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Chase ran the same $400 checking bonus offer through two different shared mail (co-op) companies in the same week: Save and Valpak. Both are competing vendors that bundle multiple advertisers into one mailing to split the postage cost. Piece 1 - Valpak Arrived inside a Valpak envelope. Chase bought the envelope's own front and back cover ($400 offer on the front, refer-a-friend on the back) plus one of three Chase inserts riding inside, the other two promoting Business Checki

I'm a customer acquisition marketer, so brand isn't where I focus my attention. But I've been seeing a lot of TD Bank content in my feed, and every time something feels off. It's the font. They rebranded last year and the typeface I'd associated with TD for 20+ years changed just a bit, and it's a weirdly visceral reaction. Not just "huh, that's different" but more like something's wrong before I even register why. So even as someone who might tell you to put the entire marke

There's an interesting dynamic in customer acquisition marketing for financial services. Banks and credit unions start with the advantage over fintechs and alternative lenders. They have billions in assets, experienced teams, established brands, and decades of customer data. But fintechs and alternative lenders typically do the better acquisition work. Because they depend more heavily on paid acquisition and growth targets, every dollar has to justify itself on a shorter time

Here is Fortiva Credit Card (Master Card) running a sponsored placement in Gmail's Top Picks section. The campaign is running through Google Performance Max with affiliate tracking parameters layered on top of standard UTM values. The ad copy: "Up to $1,000 limit. Apply today, even with poor credit. Instantly prequalify, unsecured credit card." The offer is aimed at people with poor credit and the copy says so directly. Opening the email shows a product shot of two Fortiva Ma

New "In the Wild" submission from one of our eagle eyed marketing friends. If you're an American Express Business cardholder, you may have seen this paid ad in your Gmail Promotions tab recently. A clean, simple sponsored email: Amex® Business Line of Credit — Short or long-term loans that can help keep your business moving forward. No offer, no rate, no urgency. Just a quiet nudge with a Learn More button. Amex Subject Line: Amex® Business Line of Credit — Short or long-term

Your full service marketing agency might be excellent. Great creative team, excellent designs and your brand looks polished. That's important. But great brand marketing doesn't automatically translate to great acquisition marketing. The skills needed to create a compelling billboard, branch brochure or monthly customer email are very different from the skills needed to run and optimize customer acquisition campaigns One is about looking great, the other is about getting the r

A lot of marketers worry about emailing their lists too much, especially their existing customer lists. Here’s a reality check: PayPal sent me 27 emails about business funding in the first 8 weeks of 2026. That’s almost 3 a week, every week, like clockwork. Did I open a single one? No. Did it annoy me? Not really. I barely noticed. That’s the thing. The person on the other end is not nearly as bothered by your emails as you think they are. They’re busy. Scrolling. Deleting w

Marketing for business loans is unique. It’s expensive, conversion rates are low and there are nuances that take a lot of time to learn. In typical marketing campaigns, your best prospects are the ones who want your product most. In ecommerce for example, the person frantically searching for your product is often your ideal target. Business lending flips this upside down. The prospects who want loans most urgently? Frequently the ones lenders want least (higher risk, desper