B2C Case Study: Service Company

Transcription

1 B2C Case Study: Service Company AcquireWeb worked with a large regional energy provider to conduct a combined and direct mail campaign to attract new customers in its recently-deregulated consumer energy market. AcquireWeb matched the client s prospect records against the records in its marketing database using postal address and name data, identifying specific contacts for which and direct mail addresses were available. This contact-level integration means that individual prospects receive both and direct mail pieces, in contrast to the scattershot nature of traditional advertising. AcquireWeb conducted an integrated campaign for the client, sending out six transmissions over two months coordinated with two direct-mail drops, adjusting content and targeting along the way according to the results from successive transmissions. The integrated -direct mail campaign was measured against a look-alike direct mail only campaign. Results included: The campaign lifted call center sales by 31% over the direct mail only control group. The integrated -direct mail campaign induced 2,500 prospects to click-through to the web sign-up page.

2 Pre-Campaign: Analysis, Targeting & Planning At the outset of the project, AcquireWeb matched its marketing database against the client s prospect data using postal address and name data, so that the and direct mail could be targeted to the same individual prospects. AcquireWeb was able to match 32% of the direct mail prospect file against its 93 million record database, well above industry average HH match rates of 15-20%. Target Groups The prospects were then divided into segments to facilitate the testing and measurement of different approaches. The top-level categories of prospects were: Direct Mail Only, No Available: Prospects with no available address who received direct mail only. Direct Mail Only, Available: Prospects who received only direct mail, despite an available address. + Direct Mail: Prospects that received both direct mail and sequenced . The + Direct Mail segment received six s over a two-month period along with two direct mail drops in a sequence designed around the direct mail pieces: -Direct Mail- , , , -Direct Mail- . The other groups provided comparison data to assess the relative effects of , direct mail, and using both together. Several creative pieces were tested in the first transmission. Each transmission of roughly 100,000 records was split into eight distinct target segments based on offer and territory. Demographic Analysis To optimize targeting, before the campaign, AcquireWeb obtained conversion records from one of the client s recent direct mail campaigns and modeled them to detect trends in the demographics of the records of the people who converted. Modeling Methodology: AcquireWeb performed several statistical analyses on the client s conversion data to identify the demographic characteristics of people most likely to convert. Techniques used included bivariate analysis, logistic regression, and chi-squared analysis (CHAID). Key Findings: The single most important factor determining conversion was the number of adults in the household. For example, households with four or more adults were 2 ½ times as likely to respond to the offer as households with only one adult. There were also subgroups of smaller households that performed well. The two- and threeadult households with shorter length of residence (15 years or less) were more likely to respond than those who had lived in their homes longer. The most responsive one-adult households were the youngest ones (18-34 years of age).

3 Campaign: Execution and Adjustments The campaign was designed in the two weeks prior to its launch as a supplement to an existing marketing campaign using radio and direct mail. and direct mail were sent to specifically targeted individuals, and radio buys covered the same geographic region. The campaign began with an introducing the forthcoming AcquireWeb direct mail piece, and was followed by another that arrived after the first direct mail piece. After this first series of transmissions, two things became clear: (1) the campaign was working well at driving prospects to the web site, and (2) the basic premise of the campaign, that this was an easy way to save money, was flawed, in that filling out the credit check application on-line was complicated. Adjusting for the difficulty in on-line fulfillment required only a minor revision to the creative: replacing the on-line link with a more prominent AcquireWeb exhortation to call the toll-free call center number. Ease of fulfillment thus suffered before the change due to the complexity of the on-line form, and afterward because prospects had to change media on-line to telephone in order to fulfill. Tracking impact was also more difficult for call center conversions. Nevertheless, call center activity spiked notably in the wake of each transmission, and the campaign was judged a success by the client. Post Campaign: Response Statistics In addition to precise targeting using demographic data, one of the other key advantages of marketing is that it allows precise measurement of response behavior, from receipt of an message, to its opening and every click along the way to conversion. Transmission data showed this campaign had a solid response rate throughout the campaign. s Delivered An average of 93,583 contacts per transmission (nearly 90% of total contacts) received an . This significantly exceeds the industry average, which is just over 80% delivery. Marketing Universe 105,000 Average Delivered per 93,583 unique unique inc. unique inc. unique re-open Opens Open % opens open % opens open % rate la unch % % % 1.98 la unch % % % 1.76 la unch % % % 1.37 launch 4 & % % % 1.26 la unch % % % ,498 34, % 17, % % 1.96 Clic ks clic k % unique clicks unique clic k % Open to clic k % inc. unique clicks inc. unique click % la unch % % 23% % la unch % % 18% % la unch % % 15% % la unch 4 & 5 no link no link no link no link no link no link no link la unch % % 22% % 3, % 2, % 19% %

