Integrated Marketing Community Omnichannel Strategies in the Financial Sector Margot Vaughan, MasterCard We will be starting at the top of the hour. You will not hear anything until we start.
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Implementing a Digital Strategy is a top priority for financial services in 2015 Financial institutions are focused on cross-selling and acquiring new customers through digital channels
The Financial Industry s spend on Digital Channels is increasing every year Financial Services are among the top industries, investing in digital advertising, focusing more on direct response campaigns, rather than brand messaging Source: emarketer.com
The increase in Mobile Ad spending is one of the reasons behind the overall increase in Digital Spend Financial Services are spending almost as much on Mobile Advertising, as on Desktop/Laptop Advertising and the industry s results indicate that while Mobile Ads may be costly they have a high clickthrough rate. While clicktrough rates are an important KPI, financial services should base success on the number of submitted applications and the profitability of the newly acquired customers
OPTIMIZING PROSPECT ACQUISITION
The increase in spend is associated with the higher utilization of a number of digital channels Top Channels: 1. Affiliate ex. Creditcards.com 2. Co-brand ex. Amazon 3. Non-referred organic traffic due to SEO 4. Search Paid Search 5. Direct Mail 6. Other banners, sponsored content on web sites, blogs Source: Comscore Q1 2015 Non- Referred (SEO) edges out The share of Affiliate Channel applications has grown significantly and is now outperforming the Non-Referred (SEO) Channel when it comes to credit card acquisition channels
Optimal Channels for Prospect Acquisition Affiliate Websites SEO & Paid Search Direct Mail Mix of channels (Omni-channel marketing)
Optimizing Affiliate Channel Campaigns and Placements should be a priority The Affiliate channel has seen the largest Y/Y growth among all digital acquisition referral sources and a number of smaller players have gained traction over the past year, which means that consumers looking for more affiliate website options 147% Y/Y growth 188% Y/Y growth 173% Y/Y growth
A strong SEO strategy will lead to a better performance of the Organic Search channel In all likelihood, organic search results are strong for big banks a byproduct of their size and brand awareness. However, there should still be strong focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as it is the cheapest acquisition channel. 4 Key steps for optimizing your SEO strategy: Develop Keyword Strategies Optimize Page Elements Refine Page Content Leverage Social Media 1 2 3 4
Financial institutions focused on credit card acquisition spend significantly more on Paid Search The credit card market is fiercely competitive and keywords for credit card related terms on Google AdWords drive higher budgets.
Continuous tracking of KPIs should be performed to identify successful strategies The KPIs identified below should be tracked on a regular basis - daily optimization by the media team and weekly monitoring by the business teams Ad Group Branded Rewards Competitors Cash Back Search Engine Google CA Google CA Google CA Google CA Total revenue referral Keyword Average rank Clicks Impressions CTR CPC Total Cost Referrals Unit cost referral mastercard credit card 4.01 550 6869 0.03 1.72 6.38 12 12.05 390 air miles credit cards 4.66 6 277 0.0217 1.59 9.56 7 9.56 12 american express 2.32 4 140 0.0286 0.59 2.36 22 0.39 18 cash back credit cards 4 28 774 0.0362 1.69 47.31 13 3.64 39 Questions to keep in mind: Is this ad group converting? If so, is it converting at an ideal CPA? If not, how much has the ad group spent? And finally, am I making the best use of the keywords within this ad group?
Issuers are utilizing a mix of traditional and digital channels to reach to prospects Issuers still send acquisition offers through direct mail, however instead of including a paper application they direct prospects to apply through their preferred channel online. www.getyourcard.com www.getyourcard.com
Directing prospects to a pre-filled online application facilitates the process Taking prospects to a landing page that reinforces the product s benefits and allows them to use the code their received in the mail to fill in a pre-populated application may lead to higher conversion rates
Ensuring that the application is equally easy to fill out on all devices is imperative in today s mobile world Mobile Desktop
While paper applications are also offered, Internet is highlighted as the fastest response channel
In today s mobile world, offering digital tools becomes part of an attractive value proposition
OPTIMIZING CROSS-SELLING TO EXISTING CUSTOMERS
Optimal Channels for Cross-Selling Email Brand Website Online Banking
% of Panelists Receiving a Credit Card Customer Communication Email is still the primary channel for retention and cross-sell Average Reach of Direct Mail and Email Customer Communications Q1 2013 Q1 2015 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 46% 33% 25% 0.24 Direct Mail Email Q1 2013 Q2 2013 Q3 2013 Q4 2013 Q1 2014 Q2 2014 Q3 2014 Q4 2014 Q1 2015
Open rates for financial services email are at an all-time high Inbox Rate Read Rate Volume Financial Services 94.9% 38.5% 12.4 B There isn t just one issuer responsible for the high email read rates. Source: Comscore Q2 2014
Therefore it is imperative that customers' Email Addresses are captured Issuers have to ensure that four steps are taken to capture email addresses in order to enable the use of this low cost channel: 1 2 Facilitate capture of email on paper, online and telephone applications by making it required information as opposed to optional Encourage email registration with incentives or go-green initiatives 3 Use Online or Mobile solutions to encourage email registration
Email capture can be achieved by making the email address a required field on applications
Capturing emails through traditional channels and paperless campaigns Many banks do not have a comprehensive email list because they existed before the onset of digital so they are looking to expand their email database through DM campaigns
Directing customers to Online or Mobile surveys in order to capture their email addresses Incentivizing customers to provide feedback and fill out surveys online provides an opportunity to not only find out more about their experiences and opinions but also to capture their email addresses
Going a step further and utilizing emails to reach customers through additional channels Once emails have been captured, this provides an opportunity to incentivize customers to connect with a financial institution through other channels as well
