Insurance Marketing White Paper The benefits of implementing marketing automation into your marketing strategy

Transcription

1 Insurance Marketing White Paper The benefits of implementing marketing automation into your marketing strategy Katie Traynier July and Website Optimisation

2 Introduction Most marketers understand the theory of relevance; sending users relevant and targeted information will improve engagement, conversion and ROI. In the past few years this has started to be implemented through segmentation and triggered communication. This year, the DMA reported marketers estimate 30% of revenue derives from targeting specific segments. 1 However, manually seeking to do this can be a laborious and costly task; and one of the challenges (almost impossible when done manually) is keeping up with customer behaviour. There are hundreds of different ways you can segment users and if you plan to create individually triggered programmes for each individual segment the process can quickly become unmanageable. In addition to this, as customers evolve, they will move between segments, and in order to continually send customers the most relevant information you need to find a way to keep up with them. The only way to do this is through a process of marketing automation. Marketing automation uses insight derived through data collection to nurture and manage prospects and customers via the set-up of automated process and analysis. All campaigns are devised based on rules and logic dictated by you. In the same way automation can be created based on a customer action, it can also be overridden based on past actions, profile settings or engagement levels. Unlike any other form of marketing, this ensures only the most relevant and timely communication is sent to each individual user. By effectively feeding all customer data into one integrated database and generating rules to automatically manage this data, effective marketing strategies can be devised based on exact individual user behaviour. Much more than just segmentation and content targeting, used correctly it can provide marketers with the ability to produce a experience between the brand and the user. In addition to this you will also receive seamless management and easy implementation of complex multi-triggered campaigns, more accurate analysis and reporting and an efficient platform for effective testing. All in all the set-up, implementation and on-going management of a marketing automation solution will ensure you are continually sending your customers the most relevant information possible, even as their engagement levels and online behaviour changes. This will improve customer lifetime value which in turn will improve online conversion, and ultimately improve online revenue and ROI. Improving engagement, increasing conversion, growing online revenue and producing a good return on investment are all targets any marketer wants to achieve. Unlike other forms of marketing, marketing automation provides an array of benefits to help you achieve these goals. A report by the Lenskold Group released last year identified that marketers using marketing automation are more likely to report faster growth than those companies not using a marketing automation system. 2 This white paper looks in detail at the unique benefits a marketing automation solution provides with regard to improving communication and generating a high ROI. Understanding the basics behind marketing automation Every good marketing automation strategy starts with the right marketing automation software; or in other words, the right database. Data integration is essential for marketing automation. Many marketers think they can begin marketing automation by integrating digital data into an existing CRM database. Unfortunately it s not that simple due to the nature of online data. Offline data is based on household name and address, whereas online data is based around address and cookie data. Offline data works well with just a daily update, online data is more real-time. pg 1

3 Fig.1: Examples of user segments How do users find your site? Direct Aggregator Online advertising Search Types of products browsed Home insurance Car insurance Travel insurance Savings & investments Pension plans User Segments How engaged are users Recently visited the website Recently opened an Profile segments Men Women Family Over 30s Under 30s Over 60s A marketing automation database will be able to integrate both web analytics data and data into one place, which is how it can be effectively analysed and segmented. Think about your customers and how they interact with your brand. There are hundreds of different ways you can segment your users. Just using an marketing database or a web analytics database will not be able to hold all the multitudes of data you need for creating a full single customer view of each of your users. Plus, trying to tie these two repositories together can be costly. Fig. 1 outlines just a few examples of different types of information you can extract using marketing automation. With a marketing automation solution you can effectively hold all this type of information in one place enabling you to create a true customer identification of your users. Fig. 2 shows how a marketing automation database should work, enabling a range of data feeds (both inputs and outputs) to be integrated. With the ability to hold all your data in one place, the right marketing automation database will enable you to quickly and efficiently implement hundreds of automated campaigns, with the ability for any unique users to seamlessly move through segments as their behaviour changes. pg 2

