Vodafone Consumer Online Oxyma & Tripolis Solutions Client case
The most leads are generated online. That does not mean that you have to convert there, too. Vodafone is the global market leader in telecommunications. With a high-quality network and innovative landline and mobile services, Vodafone has more than 391 million customers worldwide. Vodafone s vision is that mobile technology has a great influence on the way in which people live and work. The boundaries between work and private life are increasingly blurred, and the need for flexibility and mobility increases. Considering this fact, Vodafone sees it as its mission to enable customers to get the most out of life. Vodafone optimally tailors its product- and service portfolio in order to make the mission Power to you a reality. Background of the Vodafone client case In part, Vodafone owes its status as a global brand to high-level online expertise. The Sales & CRM department at Vodafone Consumer Online in the Netherlands is responsible for the complete customer journey at the prospect level. The campaigns are aimed at attracting as many new customers as possible. Email marketing is used as an important means of contact. Consumers switch providers more often than before. For Vodafone, this means that the chance of an ex-customer becoming a customer again increases. Vodafone takes this into consideration in their email marketing activities. Thereby, Vodafone makes the transition from a customer life cycle to a consumer life cycle. The point of departure is a vicious customer experience: Prospect - Customer - Ex-Customer - Prospect. Vodafone Consumer Online sends out two prospect emails per month. By cleverly applying Tripolis Dialogue, Vodafone stays in contact with the (potential) customer during each phase of the consumer life cycle. This client case includes the core areas of the email marketing policy that Vodafone implemented in 2012 and 2013. It shows the improvements that Vodafone implemented while standardizing and optimizing their email marketing campaigns, using the software of Tripolis Solutions. Case summary Goals Challenges Solutions Results Less time lost with prospect follow-up Less waste in the database Keeping the used CRM (Oracle) and email marketing suite (Tripolis Dialogue) synchronized Achieving the quality of prospects that the origin of the email address has Standardize information delivery by means of the API that provides Oracle and Tripolis Dialogue with information Invest more in lead generation via owned channels Lightning fast, same-day follow-up of prospects, instead of two weeks later Cheaper, better-quality leads Enrich data entries in the database for far-reaching personalization Persuade prospects to enter more profile information Focused campaigns in conjunction with the use of a dynamic registration form More information available for segmenting email campaigns Increase the conversion of email marketing campaigns Find out which adjustments must be made for a higher conversion A/B testing of email campaigns and the design of new optimized templates Open Rates increased by 250% Click Through Rates growth of 200%
By implementing co-registration in the The Voice Of Holland app, 75,000 net leads were accumulated at marginal cost. Over the past year, Vodafone Consumer Online has mainly focused on expanding its database. Mostly external channels were used for this, employing a Cost-per-Lead (CPL) We noticed that external channels created a lot of waste, which makes them relatively expensive, explains Christiaan Holman, Sr. Manager of Consumer Online Sales & CRM at Vodafone. Especially co-registration seemed to be a blunder in most cases. With co-registration, while carrying out an action of its own, a third party asks if the registrant wants to be approached by Vodafone with relevant offers as well. Despite the triple-opt-in, reactions to the action s follow-up were less positive, and the conversion was lower than expected. On the other hand, co-registration during the popular TV talent search The Voice Of Holland was a great success. In the different apps for the so-called house coaches, Vodafone included a form with an opt-in for Vodafone offers. This action yielded 75,000 net leads for the company, with an estimated media value of more than 26,000 euro. Synergy through in-depth integration Bearing the success of this co-registration in mind, Vodafone decided to focus on its own channels. The challenge lies in creating synergy between these channels and the consumer. Vodafone does this by placing the focus on four points in the consumer lifecycle. These points are: Old Friends network In their Old Friends network, Vodafone places consumers that were Vodafone customers previously, but then switched to another provider. It is legally possible to cancel your service three months before the end of your current contract. Within Vodafone s email marketing policy, the focus on the Old Friends network is very important. Combining retail and consumer programs at the right moment can ensure that customers sign on again. An additional advantage is that they feel more connected to the brand, because they are already familiar with it. Combining retail and consumer programs When combining retail and consumer programs, the focus is placed on the overlap between both. With