, Adobe Analytics, and Adobe Target. The ongoing partnership also includes hands-on training, risk mitigation, organizational change management, and value realization.
Risk Mitigation Through MVP Site
Without the proper processes in place, introducing a new platform within an organization presents a potential risk. To mitigate the unknowns of the Adobe products and the deployment process, Blue Acorn iCi launched an MVP site, ManageMyMoney.com. Starting with the MVP site allowed Blue Acorn iCi and First Citizens Bank to develop processes, implement best practices, and train staff on the Adobe capabilities before development began on FirstCitizens.com.
Speeding Time to Value Realization
Blue Acorn iCi implemented Adobe Analytics to their current site before migrating to Adobe Experience Manager. This enabled First Citizens Bank to improve their data collection capabilities, time to tool adoption, and demonstrate progress throughout the project.
Optimized Customer Experience
After the Adobe Experience Cloud implementation was complete, First Citizens Bank’s marketing team was able to easily optimize both the B2B and B2C customer experiences without involving developers. For B2C, one of their top goals was to increase digital account openings through personalized marketing campaigns, enhanced targeting efforts for customer acquisition, and improved SEO via content production. The bank now produces 60 blog articles a month using the content workflows in Adobe Experience Manager. For B2B, the organization made progress optimizing lead generation, leveraging data to enhance the digital customer funnel, and attributing sales to digital marketing efforts.