CASE STUDY: How LinkedIn helped 8 Securities grow deposits

Background

8 Securities is a trading portal that was set up in November 2011 with the aim of reinventing online investing in Hong Kong and across Asia. However, as a new player in a traditional market, 8 Securities found itself competing against large banks and brokerage firms who already had established relationships with customers.

Aim

Considering it had to gain market share from large players, 8 Securities was keen to reach out to  tech-savvy and self-directed investors and grow its business both on a regional and global level.

Execution

Instead of banking on traditional marketing channels, 8 Securities dedicated 100 per cent of its marketing budget to online channels, including LinkedIn and Yahoo. The company was already active on LinkedIn, posting one or two updates a day. It also used the products page to showcase its offerings and used LinkedIn Analytics and Research to get a clearer picture of what was happening online.

The brand's use of LinkedIn ramped up significantly when 8 Securities went into marketing mode in March 2012. Building on positive press coverage from its launch in Beijing and awards from TechCruch and Inc, the company produced clever videos that were made to look like movie trailers and inserted these into LinkedIn pages based on its target demographics.

Following this, 8 Securities went into acquisition mode with the launch of a campaign targeting the Taiwan, Hong Kong and China markets. During the month-long drive, free shares were given for the opening of an account with the company. That was promoted via standard and interactive banners on LinkedIn and other websites.

Results

The videos garnered about 50,000 views and a clickthrough rate (CTR) of 0.1 per cent, compared with the industry average of 0.06 per cent. A particular video banner reached a CTR of 0.49 per cent—750 per cent above the industry norm. More significantly, the company achieved its goals in terms of raising its average customer deposits. For example, a customer who previously deposited US$10,000 was now depositing US$50,000, according to CEO Mikaal Abdulla.

More broadly, the brand took itself from no-name to legitimate competitor against established brokers. This week 8 Securities announced its acquisition of an online trading service in Japan, which it said will give it a total of 55,000 customers and US$1 billion in customer assets. The company also said it is looking at additional acquisitions in Australia, Singapore, Indonesia and India as well as in the Middle East.