4 Unique Opens and Unique Open Percentage This measures the total number of individuals that opened their at least once in a transmission. The average unique open rate for the campaign was 4.45% which translates into 4,164 individuals that opened the at least once per transmission this compares to an industry average of 1-3% unique opens per transmission. Incremental Unique Opens and Open % These statistics track how many unique individuals opened the at least once out of the 93,583 that were delivered throughout the six campaigns. 11,450 unique individuals opened the at least once for a 12% unique open rate for the campaign. Unique Clicks, Unique Click % and Open to Click % These statistics track how many unique individuals clicked on the at least once throughout four of the six campaigns. 2,447 unique individuals clicked at least once, for an average of a.6% unique click rate per transmission. The key statistic is that of all of the unique opens, 19% clicked. This indicates a very strong interest in the offer. Incremental Unique Clicks and Click % These figures track how many unique individuals clicked on the at least once out of the 93,583 that were delivered throughout the six campaigns. A total of 2,232 individuals clicked at least once, which translates into 2.3% of the total marketing universe responding. In light of the switch in strategy to push recipients to the call center, this represents a very good result. Post Campaign: Zip Code Penetration Analysis Availability by Rank Group The first and sometimes most useful targeting profile analysis of campaign data is geographic analysis by zip code. We broke the response numbers out to demonstrate the effect of targeting specific zip codes by response penetration/response rates. Here we have split the zips at 10% breaks based on response rate. The distribution of zip codes in the Control and group are similar. While the response comes from about 350 zip codes compared to the 777 or so ed, this is not a strong source of concern, as the available volume within the nonresponding zip codes accounts for less than 5% of the s sent. The penetration analysis demonstrates that the top 25 percent of the available Rank Group Number 1 113, , , , , , , , , ,541 Total 1,063,205 Zip Penetration Analysis Cumulative Number Audience Response Number Audience Response Rank Group Zips Number Percent Number Rate Index Zips Number Percent Number Rate Index , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Total , ,

5 volume within the initial one million names provided could be contacted and would result in above average response rates using the same marketing media again. Zip Penetration Correlated to R esponse Number EM & DM Audience Sales Closed Leads Rank Group Zips Number Percent Number Rate Number Percent , % , % , % , % , % , Total , , Recommendations: Adjust Strategy to Lower CPA One of the principle goals of an initial marketing campaign, beyond generating conversions itself, is to generate insights to guide more efficient marketing efforts in the future. As part of its campaign services, AcquireWeb analyzed the cost effectiveness of alternative marketing strategies and generated a series of recommendations for future campaigns. Recommendation: Rank Group 1-3 Groups 1-3 should receive both direct mail and , as they offer the greatest likelihood of conversion given sufficient prompting. Mail Cost: Direct mail costs $0.58 in the mail and each recipient (out of the 105K above) was sent two direct mailings during the campaign period. The total direct mail marketing cost per target contact is $ Cost: costs are $.017 per mail pro-rated and $.075 per mail actual. Multiplied by six transmissions during the campaign period, the total marketing cost per target contact is $0.10 pro-rated and $0.45 actual Combined Cost: The total combined marketing cost to these three groups is $ 1.26 prorated and $ 1.61 actual per record. Cost per Acquisition: Calculating combined and direct mail costs only, the combined direct mail and component of the cost per acquisition would then be $39.17 pro-rated and $ actual. Recommendations: Rank Group 4-10 Groups 4-10 should receive six s and two direct mails to only those individuals with an associated open receipt or open and click result. Since we know that unique individuals that opened the at least once constituted 12 % of the total file, then one can make reasonable projections about costs as follows.

6 Combined and direct mail component of CPA - Modeled Revision Pro-rated C ost Actual C ost Direct Mail C ost Marketed 58,958 $ 5,896 $ 26,531 $ 8,207 Responded 333 PR CPA $ Actual C PA$ This compares favorably with historic marketing costs: Combined and direct mail component of CPA - Historic Pro-rated EM&DM Actual EM&DM Marketed 58,958 $ 74,287 $ 94,922 Responded 333 PR CPA $ Actual CPA$ Summary Assessment Only Groups 1-3 justify a continued direct mail send. Based on the Zip Penetration Analysis, the Closed Leads performed better as a percentage of total sales in Groups 3-5, indicating that had an increased impact once the low hanging fruit were picked. When the marketing mix methodology based on Rank Zip Groups is applied to the entire marketing universe the total Cost per Acquisition drops by over 50% in Rank Groups 4-10 (for and direct mail cost components). In total, 1,448 people clicked on an offer and did not convert not through the web, and not through the call center. This would indicate that these individuals had a substantial interest in the offer, but were not engaged at the web site. By solving the process issues related to the signup page, it is estimated another sales would have completed.