hot leads that are generated online, it is not a matter of course that the conversion also takes place online. The consumer can also use the online channel for orientation purposes only, Christiaan Holman, Sr. Manager of Consumer Online Sales & CRM (l) Kimbell Blauw, Marketing Performance Consultant, Oxyma (r) with the actual conversion taking place later, in the retail channel, and vice versa. Vodafone plays along with this by using the overlap to its advantage. Prospects are sent to the right channel by using posters with a QR code in stores, for example. Lead generation by sponsorship There is a lot of focus on sponsorship of large-scale events such as The Voice Of Holland, mentioned above. The direct connection between the brand and a large event does not only yield large numbers of new leads, but also to the improvement of the general brand experience. Optimizing Vodafone.nl sales funnel (ROADMAP Q3 and Q4 2013) Vodafone s research shows that consumers leave the online sales funnel in a variety of phases. In some cases, consumers even leave after placing an article in their shopping cart. Vodafone uses various methods to optimize this sales funnel, which results in generating more leads. For example, they use pop-ups that ask for the reasons that the consumer is leaving. Live chats are employed, connecting Vodafone employees directly to the consumer. There are also automated emails sent based on the behavior in the webshop, for example to emphasize offers for the product in their abandoned shopping cart. To Vodafone, it is very clear that these forms of lead generation ensure optimal price-quality ratio.
Faster follow-up by standardization of data-sharing In 2012, Vodafone noticed that recruited co-registrations lose a lot of value if they are not followed up quickly. Since Vodafone uses an Oracle CRM system, it used to be only possible to follow up a co-registration after one or two weeks. The result was that consumers cancelled their registration relatively quickly after receiving the email. The most important reason is: they could not remember having signed up for a Vodafone offer. The reason for the delay is due to the fact that Vodafone had to load the data files provided into their own Oracle CRM system as well as into Tripolis Dialogue. For Oracle, special import scripts were made, which took up a lot of time. Vodafone has improved this with the introduction of a standard API for data delivery, which offers the possibility of following up leads even faster. Using Tripolis Dialogue, you can now send a follow-up email the same day. That has improved the quality of the reactions considerably, says Holman. Of course we want to shorten the follow-up time even more. Preferably, you follow up immediately. Since we can automatically trigger an email campaign directly in Tripolis Dialogue, that is technically not a problem. The closer you are to the ball, the greater the chance that you succeed. Additionally, the API forms a bridge between Tripolis Dialogue and the Oracle CRM that Vodafone uses. As a result, the most recent and most comprehensive data is always available for segmenting and personalizing an email marketing campaign, which provides a closed loop in the complete prospect program, according to Holman. Vodafone also applies gradual enrichment. That is a dynamic form that allows (potential) customers to immediately change their information and subscribe or unsubscribe to specific Vodafone email newsletters. The form is connected to the Oracle CRM system and the Tripolis Dialogue database, and is synchronized in real time. Deeper personalization demands high-quality data. We do everything we can to stimulate prospects to fill out more information, says Holman. Therein we want to make it as easy as possible for them. The power of the dynamic registration form is that we can ask for specific information. The system ensures that the necessary information (i.e. name, address, city data) is found at the top of the form, and that it is already open. The information visible can be adjusted. Not only can we offer the consumer a tailored prospect program, but the costs of the periodic contact imports also fall dramatically. In previous email newsletters, Vodafone used a combination of editorial (news, articles, and other non-commercial content) and offers. From the A/B tests that we conducted with Tripolis Dialogue, it appeared that editorial plays a relatively small role in the conversion percentage, says Holman. Based on that insight, we decided to send only emails with offers. And that works! Optimization is key Steps that Vodafone Consumer Online has taken in order to optimize its email marketing campaigns: Monthly A/B tests in Tripolis Dialogue. Hands-on tests and determining points of improvement immediately. New persuasive design : an email template design focused on taking action. Implementing an F-template with several offers in one email. Eye-tracking research revealed that this is the most optimal template form. A/B testing has tested this as well. Implementing the green CTA button. This leads to a much higher conversion. Adjusting optimized subject lines and texts. For example, buy now vs. check out my offer. Re-marketing with clicks. Extended dynamic registration form (l). Abridged version dynamic registration form (r).
