A review of the DMA Email Customer Lifecycle event on retention

LONDON, UK,  October 04, 2011  —   Phil Singh, Epsilon’s VP Sales EMEA was keynote speaker at the third instalment of the Direct Marketing Association’s 2011 Email Customer Lifecycle series, held on Tuesday 20th September at the King’s Fund Building in London. Sponsored by Epsilon, the conference focused on engagement and retention and enjoyed the highest attendance of any DMA ECL event.

Keynote: Loyalty in the Anywhere Economy

In his keynote, Phil Singh discussed three areas – the online and email landscape, loyalty, and the challenges that marketers face. All were brought to life with examples of loyalty driving data strategies. Phil kicked off the session with an overview of the shift from traditional bricks and mortar to online shopping. According to Forrester research, 57% of all adults now shop online and internet spend in the EU has increased by 8% year on year.

To capitalise on this growth Phil stressed to delegates the importance of building loyalty. But before attempting to engender loyalty marketers need to really understand what it means. “Loyalty, in business terms, means to identify, maintain, and increase yield from your best customers through a long-term interactive relationship,” he said.

Loyalty is earned from good service and rewarding or incentivising committed customers. Moreover, loyal customers require not just relevancy but a greater recognition, which means more than just knowing their names. Brands need to know their own customers’ buying behaviour, brand activity, purchase habits, and so on.

However, the challenge that marketers face is standing out and being heard amid all the cross-channel marketing noise. In North America, a typical household has on average 18 loyalty cards from supermarkets, department stores and filling stations, so staying one step ahead of competitors is a full time job.

We all know that loyalty schemes offer a wealth of detail-rich data shared by customers, which should be used to tailor specific and bespoke messages. Phil emphasised that it’s not just marketers with richer data, who gain the advantage - it’s those who act on it the fastest.

Phil’s overriding message was the need for personal, continuous, and relevant communications. When data is used in the right way, consumers are more likely to be engaged and have increased loyalty.

Hilton Hotels and Resorts case study

Epsilon has worked with Hilton Hotels and Resorts for many years and was tasked with improving its existing customer loyalty programme. Phil talked through one particular experience, which pulls together many of the themes from his keynote.

While Hilton already had a longstanding loyalty scheme, Hilton HHonors, it was purely direct mail and based on a single platform. Hilton recognised it was losing out to its competitors and it needed to re-engage existing customers and attract new ones.

Their main aim was to increase profits and create a buzz, so that brand preference and differentiation would prevail. In preparation for the campaign, Epsilon recognised that Hilton didn’t fully understand who its customers are, or their behaviour. Hilton HHonors is an established brand in its own right and the opportunity was there to enhance its status and make it more relevant and rewarding.

“The solution was to apply value-based behavioural segmentation,” Phil said. Epsilon was able to segment Hilton’s audience in sophisticated new ways, including existing scheme members, regular and frequent customers, and lapsed guests.

Using the data collected on individual HHonors’ database members, Epsilon was able to create multi-platform personalised communications. Correspondence with each member is now bespoke - even mentioning intricate details such as the member’s last visit, the location and use of the hotel’s facilities.

Phil concluded: “By truly personalising the communication, old and new customers were flattered and engaged.” The results say it all, as Epsilon created personalised communications for 25 million HHonors members globally. The enhanced scheme also had a positive effect on new members - 12% more were opening emails compared with the old scheme.

Tailoring email newsletters

Several breakout workshops followed, one was chaired by email marketing expert, Kath Pay, from Plan to Engage. She introduced the importance of tailoring email newsletters to be both relevant and customer focused.

“Email newsletters are probably the single highest ROI action to improve retention,” she told delegates. She then delivered an email newsletter ‘best practice’ seminar, stressing that too many newsletters fail because they do not start out with clear goals, objectives and content strategies that are supported by an engaging creative. She went on to say that email communications reflect the customers place in the overall sales lifecycle, whether they are a prospect or an advocate, by using transactional data.

Kath urged marketers to consider their metrics and set individual KPIs, rather than purely focusing on open or click rates. She ended her session with a back to basics message that encouraged delegates to split test every campaign, record results, and ensure data is correct and up to date.

Q&A Panel

The conference concluded with a Q&A led by Chairman of the DMA’s Email Council, Richard Gibson. He was joined by Phil Singh,Kath Pay, Oliver Beckett, web editor at Opodo, and Riaz Kanani, the marketing director at Alchemy Works.

Out of the many questions, one of the most interesting was about the increase and importance of social interactions. Oliver picked up the response, saying: “Social marketing is growing. If one person reacts to something, it results in 300 people seeing it, and so it needs to be treated more carefully than email. Being visible and able to respond in real time gives a rewarding customer experience.”

Kath elaborated: “Integrating social interactions with email is always a lot to do. For example, ASOS is a brand strong in email and social, so are the M&S team. They are both very interactive with their audiences.” Later on, the old chestnut “How much data is too much data?” question was asked. Phil responded: “I believe you can never have too much data. Brands need to think about what they will offer individuals to get as much information as possible. For example, the best way is to start small like Boots and its Advantage Card.”

Riaz agreed: “I also believe that data doesn’t just sit in marketing. Brands need to understand what data they want and why. With this in mind, they can develop marketing initiatives that makes use of their data effectively.” The session wrapped up with “Based on today, what are the quickest wins for delegates?” prompting Phil to close with: “Understanding your audience and making relevant communications for them. Without that, open rates won’t be desirable. Basic segmentation is key for brands who hope to make a good return.”

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