4 Fig. 2: An example of a marketing automation solution for an insurance company INPUTS OUTPUTS Website behaviour activity DM activity Call centre Transactional Offline database Campaign data Social media Surveys Marketing Automation Database 1-500m site visits per month variables to choose from Database updated hourly Example variables Transactional: sales, quotes Demographic: gender, DOB, family Engagement: sent, bounce, open, click Behavioural: products viewed, preferred categories, reviews, linked products, preferences, insurance Campaign: search phrase, source site Mobile Call centre The Benefits Keeping up with your customers Compared to other marketing platforms, one of the sole advantages of a marketing automation solution is the ability to enable customers to move from segment to segment. Consumers don t move in a linear fashion. They may return to a site several times, through several different channels, and browse several different products before making a purchase. Once this initial conversion is completed there are many different ways they can go on to interact with your brand before making a second purchase and so on. Trying to manage this level of interaction is near to impossible without a marketing automation solution. However, by using marketing automation you can implement a full customer journey analysis that will enable you to look at how prospective and existing customers arrive at your site, move around it and make purchases. Rules can then be set up to ensure you are capturing the right information about each user and segmenting them accordingly. Each individual campaign you run should be mapped out against possible user actions, with all possible outcomes identified, and a correct next type of communication provided. Without doing this, how can you be sure you are creating the right content, for the right user? Creating the right content for the whole customer journey Once you have a clear idea of how customers move through your site and progress as a customer you can start to build programmes based on the customer lifecycle. Fig. 3 shows the different types of programmes marketers within the insurance industry can use to target users as they move through the five stages of the customer lifecycle. To effectively cater for the full customer journey templates need to be created for each individual type of programme. Done through a manual system this can take a lot of time, effort and resource to set up and implement. In addition to this most insurance companies offer a range of different types pg 3

5 Fig. 3: A diagram to show how different types of s can be used to target users based on where they are in the customer lifecycle Stage 1 Acquire Stage 2 Convert Stage 3 Develop Stage 4 Retain Stage 5 Reactivate User Registers for a Quote Quote Abandoned Cross-Sell Loyalty Reactivation Quote Not Buy Seasonal Renewal Quote Reminder Browser of insurance (e.g. car, home, travel, health) and for highly targeted communication you need to be able to create suitable templates for each individual type of insurance. (For example you wouldn t want to send a user interested in home insurance an image with a car on it.) Using a marketing automation solution you can easily set up different templates for different segments which will run automatically based on the type of insurance a user has started a quote for, saving you much time, effort and money. Compared to other sectors, the insurance industry is at a great advantage when it comes to data, as the completion of a quote application provides insurers with a vast amount of customer information which can then be used to dictate future communication (for example a cross-sell programme or a renewal programme). Unlike other solutions, marketing automation enables marketers to set up a matrix of rules and logic that will ensure all the right information gets sent to the right user at the right time. The system will automatically control when a user receives a cross-sell/upsell and the type of cross-sell/upsell they receive. It can also automatically generate all transactional s (e.g. purchase confirmation). An example of how rules and logic can be used to ensure certain s are sent out to certain segments, based on online customer data, is shown in Figs 4 and 5. In each of the examples shown in Fig.4, 12 different programmes are sent to customers over the course of the year (1 programme a month). Where possible, specific, timely s are sent based on the customers personal data (e.g. birthday , timely cross-sell , renewal ). pg 4

6 Fig.4: Example 1 of how a marketing automation solution can be used to create a personalised programme based on customer data Unique user: James Registered: April Reason: Completing a quote for car insurance Car insurance due: May Birthday: 28th July 1983 Homeowner: Yes Home insurance due: September Marital status: Single Children: 0 Month of communication Type of communication Relevant follow-up triggers April Quote not buy Car insurance Quote not buy follow-up Car insurance Possible behaviourals/transactionals Purchase Confirmation Car insurance Upsell - Car insurance extras Purchase confirmation Car insurance extras May Car insurance activated Upsell - Car insurance extras (different to above) Purchase confirmation Car insurance extras June Seasonal offer Travel insurance Travel insurance follow-up July Birthday August Timely cross-sell Home insurance Home insurance follow-up Quote not buy Travel insurance Quote follow-up Travel insurance Purchase confirmation Travel insurance Upsell Travel insurance extras Purchase confirmation Travel insurance extras Quote not buy Home insurance Quote follow-up Home insurance Purchase confirmation Home insurance Upsell Home insurance extras Purchase confirmation Home insurance extras September October November Seasonal offer Breakdown cover Breakdown cover follow-up Purchase abandonment Breakdown cover Purchase confirmation - Breakdown cover December January February March Car insurance renewal Revised quote Purchase confirmation Car insurance pg 5

