Building a Branded Community for PaYard through SMM.

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Situation

Launching a new brand is always an exciting challenge — and a meticulous, complex process. When PaYard, an ambitious new player in the banking industry, approached us with a recipe for building a full-scale brand, we got to work.
First course: a marketing strategy.
Second: communication ideas for audience and product testing.
And for dessert: an SMM launch strategy to kick off the brand’s presence on social media.

Task

To put it formally (since we’re all very serious professionals here), the main goal for our SMM team was to develop a launch SMM strategy that included:

Creating Instagram and Facebook pages from scratch
Defining the core communication pillars
Building an initial content strategy and visual identity
Attracting the first wave of followers to enable long-term growth

Strategy Development

Let’s get some background: PaYard is a new digital banking solution that offers modern financial services to users across the globe. Not just a bank — a neobank. That meant the brand’s social pages had to reflect that same level of coolness and modernity.

To build a strong launch strategy, we went deep into the niche and carefully analyzed the market. We identified key players and split them into two groups:

Group One: Banks that ignore or misunderstand the power of social media — resulting in dull, one-way communication that doesn’t engage users.
Group Two: Industry giants who tailor their strategy to their audience’s needs and fully embrace the dynamics of social media.

“A brand that listens to its users, understands their needs, and speaks their language has the best chance to turn followers into brand ambassadors.”
— Anna Yarosh, SMM Manager

So what did we learn? To launch PaYard successfully, we needed to combine the strengths of Group Two with our own twist — those secret ingredients that would help us stand out. The sprinkles on top. The roasted almonds that hit just the right audience (Disclaimer: the copywriter hadn’t had breakfast when writing this.)

Bottom line: instead of dry corporate-speak or overwhelming visual noise, we chose a path of clarity, simplicity, and connection.

Our main goal? To create not just a banking page — but a space where users can easily explore the product and get real value. That shaped our entire tone: short, sharp, informative captions paired with a clean and recognizable visual identity. Everything reinforced one key idea: life gets easier when you let PaYard handle the financial puzzles.

“Our goal for Tone of Voice was simple — make the brand sound human, not like a bank. And yes, we added a bit of humor to keep things alive.”
— Mariia Maltseva, SMM Copywriter

Step Two: Understanding the Audience
PaYard is designed for Ukrainians and expats in Europe who need quick, easy financial solutions — from fast payments and currency exchange to hassle-free money management.

But how do you speak to them in a way that grabs their attention and holds it?
(No, we didn’t consider putting slime-cutting videos on every post. Tempting, but too easy.)

The challenge: we were starting from zero. No existing follower base, so we needed communication that felt universal — yet targeted — to draw in the right audience.
Our answer? Two key emotional drivers:

Trust — because finance always comes down to safety
Simplicity — because people appreciate it when complex things are explained clearly

Step Three: Visual Direction
Finance is often associated with strict dark palettes or serious shades of blue — but that just didn’t fit PaYard. We needed something modern, minimal, and fresh.

So our visual direction focused on a clean, light design with emphasis on usability. No cluttered graphs. No formal, corporate banners.

We started with a mood board: our designers gathered visuals with minimal distractions — the base for a clear, modern style.

We selected light gray and graphite tones as brand colors, balanced with bright accent hues to keep things lively.

“We planned for both contrasting compositions and monochrome aesthetics — like a classic businessman in a suit, subtly showing off his bold, stylish socks.”
— Nata Husieva, SMM Designer

Using all of the above, we built the initial content strategy: launch posts, communication tone, and a content framework that clearly introduced the brand and its benefits.

Implementation

To warm up the audience, we designed a launch series that gradually introduced PaYard’s concept:

Post 1: A mysterious teaser, hinting at a new player in finance
Post 2: Introducing the brand and its main benefits
Post 3: A clear look at how PaYard makes life easier by taking the hassle out of money

These posts hinted at what was coming — but didn’t give everything away. One message stayed consistent: “PaYard — a neobank with no puzzles.”

We also handled the content production ourselves. Why? Because we wanted to capture the brand’s personality from the start — and set the tone for its future visual storytelling. We focused on real, relatable content with no tired finance clichés. Our goal: make it feel like PaYard is already part of everyday life.

(Spoiler alert: the client loved it — and it wasn’t the last shoot we did.)

Next, we introduced the audience to PaYard more deeply — and showed how it stands out from other banks. We focused on showcasing the core services, making sure even first-time visitors immediately understood the brand’s value.

We also filled out the page structure with Highlights — giving users quick access to key info.

We also filled out the page structure with Highlights — giving users quick access to key info. In parallel, we developed a long-term content strategy: themes, rubrics, and future interactions to grow engagement over time.

“Every part of this strategy had one goal: make people associate PaYard with simplicity. We’re not just talking about finance — we’re proving it can be clear, convenient, and even fun.” — Anna Yarosh, SMM