Once Email addresses have been captured, not only retention and CRM emails can be sent to customers but also cross-sell emails
In order to ensure that all marketing efforts result in successful conversions, companies have to optimize their websites, product pages and applications Home Page Offer easy, intuitive navigation and easy access to the Credit Card Product Page from the Home Page Banners and imagery should reinforce the search for products, leave the brand imagery for TV
It is a best practice that a product page is a product-focused landing page or microsite Product Page within Micro Site: Call-to-action should be prominent. The Online Application should be visible and easily accessible Place Customer Card Ratings on Product page and the Application. Customers do read them and that they provide some additional confidence in applying for a card
The application should offer an easy and secure experience Application: Develop real-time editing on the Application. This functionality has become a must-have, with Issuers offering it on their applications more than ever before. Incorporate secure messaging and icons. Secure messaging should appear not only on the application but also on the product landing page - this increases consumer confidence to apply
Issuers should ensure that their Path-to-App is optimized and abandonment rates are minimized 1 ANALYSIS 2 PROTOTYPES 1. Analysis of current public or customer site, including initial recommendations for improvement 2. Prototyping of possible solutions, alternatives 3. Usability testing to obtain consumer feedback on the user experience video clips to illustrate reaction 4. Final, actionable recommendations to improve web site, landing page or application 3 USABILITY TESTING A website s design should be revisited and refreshed every 6 to 9 months 4 RECOMMENDATIONS
Online Banking can be utilized as another channel for cross-selling Financial Institutions can control exactly what their customers see on their online banking website, which provide an excellent opportunity to serve targeted offers through this channel
CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT
Customer management programs should be optimized for the digital channel Welcome Emails Welcome Kit Lifecycle Marketing Campaigns Videos Responsive communications
Early Months on Books Best Practices Activation Reminder Target: Inactive customers Message: Security benefits Welcome email 1 st Activation Offer Target: New accounts with no first statement Delivery: Direct Mail with Email reinforcement Educational Campaign Target: Inactive customers Message: Card benefits 2 nd Activation Offer Target: Inactive customers Delivery: Direct Mail with SMS reinforcement Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Cardholder receives streamlined Welcome Kit, including: Card with Call to Activate Sticker Welcome Kit 1 st time purchase/usage offer Benefits brochure Rewards Insert Fee services promotion on card carrier Multi-Channel Activation Reminder 1 st Activation Offer Activation offer with incentives to remaining inactives
Email communications, thanking customers for their business, should emphasize product features and benefits
Engaging customers online is an essential part of customer management today Consumers are migrating to digital and mobile, they now expect to be engaged digitally across all of their devices A Digital Welcome Kit can be: Offered as a supplement or replacement for the paper welcome kit Made a link on the confirmation page, the web site or sent via email Placed the URL on the Card Carrier A cost-saving solution as fewer paper kits may need be printed and updates will be easier to make
Digital Welcome Kit Home Page A Digital Welcome Kit should include key components like: A strong Welcome message with a focus on Activation Card benefits and/or a promotion reinforcements Online or telephone activation to encourage the new customer
Testing Customer Management communications channels While it is important to have an omnichannel strategy, testing to find out what channels and channel mixes perform better is also necessary Direct Mail Email
Consistency across all channels should be ensured Direct Mail Email
Videos are an optimal channel for educating consumers
Integrate channels like email and video to add interactivity and facilitate comprehension Embedding a video in an email provides a great opportunity to integrate different channels and offer customers an easy way to learn more about products features, benefits and updates
Opportunities abound to communicate with your customers, leverage each customer contact point» Customer initiated turn operations into a marketing opportunity Call center - when customers alert about travel abroad, pay a bill, change an address, or add a cardholder ATMs when customers deposit/withdrawal money, check balance In such cases, Financial Institutions should use a pull strategy and verify the contact and provide a benefit promoting a service/product. FIs be aware and ready 24/7 to react to their customers needs!» Financial Institution initiated sending statements (online and paper), emails, SMS, videos and utilizing the brand websites Test to find out if channels work better as standalone or as part of an integrated channel mix. There are 3 drivers to the success of a customer communication strategy: 1. Channel optimization 2. Timeliness 3. Messaging
A push/pull strategy includes both customer and FI initiated and communications Pull Push
It is important that customer management communications are not only proactive but also reactive In this case the customer contacted the issuer to ask some questions regarding an upcoming travel. The issuer took the next step and sent an email to let the customer know how to contact them if he needed assistance while abroad.
Even better, communications could be both proactive and reactive In this case the customer didn t notify the FI of this upcoming trip. However, the FI took the initiative, based on transactional information and pushed a communication to remind the customer of benefits that can be useful to the customer
SUMMARY
To optimize your omnichannel strategy test and identify the best performing mix of channels All marketing efforts, whether for prospect acquisition, cross-sell or customer management should include testing across channels and types of communications to ensure the most effective strategy is in place Companies should reach out to their customers through their preferred channels and ensure that all of these channels utilize marketing best practices Customers are expecting companies to be responsive to their needs and to serve the best possible user experience through all channels
Questions?» Send comments and suggestions to Laura Gigliotti at lgigliotti@the-dma.org» More resources at www.thedma.org/integrated-marketingcommunity» Thank you!