7 Marketing Automation Fig.5: Example 2 of how a marketing automation solution can be used to create a personalised programme based on customer data Unique user: Emily Registered: September Reason: Completing a quote for home insurance Home insurance due: October Birthday: 3rd January 1979 Month of communication September October Type of communication Quote not buy Home insurance Driving license: Yes Car insurance due: March Marital status: Married Children: 2 Relevant follow-up triggers Possible behaviourals/transactionals Quote not buy Purchase confirmation Home insurance follow-up Upsell Home insurance extras Home insurance Purchase confirmation Home insurance extras Home insurance activated Upsell Home insurance extras (different to above) Purchase confirmation Home insurance extras November December January Birthday February Cross-sell Car insurance Cross-sell Quote not buy Car insurance follow-up Car Quote not buy follow-up Car insurance insurance Purchase confirmation Car insurance Upsell Car insurance extras Purchase confirmation Car insurance extras March Car insurance activated Upsell Car insurance extras (different to above) Purchase confirmation Car insurance extras April Seasonal offer Travel insurance Travel insurance Quote not buy Travel insurance follow-up Quote not buy follow-up Travel insurance Purchase confirmation Travel insurance Upsell Travel insurance extras May June July August Home insurance renewal Revised quote Purchase confirmation Home insurance pg 6

8 As shown in Figs 4 and 5, in order to consistently build a strong rapport between the brand and the customer, segment s appear in the available months when no other trigger based on personal data or browsing behaviour is required. These s could include sending James a specific devised for all male, car insurance customers (e.g. content on the top 100 best cars to drive in the UK, with the image being a man driving a fast car). Alternatively, for Emily, a segment may include content devised specifically for women, with children, (e.g. content on UK trips for children during the holidays, with the image being a woman with children at a suitable resort). The point of course is to try to make all communication as relevant as possible to the user, giving them a reason to open all communication you send. Most of the time, customers of insurance companies are only interested in hearing from the insurance company when they need insurance. Trying to find a way to build rapport throughout the year can be a challenge and will need some creativity, but if you can create the content around your customer segments you are much more likely to engage your users. Of course, all this is pretty much impossible without a marketing automation solution. With a marketing automation solution not only can s be automatically set up to be sent based on personal data (e.g. renewal dates), but rules and logic will allow you to set up an automated timetable to ensure segment s are only sent during months (or any time period set by you) when an based on personal data is not sent. This ensures users are not bombarded with communication, and instead receive a steady stream of s all relevant to the individual. This will create a real level of communication between your customers and your brand. Easy implementation of dynamic content With so many different types of s being triggered, the use of dynamic content is essential. With marketing automation, rules can be set up enabling dynamic content to be triggered by whatever data you want. Fig. 6 shows two examples of how cross-sell programmes can be dynamically generated based on a specific user segment. In the example the general template is exactly the same in both versions, but within it all sections are dynamically generated allowing 2 completely different s to be rolled out. In addition to this, dynamic content can also be easily fed into a triggered , such as a quote not buy . Because a marketing automation solution can identify the registered user and connect it to all past and present behaviour the the user receives is exceptionally targeted. Fig. 7 shows an example of how this works. Targeted timing and frequency As well as producing highly relevant content, marketing automation also ensures you are targeting all your customers at the right time. Effective nurturing is as much about relevancy of timing as it is about the relevancy of content. By segmenting data by how engaged a user is you can control the frequency of communication the user receives. Too little communication may result in you losing a sale; too much communication may result in you losing a customer for good. Marketing automation will not only allow you to accurately assess how engaged your users are, but will also help you set up rules to ensure any communication you send is received at the most opportune time. The ability to send out s instantly, means any campaign can be automatically set up to relate to a specific online action, making each highly relevant to the user. A basic example of this is the quote abandoned (a user visits your website and abandons a purchase; you set up an automated trigger to send the user an about the product they have abandoned). What is more complex is dealing with users as they start to lapse in engagement. If someone has not visited your website in 6 months, you have no behaviour to trigger a campaign. However, with marketing automation rules can be set up for users based on past behaviour and profile information as well as present behaviour. pg 7

9 Fig. 6: An example of how s can be created using dynamic content to target specific segments Segment A: Car insurance customer, female, with children. Cross-sell: Life insurance. Segment B: Single trip travel insurance customer, female, under 30. Cross-sell: Car insurance. Dynamic header Dynamic copy Dynamic images pg 8

10 Fig. 7: An example of using dynamic content in a quote note buy Registered user enters the site and begins a quote for car insurance. Marketing automation software identifies the following: User: kathryn@hotmail.com Previous behaviour: Registered 2 months ago and purchased single trip travel cover. How user entered site: Direct Current behaviour: Completes a quote for car insurance, but leaves before entering the payment process. All personal and insurance details stored. automatically created using dynamic content. Subject line: Kathryn, looking to insure your Fiat 500? Content: Hi Kathryn, thank you for taking the time to receive a quote from Risky Business for insurance of your FIAT 500. You quote for annual cover is 200. Buy now and get breakdown cover free! pg 9

