Channels
How to Integrate Emerging Technology into Direct Mail Campaigns
In our Anatomy of a Solution series, we take a look at some direct challenges and disruptive solutions that Amsive has driven for clients. This week, we take you through how a consumer finance client used email and digital display channels to boost loan campaign results.
The Basics
A consumer finance company that had market share across a handful of states had seen stagnant results from its direct-mail-only campaigns. In consumer finance, direct mailiDirect mail is the act of using the postal service to deliver promotional marketing material direct to a customer based on demographic information such as age, location or income. Direct mail pieces can include postcards, catalogs and other promotional pieces enables one-on-one communication with your audience, so you can control who receives the message and when they rece... Read More tends to be the primary vehicle for all marketing initiatives. Looking to break out of the entrenched marketing tactics that were holding them back, the client needed to take a step back and reassess omnichannel marketingiOmnichannel marketing is delivering a targeted, consistent and often personalized message to your consumer that is the same across all channels and devices. Unlike multi-channel marketing which delivers unique cross-channel messages, omnichannel marketing aims at making a purchase seamless for the consumer thanks to consistent messaging. An omnichannel marketing strategy s... Read More to increase the number and size of booked loans from both former and current borrowers.
Amsive had the opportunity to support this customer to help deliver material, profitable loan growth with the right targeting, channels, and creative.
The Challenge
Consumer finance companies, in general, mostly used direct mail as a primary customer communication channel for a reason — it usually gives these companies a lot of success, and it’s a marketing tactic that’s eminently measurable. But for this client, the reliable way to do things wasn’t so reliable any longer.
The client saw idle growth for a few reasons.
The past decade or so has seen the onset of disruptors that saturated the market to become part of the consumer lending industry. These new market entrants — including major retailers, peer-to-peer lenders, and pure digital players — rapidly expanded into the space and tipped the balance that drove response rates down, mixed with traditional lenders missing other channels to target the right audience for booked loans.
We understand the power of direct mail as a necessary marketing channel, but we needed to take things to the next level.
The other factor was the tendency for consumer finance companies to overly rely on the mass marketing method of driving those direct mail initiatives without a clear audience strategy. In years past, targeting for most consumer lenders typically consisted of former customers going back over a two-year time span, especially during seasonal times. Touchpoints consisted of simply sending direct mailers to each of them.
We understand the power of direct mail as a necessary marketing channel, but we needed to take things to the next level. Boosting loan campaign results meant establishing the right cadence and coordinating acquisitioniCustomer acquisition is the act of creating a new customer for a business through a trackable method such as advertising, marketing or sales. Customer acquisition transcends marketing and indicates an action was taken such as a purchase. For example, marketing might get a potential customer to click on a digital ad which creates recognition, but acquisition is the sale whi... Read More initiatives across new channels for responsive campaign success.
We were able to prove that predictive models allow them to establish fewer touchpoints to a smaller portion of an audience — and get better results.
The Solution
The key to the client’s newly primed omnichannel strategy over an eight-week cycle came from developing audience segmentation for former and current loan holders and incorporating precise modeling prospects.
Within former and current customers, we primarily looked at loyal customersiCustomer loyalty referes to a consumer sticking with one brand or company over their competition. If a traveler always chooses to fly Southwest Airlines and never Delta or American Airlines, that consumer is showing customer loyalty. Loyalty can be based on price alone or on a more emotional connection. Maybe a consumer only rides Trek bicycles because of their worldwide c... Read More and we created our lookalike model around those that would be most likely to respond. From that pool, we separated and targeted top-tier model customers only.
On top of the foundational direct mail component, we also established timed digital components with website landing pages and an email touchpoint cadence where it was available; each of which included slightly refreshed messaging and cohesive creative with a more direct call-to-actioniThe call to action is exactly that you want your target consumer to do. You have their attention. Now what do you want them to do? The call to action in marketing is the same as “the ask” in sales. If someone visits a new car showroom and expresses interest in the shiny red sports car, any good salesman will ask if they’d like to take it for a test drive. Maybe even ... Read More to hit each top-tier modeled prospect.
The Results
This client in particular was more forward-thinking than others and more willing to dive into an omnichannel strategy to combat disruptors within the industry. They’re a client that is all about measurement and response, and Amsive was the right partner to report back all of their programs for them.
To supplant the client’s tendency to cast too wide a net, we were able to prove that predictive models allow them to establish fewer touchpointsiA touchpoint is any time a consumer comes in contact with your brand over the course of the buyer journey. Examples of common touchpoints are social media posts, website clicks, email messaging, search engine searches or even online reviews. Touchpoints are a very important aspect to consider when studying the customer journey to ensure that every possible interaction with... Read More to a smaller portion of an audience — and get better results. Takeaways included:
- 34 percent increase in booked loans from former borrowers
- 18 percent increase in response rate from current loan holders
- 17 percent overall lift in booked loans
- 13 percent lift in overall response
After delivering relevant, personalized marketingiPersonalized marketing is a strategy where marketing messages are targeted on a granular, consumer-by-consumer basis thanks to the ability to gather data on a person's past behavior and interaction with a brand. The goal with this type of strategy is to improve the customer experience and create brand loyalty which should ultimately results in customer retention and increa... Read More to precisely the right consumers, with the right message and activation mechanisms in the channels they prefer, we were able to measure and optimize for increased response and booked loans the client wanted to drive going forward.
