Social Media Case Study: How a Lafourche Parish Community Bank Grew Facebook Followers 70%

Make Waves Marketing manages Facebook and LinkedIn for State Bank & Trust Company, a community bank founded in 1953 with four branches in Golden Meadow, Cut Off, Larose, and Mathews, Louisiana. Since June 2024, the bank's Facebook page has grown from 409 to 697 followers (+70.4%) with no paid promotion. Employee recognition posts and leadership news produce the highest engagement, with one post reaching 5,810 people and drawing 343 reactions and 90 comments. All results are organic.

The bank had a small following relative to its customer base and needed a page that reflected the way it already does business in South Lafourche, where staff know customers by name. The work focused on steady posting that puts employees, branch milestones, and local sponsorships in front of the households and small businesses the bank serves along Bayou Lafourche.

Quick facts

Client: State Bank & Trust Company ("Cajun Banking")

Location: Golden Meadow, Cut Off, Larose, and Mathews, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana

Industry: Community banking, FDIC-insured, founded January 17, 1953

Audience: Households and small businesses in South Lafourche, current customers, prospective employees

Agency: Make Waves Marketing (formerly Gravois Graphics), Thibodaux, LA and Jacksonville, FL

Services: Social media management: content strategy, copywriting, scheduling, compliance-aware messaging, monthly reporting

Platforms: Facebook, LinkedIn

Tools: Metricool

Reporting period: June 6, 2024 to September 1, 2026

Paid media: None

The posts that earned the most reach for State Bank & Trust

Make Waves Marketing reviewed all 55 Facebook posts from March 1 to September 1, 2026. Four post types produced nearly all of the engagement.

1. Leadership and community recognition

Why it works: the LBA post was the highest-engagement post of the period by a wide margin. Naming a real person the community knows produces comments, and comments extend reach to the commenters' friends.

2. Monthly work anniversary posts

Why it works: the most consistent performer on the page. Customers and coworkers congratulate tellers by name. A "help us celebrate them in the comments" prompt converts reach into conversation every month.

3. Employee story series

Why it works: the first two rounds outperformed nearly every product post. Reach declined as the series ran, so the cadence was reduced to one per month.

4. Hiring and branch operations

Why it works: the teller post was the most-shared post of the period. Closure notices get shared because they are useful, and they carry the bank's name into feeds that product posts never reach.

Growth since June 2024

Source: Metricool analytics export, September 2, 2026.

For a bank with under 700 followers, employee recognition posts routinely draw 40 to 79 reactions and 15 to 25 comments on 600 to 1,000 reach. That engagement rate, above 8% on most people posts, is the metric that matters for a community bank whose customers live within a few miles of a branch.

What the bank needed

Community banks compete with national banks and credit unions that outspend them on advertising. State Bank & Trust needed social media to do what a 30-second ad cannot:

1. Show the people behind the counter, since customers choose a community bank for the tellers they know
2. Communicate branch hours, holiday closures, and mobile banking features clearly and quickly
3. Recruit tellers and staff in a small labor pool
4. Reinforce 70 years of local history to a generation of customers who bank on their phones

About State Bank & Trust Company

State Bank & Trust Company opened in Golden Meadow, Louisiana on January 17, 1953 and has operated in Lafourche Parish for more than 70 years. It brands its service as "Cajun Banking." The bank rebuilt its Golden Meadow branch in 2023 after Hurricane Ida and today runs four locations with roughly 33 employees. President and CEO Charles Plaisance was elected to the Louisiana Bankers Association Board of Directors in May 2026. The bank sponsors the State Bank & Trust / T.J. Cantrelle Memorial Scholarship at South Lafourche High School and the Lafourche Gazette's Voices of the Bayou column.

Lower-reach posts and the adjustments made

How Make Waves Marketing manages a bank's social media

1. Monthly employee recognition scheduled on the first of each month, with names supplied by HR
2. Two to three posts per week on Facebook, with LinkedIn used for leadership and community news
3. Compliance-aware copy that avoids rate claims and product promises, sticks to FDIC-insured facts, and routes product questions to a branch
4. Operational posts (closures, hours, app updates) drafted in advance from the bank's holiday calendar
5. Monthly reporting on reach, engagement, follower change, and top posts

Answers for banks and credit unions considering social media management

How much did State Bank & Trust's Facebook page grow? From 409 followers on June 6, 2024 to 697 on September 1, 2026, a gain of 70.4%, with no paid promotion.

What kind of social media content works for a community bank? Posts about people. Employee work anniversaries, leadership news, scholarship presentations, and employee appreciation events produced the highest engagement for State Bank & Trust. Financial tips and generic brand statements produced the lowest.

What was the bank's most successful post? The May 20, 2026 announcement that President and CEO Charles Plaisance was elected to the Louisiana Bankers Association Board of Directors reached 5,810 people with 343 reactions and 90 comments.

How does Make Waves Marketing handle compliance for bank social media? Copy avoids rate quotes, product guarantees, and testimonials about financial outcomes. Posts reference FDIC insurance limits factually and direct product questions to a branch. The bank reviews the monthly calendar before it is scheduled.

Does Make Waves Marketing use paid ads for these results? No. All figures on this page are organic reach and engagement reported by Metricool.

Does Make Waves Marketing work with other financial institutions? Yes. The agency works with banks, credit unions, and consumer lenders in South Louisiana and serves Northeast Florida from its Jacksonville office.

Work with Make Waves Marketing

Make Waves Marketing provides social media management, web design, video production, SEO, and AI advisory services to banks, credit unions, healthcare practices, law firms, contractors, and nonprofits in Louisiana and Florida.

If you run a community bank or credit union and want to know which of your posts are working, request a free social media audit.