11 Multi-channel interaction Another benefit of investing in a marketing automation solution is the ability to integrate different channels into your marketing strategy. Customers will engage with your brand through a number of different channels and being aware of these will help you align the way you speak to your customers, ensuring you are always talking to them in the right way. Different value customers can be serviced by the most appropriate channel for their wants and needs. Well integrated marketing communications across different channels will also improve your campaign results as different channels support each other in an optimised way. Understanding the impact a banner campaign has on subscribers or vice versa will help you understand how different campaigns work together and therefore how you should be managing your budget to maximise conversion. However, the number of different multi-channel campaign combinations can quickly become unmanageable. Campaign management software can be useful here. Drag and drop campaign management software enables complex processes to be managed relatively easily. You can then quickly and efficiently implement hundreds of automated campaigns, based on complex business rules. Accurate management and measurement With all user interaction being held in one place, marketing automation will also help you improve the reporting of your campaigns, as not only will you be able to get a direct click response, but you will also be able to assess how your campaigns are building brand loyalty and influencing future sales. You will therefore be able to accurately measure the impact your campaigns are having on online (and offline) sales. Automated reports and accurate analysis will also help you continually optimise your campaigns and you will be able to efficiently assess what is working and what is not. In addition to this the nature of the automated set up of a marketing automation solution will enable you to easily test different elements of your s. This could be content, timing, subject line or layout. The list is endless. The ability to constantly and accurately test, analyse and assess the success of your campaigns will ensure you are continually improving the communication you send and in doing so maximising campaign potential. Reduces cost, time and resource; and improves ROI Investing in a full marketing automation solution isn t cheap. However, marketing automation should double your revenues. Once in place, you can start accurately analysing your data and putting all the right rules in place to ensure every single campaign you set up runs seamlessly. You will save so much in human time and resource compared to doing everything manually. Depending on your creative, any campaign can be easily amended to suit a new trigger, and if implementing dynamic content, you can pretty much just let your campaigns run themselves. All the extra time (previously spent devising campaigns and extracting segments) can be put into analysis and optimisation, meaning you are much better situated to start thinking strategically and improving the full customer experience. Rather than spending time focusing on what campaigns to run, you can invest more time into optimising individual programmes. The reductions experienced in time, budget and resource will not only enable you to spend more time concentrating on strategy, but will greatly improve return on investment. Conclusion Through the use of data, online marketers are presented with a wealth of opportunity to target new users and promote loyal custom and repeat purchases. From transactional data, to behavioural data to preference information and engagement pg 10

12 levels, marketers in any industry have the ingredients to create real communication between their brand and the user. However, the in-depth level of customer analysis needed for such personalised marketing communication is near to impossible when done manually. In reality, if you have a database of over one million subscribers, there is no way you can communicate with each one individually. You would need to be constantly monitoring how each individual user is interacting with your brand, and then continually extracting segments you want to target. The only way to handle this amount of data is through a process of marketing automation that with enable you to set up the rules you need to ensure you are systematically communicating with users in the best way possible. With marketing automation you can create as many rules as necessary to ensure users are automatically added or removed from a particular send. This ensures customers will never be bombarded with s, and will only ever get the most relevant information. Without marketing automation this type of execution would be extremely expensive and is next to impossible to implement. When trying to run multiple campaigns manually or separately there is always the concern different campaigns will work against each other. Users may receive several s/campaigns all at one time, which could annoy the user, resulting in high unsubscribes and potential damage to your reputation. Only by holding all your data in one place, and using a system of marketing automation to relay behaviour, engagement, preference, and transaction information, can you ensure you are sending all your users the right content, in the right volume, at the right time. any user to automatically move between segments and across all segments, all your campaigns will work together to nurture the customer and increase the customer lifetime value. All in all, by investing in a process of marketing automation you will be able to improve user engagement, conversion, online revenues and ROI for the long term. References 1 National Client Report, DMA, 2013, (available to purchase from: 2 Lead Generation Marketing Effectiveness Study, Lenskold Group, 2012 (sourced from the Econsultancy Marketing Automation Buyers Guide 2013, pg. 20. Available from: marketing-automation-buyers-guide) To find out more about marketing automation contact RedEye on or visit For those looking to move to a full marketing automation solution the benefits of keeping all data in one place ensures you will improve the efficiency of all your marketing efforts. It is also the only way to produce a customer centric approach that allows your subscribers and customers to lead the way regarding what information you are sending them. With all data in one place, and the ability for pg 11