Dive Brief:

• Citibank is expanding its content marketing into new publications, putting a focus on wellness and personal finance content and is now incorporating related offers alongside the content in an attempt to engage millennials, Digiday reports.
• With select articles, Citibank is running digital display ads with offers for the first time. The company is using the ads to track consumers who take the offers. For example, alongside a Business Insider article, titled "5 spending traps to watch out for this holiday season," Citibank ran ads with the copy "Enjoy every moment" that promote a limited-time offer to open a savings account at a discounted interest rate.
• Citibank worked with Well+Good's branded content and editorial teams to develop the Well+Good x Citi content site, which launched last month. Citi FinTech CEO Yolande Piazza appears in a custom video offering financial advice for different life stages. The Citibank articles will also appear in the "Featured Collection" section of the Well+Good's homepage.

Dive Insight:

Citibank is ramping up content marketing and including related offers, a strategy that could help the company grow its brand awareness and boost revenue, as millennials appreciate educational or other useful information that helps improve their lives. A 2017 survey by the National Endowment for Financial Education and George Washington University found that millennials aren't as financially literate as they think they are. 

Content marketing is an attractive strategy for marketers, with 58% listing content marketing as the most successful marketing tactic in a recent Ascend2 study. Content marketing allows them to engage with consumers authentically with useful information that doesn't necessarily seem like an ad. Pairing the content with related offers, like the new Citibank effort, could help deepen the emotional connection by incorporating elements of personalization. Consumers are most receptive to brands that learn about and respond to their needs. 

Citibank says it measure branded content ROI based on the engagement and traffic that the articles generate. The company tracks dwell time, page views and social media sharing, according to Digiday. Along with the expanded content marketing strategy, Citibank also launched a holiday campaign with Architectural Digest and Bon Appetit.