NFL.com Gets High Scores on Engaging Emails

Challenge: Email deliverability is now dependent on a sender’s ability to deliver engaging content to subscribers. Since engagement has become a key ingredient in ISP’s reputation scores, marketers need to up their game to play by the changing rules or risk poor ROI rates on campaigns.

As we reported in a previous blog, 70-75% of Email Subscribers are Inactive, marketers need to capture attention and invite engagement due to Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, and AOL now incorporating a new algorithm that includes the original guidelines for identifying SPAM, plus active engagement rates. 

While marketers are using many other forms of communication, email still continues to be a prime vehicle for customer interactions. In the Salesforce.com Exacttarget Marketing Cloud 2014 State of Marketing study that polled over 2,600 mid- to senior-level marketing managers cross all industries; 

» 67 percent of marketers say their number one priority for 2014 is to increase sales directly attributable to digital marketing campaigns,

» 64 percent are focused on increasing email click throughs and open rates.

In our ERDM Voice of Customer (VoC) research findings we learned what customers want relative to email:

»  Consumers expect companies to use their preferences to deliver increasingly personalized offers, communications, and experiences.

»  As a result of preference-based interactions, consumers are more willing to respond to communications and offers.

»  Customers look to personalized follow-up emails as value-added triggers to go online and evaluate relevant products.

»  Customers want more than just buying history-based emails.

»  Create opt-in preference databases to drive true personalization of communications and offers.

The NFL.com Newsletter, winner of the MarketingSherpa Email Awards 2013, took relevancy to a whole new level. Subscribers get real-time content about their designated favorite teams, and even receive countdowns to game time. Fans depend on these emails to stay abreast of timing for the next big kick-off.

These efforts resulted in doubled newsletter open rates and increased click through rates of 26%.

The 5 winning reasons given for choosing the NFL.com as the best in show winner were:

1. They explored new ways to engage and interact with their audience.

2. They had a goal to create email that was relevant and targeted as possible.

3. They tailored each email on a personalized level.

4. They wanted the emails to be useful.

5. They took into consideration the different vehicles that might be used to read an email and made the messages easy to navigate and easy to read.

On the NFL.com site visitors can register via a preference center to supply personalized information such as favorite team and opt-in to the newsletter.

3 Takeaways:

1. Keep in mind the new rules for email deliverability that take into consideration both recipient interaction as well as content engagement. Develop new strategies that encourage interaction through deeply personalized messaging.

2. Customers are willing to provide in-depth information in exchange for receiving value-added information. For consumers, the rationale for providing preference information is to receive increasingly relevant offers, communications, and experiences.

3. Understand how your customers read their emails—is it on a computer, tablet, or mobile device? Design emails that will enable your message to display correctly for maximum interaction opportunities.

Transforming Intrusive Customer Tracking to Valued Information Exchanges

The Challenge: The bad news is that consumer resistance to unauthorized data tracking is growing. The good news is that many consumers understand that in order to receive more targeted and relevant communications, they need to provide companies with more of their personal information.

Extensive research conducted by our company, ERDM, over the past 12 months has shown that BtoB and BtoC customers are willing to provide in-depth information if they see the value and are assured of improved levels of personalization and customer engagement. This research finding has emerged so consistently that we refer to this as the Reciprocity of Value Equation. This fundamentally reframes data privacy concerns as a beneficial exchange of information that improves the customer experience.

Furthermore, customers have said that they will update and refresh their information as long as they keep receiving value from marketers. Therefore the significant takeaway for marketers is that:

» BtoB and BtoC customers will supply deep levels of information if they trust the brand and see value.
» Consumers will actively opt-in to sharing detailed personal preference information in exchange for the marketer’s promise to deliver relevant information and offers.
» Marketers need to understand how their customers define the Reciprocity of Value Equation with their company.

CVS-Caremark, a 2013 Apex Customer Award Winner understands the power of providing value in exchange for personal information and responsible behavior tracking.

They worked hard to improve consistency, reliability, and accountability in Member Communications – both across the organization and within the communications sent to Members. This heavy emphasis on putting customer needs front and center boosted CVS’ revenues in the pharmacy services by 7.2% to $11.5 billion, and in the retail pharmacy segment by 13.9% to $13.5 million.

This growth is due in part to a benefit-based reciprocal data exchange with customers.

• Within the Pharmacy “Information center” are details of all current and past prescriptions filled by a family at CVS. It allows subscribers to monitor all medications with pictures of each pill, dosage, refills remaining, and which medicines are due to be refilled or need a renewal prescription.

• Customers can order refills online and be altered to pickups by email, text, or both.

• Subscribers have one loyalty card and login to the prescription and retail sections of the stores, allowing them to add reward points for future discounts in both areas of the store.

• CVS sends personalized emails to members based on their current point levels and past buying history.