We first combined offers with other content. Now we mainly send offers. By testing the variations of the subject line and snippet with Tripolis Dialogue s A/B testing module, it became apparent that certain word choices had a much higher click-through percentage. For example, from the test with ten different subject lines it appeared that Your personal offer performs the best month after month. Therefore, Vodafone consciously chooses to use the same subject line. Succinct and inviting content works best. You do have to test again regularly because consumer behavior changes quickly, according to Kimbell Blauw, Marketing Performance Consultant at Oxyma. Together with Christiaan Holman, he is continuously busy optimizing email marketing campaigns. The technical work is done by Adam Beker, Harun Bingul, and Willem-Jan ter Laag, our support team in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. That keeps my hands free to look at quality and process improvements, together with Christiaan, says Blauw. It is often forgotten, but a solid mutual understanding of technique on the one hand, and the organization s wishes on the other hand is very important for a successful approach. That is why we regularly put our heads together to determine how everything can be even better. They start looking early, so if you send them a renewal invitation two months before, you are too late in most cases. Vodafone s lead generation conversion does not always take place online. The rich data set allows Vodafone to send prospects to retail locations, telesales, e-shop, or mobile. Vodafone would like to be closer to its retailers and send traffic to stores and vice versa, receive email registrations from them. By introducing this step by step, Vodafone wants to keep perfecting the omni-channel approach with the help of the consumer lifecycle. There lies a challenge when service channels such as Facebook and Twitter can be used more for acquisition and lead generation. In emails, 44% of people look for offers, and on Facebook, only 4% do that, adds Holman. Why wouldn t you at least offer the possibility of registering for the offers on Facebook? Completely opt-in, and thus 100% relevant. That fits perfectly in our vision of an omni-channel strategy. Next to optimization, Vodafone also does re-marketing, which registers the product that a consumer clicks in the email newsletter. That information can be reused later for a personalized offer. Vodafone always complies with the DDMA (Dutch Dialogue Marketing Association) s Email Code when sending emails, in addition to legal regulations. The road to an omni-channel strategy With the use of database enrichment by determining information such as unsubscribers, personal profile, and CTN (mobile number), Vodafone has the possibility of filtering out prospects from the system that they can then use for acquisition. The combination of a rich dataset and the most recent campaign results is the key to success, says Blauw. By combining the information from Tripolis Dialogue with the customer data in our CRM system, we discovered why offers for contract renewal scored so differently. It depended on the moment in which the campaign was sent. Consumers may cancel service up to three months before contract renewal. Mobile fulfillment also plays a key role in Vodafone s omni-channel strategy. The company wants to invest more in that kind of strategies in 2013. Currently, approximately 56% of Vodafone s email newsletters are opened on a desktop, 10% on a tablet, and 35% on a smartphone. That means that 45% of emails are opened on a mobile device. We definitely include that fact in our prospect campaign strategy, tells Holman. In July 2013, we went live with our new website that is completely optimized for all (mobile) devices. Our website s responsive design is also applicable on the acquisitions page, which has a very positive effect on the number of mobile conversions, says Holman.
Oxyma & 2organize We believe that smart, data-driven marketing is the key to a better customer experience, higher customer value, and therefore, success. Our mission is to help marketers to continuously improve their performance, by conducting more effective dialogues and more efficient communication processes. We translate data into useable customer insights. We design, build, and operationalize smart customer processes. And we organize omni-channel customer interaction that makes a difference with the target group. Contact person: Lars Crama +31 (0)10 271 0200 info@oxyma.nl www.oxyma.nl www.2organize.com 2organize, InBetween Marketing Services, afrogleap, and Oxyma Interim are part of Oxyma Group. Marketers in organizations such as Albert Heijn, BMW, KPN, Kruidvat, Nuon, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, Unilever Food Solutions, UPC and Vodafone rely daily on two hundred specialists at the cutting edge of marketing and IT, who use proven technology.
Questions or comments? Susanne Sterkenburg Marketing Manager Tripolis Solutions B.V. +31 (0)20 747 0 111 ssterkenburg@tripolis.com www.tripolis.com