Segmentation Strategies That Boost Open and Clickthrough Rates Joy - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

How to Survey Readers to Reveal Segmentation Strategies That Boost Open and Clickthrough Rates Joy Cropper Director of Internet Strategy Williams Randall Marketing Thursday, January 21, 2010

Indiana Office of Tourism Development Case Study: • How we transformed a one-size-fits-all blast email program into a wildly successful segmented permission email program

Indiana Office of Tourism Development • State agency • Mission: Increase visitor spending and economic growth in Indiana • Use email as one tactic to promote travel in Indiana

Situation • One version sent to 122,048 subscribers 4 times per year • Brochure offers, contests, travel ideas

Missed Opportunity Travel Industry Email Blast Average* Subscribers 122,048 Open Rate 13.5% 23.3% Clickthrough Rate 4.8% 5.3% Total Clickthroughs 791 people * Source: Epsilon, Epsilon Q1 2009 Email Trends and Benchmarks, July 2009 . Data for Travel/hospitality-travel services category (Q1 2009).

Goals • Increase open and clickthrough rates • Scrub list / reduce send costs • Find out what subscribers want to make program more personalized and relevant

Subscriber Survey • Sent to entire list • $100 gas card sweepstakes incentive • 14.4% open rate, 7.3% clickthrough rate • 6930 completes

Ask Subscribers: • Demographics • Travel habits • Favorite activities • Desired email topics • Preferences on frequency and format

Survey Results • Looking for segmentation opportunities • No significant differences in email preferences among in-state/out-of-state residents, men/women, age or other attributes

Survey Results • Strongly interested in receiving specific types of information • Segmentation by content type may be a compelling strategy

% open rate Upcoming Festivals and Events Fall Travel Trip Ideas by Region Nature and Outdoor Activities Museums and Historic Sites Shopping Performing Arts and Cultural attractions Nightlife / Dining Family and Kid Activities Sporting Events Girlfriend Getaways Riverboat Gaming

New Email Program • Three new topically-focused, monthly emails – “The Big Deal” (Travel discounts) – “The Big To - Do” (Festivals and Events) – “The Big Idea” (Trip ideas)

New Email Program • Ask subscribers to re-opt in for one, two, or all three emails – Ensure send budget focused on engaged audience

New Design Templates • Branding consistency • Enable internal, non-technical resources to create and send emails to minimize ongoing program costs

Results Email Blast Big Idea Big Deal Big To-Do Subscribers 122,048 53,423 4,072 3,853 Open Rate 13.5% 22.7% 48.8% 47.4% Clickthrough Rate 4.8% 47.9% 60.1% 62.8% Total Clickthroughs 791 people 8,150 people

Results Email Blast Big Idea Big Deal Big To-Do Subscribers 122,048 53,423 4,072 3,853 Open Rate 13.5% 22.7% 48.8% 47.4% Clickthrough Rate 4.8% 47.9% 60.1% 62.8% Total Clickthroughs 791 people 8,150 people

Results Email Blast Big Idea Big Deal Big To-Do Subscribers 122,048 53,423 4,072 3,853 Open Rate 13.5% 22.7% 48.8% 47.4% Clickthrough Rate 4.8% 47.9% 60.1% 62.8% Total Clickthroughs 791 people 8,150 people

Results Email Blast Big Idea Big Deal Big To-Do Subscribers 122,048 53,423 4,072 3,853 Open Rate 13.5% 22.7% 48.8% 47.4% Clickthrough Rate 4.8% 47.9% 60.1% 62.8% Total Clickthroughs 791 people 8,150 people

Program Costs • $15K to overhaul program – Subscriber survey, email plan, software upgrade, list management, template design, analytics integration • $25K per year in ongoing costs – 12 sends for 3 newsletters, content development, planning – Compares to previous $10K annual cost for 4 sends for 1 newsletter

ROI • $40K in revenue from banner advertising from industry partners in year one • Revenue generated covered overhaul cost and annual cost for first year of program

What’s Next? • Continue to look for revenue opportunities to help fund program • Controlled list growth – Opt-in boxes on order forms, on-site promotion, forward to friend, cross-promote on emails • Monitor results and subscriber satisfaction • Test, measure and improve

Credits/Thank You • Indiana Office of Tourism Development – Amy Vaughan, Director – Emiley Matherly, Production Director – Anicia Richardson, Marketing and Tourism Sales Manager • Williams Randall Marketing – Santhana Naidu, Director of Analytics and Online Marketing – Tracy Smith and Gail Hayes, Creative Team – Briana Price, Account Executive Joy Cropper, Director of Internet Strategy Call or email me at: 1-317-972-1234, ext. 221 Joy.Cropper@willran.com