Takeaways

1. Customers want to be reassured that when they turn over their personal information, it will be used responsibly and for their benefit. Companies that reward customers for data by providing relevant offers and enhanced customer experiences will gain loyalty because customers expect a reciprocal value exchange.

2. Have an action plan for how you will use this precious customer data. If customers do not see obvious and immediate benefits from providing their information, not only will they unsubscribe from the service, they may also stop being a customer.

3. Understand what questions customers feel are appropriate to ask...and at what points in the lifecycle. Increasingly deeper levels of information must be earned.

Preference-Driven Personalization; What Men’s Wearhouse Can Teach Us

The Challenge: Many companies are still not using preference based personalization. This compromises relevance and sacrifices engagement and potential sales.

40% of consumers say they prefer buying from retailers that cater to their preferences. According to research firm The E-tailing Group, respondents said they:

» Find it valuable if the retailer offers product recommendations tailored to their personal tastes and shopping histories.
» Purchase more often when retailers send e-mails that are personalized based on a shopper's past interactions.

One retailer who has embraced preference based personalization is Men's Wearhouse. With more than 1,100 stores nationwide, Men’s Wearhouse prides itself on providing personalized service to all of its customers. “Customer satisfaction is our highest priority, across all of our channels,” said Susan Neal, EVP, E-Business, Marketing and Digital Technology. “Just as our in-store tailors alter garments to perfectly fit each customer, we plan to deliver personalized emails individually tailored to each recipient."

• Men’s Wearhouse captures data from every customer touch point, mines behavioral signals using advanced predictive algorithms and overlays deep retail domain knowledge.

• They are extending their personalized experience to email as well.

• The company has in-store wardrobe consultants to help its customers. This service continues the online experience which offers a website for its full offerings as well as a separate website just for tuxedos by type of occasion. The Tux Sites features a dedicated Wedding Planner that can be contacted online or via an iPhone app.

• Overall Men’s Wearhouse is an example of a forward-looking retailer that understands the importance of delivering clients a consistent, personalized experience.

According to our firm’s VoC research on the Preference driven Reciprocity of Value Equation, consumers are willing to share personal preference information with trusted brands in exchange for “reciprocity of value” — in other words, receiving highly targeted and relevant offers and communications based on their individual preferences. This represents a powerful opportunity for marketers to transform how they engage with customers and prospects.

3 Research-based Takeaways

1. 59% of shoppers said that it is easier to find what they’re looking for when retailers personalize the shopping experience. So make it easy for your customers to find and buy what you have to sell.

2. 40% of consumers said they buy more from retailers that personalize shopping across all channels. So make sure your personalization experience extends to every aspect of your customer experience and interactions.

3. Retailers that remember the shopping behavior of individual consumers and use it to personalize future experiences are being rewarded — consumers are more engaged and purchase more. So be sure you have in place accurate and easily updated CRM practices and technology.

Online Reviews: 4 Tips for Building Customer Trust

The Challenge: Do you have a strategy for encouraging reviews? Do you monitor reviews? Are you responding to reviews and taking action based on this powerful voice of customer guidance?

Today’s educated and digitally savvy consumers search out online reviews, even from people they do not know; 69% of local consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Less than 10% trust what companies say about themselves, according to an Econsultancy report. Studies by Saurage Research show that 84% of US shoppers rely on reviews before making purchase decisions.

The findings below are based on extensive Voice of Customer (VoC) research conducted by our firm, ERDM regarding the rapidly evolving role of reviews in consumer’s decision making process:

•  A large number of reviews with both positive and negative sentiments are an advantage and create trust.

•  Apparel and cosmetics customers want to be able to sort reviews by multiple criteria to evaluate the relevance of the reviewer’s comments to their personal situation. Criteria include; part of the country, (some feel that people from other parts of the country don’t share their fashion preferences), age, skin type, and clothing size.

•  Pictures and profiles of the reviewers are also important. Per this quote from a recent VoC research effort, “I like to see who is writing the review. It makes a difference as to how much weight I assign it.”

Case Study Intuit Quickbooks:

Adding ratings and reviews greatly increased sales for Intuit Quickbooks ProAdvisors. They are accounting service providers who have completed a comprehensive QuickBooks curriculum and are listed on Intuit’s website, which is searchable by businesses looking for accounting services.

• QuickBooks ProAdvisors® with reviews get 5X more referrals than those with few or none.

• ProAdvisors with reviews get more clicks than higher-ranked ProAdvisors.

• The number of reviews can be more important than the rating.

4 Takeaways to Help You Leverage the Power of Online Reviews:

1. Ask your customers for reviews and do not fear negative reviews: The Quickbooks case study uncovered that for US clients, 80% of reviewers give a 4 or 5 (out of 5) star rating.  UK clients’ reviews are 88% positive. A few negative reviews lend credibility to the positive ones.

2. Quantity of the online reviews can outweigh the quality. In the Quickbooks example, ProAdvisors with ten reviews averaging four stars receive more clicks than those who have a five star average, but only two reviews. Therefore encouraging customers to share information with you is imperative.

