The loyalist: Leverage relationships with existing customers to increase return on investment

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1 : Leverage relationships with existing customers to increase return on investment Best practices for enhancing customer loyalty An Experian white paper

2 She is easy to please. Call her by another name and she ll quickly turn to another.

3 Why customer loyalty matters Small businesses have long understood that much of their revenue comes from existing customers and that new customers are very expensive to secure. So while you are looking to find new sales leads, up-selling and cross-selling to your current customers are also critical. To maximize long-term sales, businesses today also need to leverage relationships with existing customers and focus on programs that deepen customer loyalty. Surprisingly, in a recent Experian study, only half of the businesses stated that they have a customer loyalty program. However, 63 percent track the lifetime value of each customer, and 72 percent see the value of those customers increasing over time. Tap into this powerful revenue stream by creating effective customer loyalty campaigns for your business. Page 4 The loyalist: Leverage relationships with existing customers to increase return on investment

4 Consumer loyalty trends Most consumers today are not as brand-loyal as they were 10 years ago Recent changes in consumer buying attitudes have forced businesses to rethink marketing strategies over the past couple of years. Consumer brand loyalty has diminished based on economic circumstances and the increasingly competitive environment today. Considering that today s consumers are becoming more likely to stray from some of their favorite brands to get a better bargain, the relationship you build with your customers is even more key to your long-term success. Service quality matters, but price is becoming increasingly important Over time, consumers regard price as increasingly important, while the importance of other considerations (such as good service) is on the decline. Specifically, the percent of U.S. adults who usually shop at their favorite stores because they know what kind of service they will receive has decreased by 7 percent since January 2008, while the percentage of U.S. adults who are drawn by coupons to stores where they do not usually shop has increased by 18 percent since January % Percentage of U.S. adults attracted by service versus coupons 45% 40% 35% 30% -7% relative decrease +18% relative increase 25% 08/15/14 06/26/14 05/07/14 03/18/14 01/27/14 12/08/13 10/19/13 08/30/13 07/11/13 05/22/13 04/02/13 02/11/13 12/23/12 11/03/12 09/14/12 07/26/12 06/06/12 04/17/12 02/27/12 01/08/12 I usually only shop at my favorite stores because I know what kind of service I will receive. I shop at stores that offer coupons. The findings indicate that consumers are more likely to stray from some of their favorite brands, even the ones they are most loyal to, in order to get a better bargain. Don t ignore the service you provide, but make sure that you re rewarding your customers with coupons and offers or loyalty programs. An Experian white paper Page 5

5 Brand-loyal consumers are older and more educated than nonloyals There are certain characteristics that brand-loyal consumers tend to exhibit more than those who are not brand-loyal. The Brand Loyal Scale from Experian takes a closer look at these characteristics, defining two distinct segments: Brand Loyals resist buying unknown brands to save money and look for brand names on packages Brand Nonloyals regularly buy unknown brands to save money and are less likely to look for brand names on packages Brand loyalty increases steadily with age Young consumers are the least likely to be brand-loyal, and older consumers are the most likely. Age Brand Loyals Nonloyals % 11% % 19% % 22% % 19% % 29% Highly educated adults are the most likely to be Brand Loyals Adults who attended graduate school are 14 percent more likely to be Brand Loyals than the average adult. Education Brand Loyals Nonloyals High school or less 44% 43% Attended college (<1 3 years) 28% 30% College four years (graduated) 15% 15% Graduate school (any) 13% 12% Page 6 The loyalist: Leverage relationships with existing customers to increase return on investment

6 She is particular. She is faithful. She doesn t like change. stop giving her what she wants, and she will quickly turn to another.

