Refining communications through segmentation.

Huge levels of customer contact

A large international credit card company managed its marketing strategies largely within single campaigns and programs. In most cases, these campaigns were undertaken with limited co-ordination with other programs or messaging. This left customers receiving huge volumes of communication from various programs through multiple channels on an irregular basis and at volumes significantly higher than the industry averages. The result was customers who were apathetic at best and totally disengaged at worst.

The number of campaigns, all competing against each other for the attention of cardholders, was significantly impacting the customer experience and their perception of the product. Saturation and confusion was leaving customers unable to discern the desired message. Notably, customer satisfaction measures such as NPS and the JD Power survey showed lower results than competitors.

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Data driven model

An internal team co-operated in the development and implementation of a data-driven segmentation model. Three key customer categories were identified and associated objectives agreed – better communication with each category and the creation of a quarterly calendar to enable alignment and management of messaging at an account level. This process allows only the most appropriate messages to be delivered to relevant customers, maximizing impact by reducing ‘white noise’ and creating a huge improvement in customer experience!

A customer-centric, end-to-end campaign strategy had not previously existed within the company, but this process marked a first step.  The new approach is supported by the development of a new governance model which encompasses clear annual planning, detailed quarterly message breakdown and the establishment of a ‘change council’ to provide the flexibility required in campaign.

Finally, a modification was made to all email communications to include a survey to allow direct customer feedback specific to the message received. Information gathered was used to support the customer experience dashboards.

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Reduced communication frequency

Message management resulted in frequency reduction (on average per month) and message relevance increase:

• A clear segmentation model and calendars for product-wide campaign co-ordination were developed
• Creation of consistent messaging dashboard
• Design of a governance model with supporting process and documentation
• Development and implementation of an in-email survey button to allow customers to feed back directly appropriateness and relevance of communications

Following a review of the implementation the decision was made to roll out the approach across the remainder of the product portfolio.  The project was nominated for a team recognition award by the client organisation.