3. Online reviews are also important for offline businesses, “Nearly 70% of US internet users sometimes compared prices or read reviews before visiting a store.” - eMarketer

4. The more detailed and personalized the reviewers are, the more successful the review will be in converting potential customers. Offer incentives for completely filling out profile details, preferences, and including a photo.

Focusing on Relationships, Not Sales, Generates Greater Revenue

The Challenge: Traditional marketing has often focused on getting the sale. Instead, marketers should focus on retention and how to keep more customers for longer periods. Customer Lifetime Value, (CLTV), is a simple equation for helping you calculate the value of increased retention.

By understanding the lifetime value of a customer, you can determine whether you are spending enough to keep and groom customers, and what the resulting revenue will be from ongoing, repeat, purchases.

Insert actual or estimated numbers into the following lifetime value equation:

(Average Value of a Sale) X (Number of Repeat Transactions) X (Average Retention Time in Months or Years for a Typical Customer).

Kellogg Professor John Parker explains, “Organizing marketing to improve the performance of three key ingredients–lowering acquisition costs, raising total margins, and reducing the churn rate–can be an even more powerful application of CLTV for CMOs.” Research from Bain & Company shows the increased value of customer retention versus acquisition:

•	Acquiring a new customer can cost 6 to 7 times more than retaining an existing customer
•	Over a 5 year period customer attrition rates could reach as high as 50% if databases are left dormant
•	Businesses which boosted customer retention rates by as little as 5% saw increases in their profits ranging from 5% to a whopping 95%.

 
When we focus marketing efforts on customer retention rather than acquisition and engage customers throughout the entire relationship, the result is an increase in the lifetime value.

3 Takeaways for Marketers:

1. Engage with customers at 3 points in the customer lifecycle:

•	Pre-Sale: Understand their needs and preferences and begin engaging them accordingly.
•	Sale: Don’t think of the sale as a “close”. The sale is not the end; it should be the start of building a proactive, value-based, relationship.
•	Growth & Retention: The period between the last sale and the potential next sale is an opportunity for you to provide ongoing, proactive, engagement, and value. This is the time to gain a better understanding of your customers, why they purchase from you, what motivates their purchases, and how you can provide value between purchases, to keep them loyal and engaged. ERDM research shows that engaging and forming strong relationships with customers has 12 times more influence on retention and repeat purchases than customer satisfaction alone.

2. Cut down on email blasts and send only relevant, preference-based communications. A powerful way of proving that you care about your customer is to cut down on email blasts and only send targeted and relevant communications and offers. Consumers resent brands that indulge in “spray and pray” blasts of irrelevant email. This is viewed as disrespectful of their limited time.

3. You are probably not spending enough on your top customers. Identify the top producing customer segments and revise your spending accordingly. See the visual above.

Strong Customer Relationships: More Powerful than Satisfaction for Retention

The Challenge: As companies grow, relationships with customers usually suffer. Larger customer files, heavier account loads, and less available time, often contribute to a decrease in engagement with customers. This begins the cycle of increasing losses of customers.

Findings from research conducted by our company ERDM indicate that engaging and forming strong relationships with customers has 12 times more influence on retention and repeat purchases than customer satisfaction. Satisfaction is now a minimum expectation.

As DMG Consulting says in their Microsoft-sponsored white paper, “In an era of intense competition, the customer experience is often the main differentiator between commoditized products and services.” In today’s consumer-centric business world, customers dictate the rise and fall of companies, and your business is completely dependent on keeping your customer relationships strong.

The key starting point for retention is understanding the state of customer relationships. Luca Paderni, VP and principal analyst at Forrester Research, says, “CMO’s and their peers...must understand what customers represent for the whole organization to help shape the strategy for the overall business.”

Once understanding is achieved, the next step, according to Walker, is closing the loop. This begins with setting alerts that indicate low customer loyalty or negative behavior, usually in the form of survey questions. After alerts are designed, a feedback system is created to ensure the information gets to someone who can act on it. There should also be follow-up protocols in place that allow staff to act on customer concerns, complaints, and opportunities accordingly. Finally, results should be documented, so the company can understand what works best and fine-tune accordingly.

This correlates with our findings, as well as the strategy used by Microsoft in the aforementioned white paper, that changing from relationships based on customer satisfaction to relationships with deeper levels of engagement - based on more in-depth understanding of their needs - increases customer retention drastically over the course of the customer lifecycle.

Key Takeaways for Marketers

1. Assess the state of current customer relationships.
Learn if you’re doing enough to meet customer expectations, and form deeper relationships with customers across multiple channels. Customers don’t just want to be satisfied, they want to be engaged.

2. Develop strategies for following up.
Create a system that will seek out red flags, notify appropriate staff members at the right time, acquire customer feedback, and use that feedback to enrich and improve customer experience.