First Financial Uses Yext to Give Clients a Great Experience Online

Fostering strong client relationships is critical for the success of First Financial Bank. Founded in 1863, First Financial understands the importance of advancing along with technology and consumer expectations and providing a client experience that is as great online as it is in person.

"We're a bank that believes relationships are the foundation of success," says Joe Minham, Digital Product Manager at First Financial. "We're people-oriented, and that's one of our main differentiators. The team supports our clients with care and attention in a way that the bigger banks struggle to match. We wanted to bring that personal feel into the digital space as well. The way that we speak to you online — our voice and tone on our site — is a direct extension of our brand attributes and should reflect the way we treat you in person. We're raising that bar."

"When people visit our physical locations, they may want to do more research when they leave," continues Minham. "Our website is the front gate to that overarching digital journey. I think of it as the main branch that everybody can access. We want to enable a simple, consistent, and seamless experience across digital and physical channels that encourages continued discovery. The website should be engaging where clients' needs come first, connections with our community are genuine and personal, and learning opportunities are plentiful."

"We've completely refreshed our website based on research and upgraded our content management system," Minham explains. Our site search, powered by Yext, is a key differentiator helping visitors find what they need fast."

Using Yext's revolutionary site search solution that understands natural language and provides rich search results, Minham is able to see what questions clients are asking on the bank's website.

"With Yext, we've increased conversions and gained valuable insight, while providing visitors with answers at their moment of intent," says Minham. "Not only does our site search experience function as a navigational utility element, but it also helps us gain new user intelligence. We can see the queries people are asking, which helps influence business decisions and identify missed opportunities. We learn about subjects of interest that weren't necessarily on our radar as a priority. Search is about more than just navigation. Search is client intelligence."

"Now that we have our new website, we've shifted our focus to a more content advisory-first approach," explains Jennifer Overholts, Web Marketing Manager at First Financial. "It's been interesting during the COVID-19 pandemic to see what kind of questions people have. Queries related to stimulus payments and the Paycheck Protection Program have continued to dominate our search volume, and insights from Yext have been super helpful in adding more robust content that better serves the needs of our clients. By making information about PPP loan applications and direct stimulus deposits easily accessible on our website, we have helped minimize financial disruptions within the communities we serve."

After using Yext for five months, First Financial experienced a 272% increase in site visits and a 225% increase in site search volume compared to the same period in the prior year. In the first year since launching the Yext site search solution, the bank has seen more than 42,000 clicks to search results with a 27% click-through rate.

After moving its search bar to become more prominent on its website, First Financial saw a 121% increase in average monthly searches when compared to prior months.

In the first few weeks of the COVID-19 crisis, First Financial saw more than 1,400 searches related to SBA/PPP loans. The bank responded quickly with over 700 content updates designed to better inform clients and address future questions.

"There seems to be a gap when it comes to offering human-centric digital experiences in the financial space," says Minham. "We are investing in tools and talent that help us collect and analyze data so that we can invest in meaningful functionality and craft more relevant communication that encourages interaction and goal achievement. I think we're going to see that trend, not just at First Financial, but across the industry."