7 Shopper segmentation Utilizing a large set of attitudinal and behavioral variables, Experian has identified six distinct segments of shoppers who exhibit the following characteristics: Virtual Shoppers This segment comprises 26 percent of adults. The majority of shoppers in this consumer segment go for the bargains and use the Internet to help find discounts. Interestingly, many of these shoppers fall within the Mosaic America s Wealthiest segment. Status Strivers Comprising 20 percent of adults, Status Strivers think that shopping is fun and recreational. They like to browse as much as buy, and they re willing to spend the money and time necessary to keep up with trends. In contrast to Virtual Shoppers, many of these consumers fall within the Mosaic lower-income groups, revealing the aspirational nature of status striving. Upscale Clicks Comprising 17 percent of shoppers in America, Upscale Clicks are knowledgeable consumers who buy either in-store or online, always carefully research purchases online first, and shop around and compare prices before buying. Several suburban and urban Mosaic USA types make a strong showing in this group. Just the Essentials Fourteen percent of Americans fall into this group, which primarily purchases necessities. They know what they want and are not impulsive shoppers. Original Traditionalists Thirteen percent of adults are Original Traditionalists who are loyal to their brands, stores, services and country. They are knowledgeable and the most environmentally responsible group, and they incorporate Green practices regularly. Mall Maniacs Ten percent of shoppers in America are not just consumers, but also try-sumers. They like to try new products, stores and styles and connect and interact with preferred brands. They enjoy shopping. Page 8 The loyalist: Leverage relationships with existing customers to increase return on investment

8 Shopper segmentation Mall Maniacs 10% Virtual Shoppers Original 26% Traditionalists 13% Just the Essentials 14% Upscale Clicks 17% Status Strivers 20% When examining brand loyalty by the shopping segments described above, we see that Original Traditionalists, who stick with tried-and-true brands, and Mall Maniacs, whose purchases are driven by image, quality and peer approval, are the most brand-loyal. Upscale Clicks, who are always searching for a deal, are the least brand-loyal. Understand who your customers are Appending data to your customer file can help you to create segments of customers based on loyalty behavior. 1. Appending data and segmenting your customer file First, create a list of your customers with valuable relationships and purchase data. Data such as the number and nature of customer service inquiries, frequency and recency of transactions, customer usage and customer revenue are powerful drivers of customer retention and loyalty. Next, append data from other outside sources to your customer file. Data such as age, household income, education, presence of children and homeownership can be valuable in creating a profile of your best customers. Once you have the data appended, you then can analyze the data to look for relationships between your transactional data, third-party data characteristics and retention/loyalty. This step probes deeply into your data to unlock and illuminate significant information within your customer database that you may not have fully understood before now. An Experian white paper Page 9

9 The loyalist 2. Customer loyalty segmentation The data review in Step 1 typically reveals not just an overall customer profile, but also multiple distinct segments within your customer database. These subsegments enable you to identify different triggers of churn or attrition so that you can develop effective strategies to combat these factors. Segmenting your customers by the causes of churn (i.e., service need, competition, cost) and then understanding the underlying characteristics of customers who fall into each category lay the groundwork for successful solutions. For example, an examination of the data may indicate that young professionals with high incomes may be more apt to churn for competitive reasons, while older consumers with limited usage may drop your service for lack of need. 3. Strategy planning The key to successful customer loyalty programs is to understand the drivers of loyalty or churn. Once you understand the drivers, you also should determine whether the cost of trying to save a customer is greater than the expected benefits. Targeted loyalty marketing campaigns can be created to reduce churn and increase customer loyalty over time. Data enrichment quick tips Enrich your customer file with demographic and behavioral data to build a detailed profile of loyalty customers By combining data from an outside data source, you can gain a more complete and accurate view of your customers. Categorize customers by value and attrition risk Strong loyalty High value Strong loyalty Low value Weak loyalty High value Weak loyalty Low value Use transactional data to expand your customer profiles and compare loyalty customers Investigate how the profiles differ based on categories of products purchased, overall spend and frequency of purchase. Go beyond basic demographics by appending predefined segments Predefined segmentation systems like Mosaic offer valuable insight without the need for sophisticated modeling and data analysis. Mosaic, for example, classifies all U.S. households and neighborhoods into one of 60 unique segments, providing highly comprehensive and robust insight for better understanding the American consumer. Page 10 The loyalist: Leverage relationships with existing customers to increase return on investment

10 He is devoted. He is sharp. He prefers routine. keep your end of the bargain, and he ll never stray.

11 Create targeted and relevant communications Avoid treating all loyalty customers the same by developing communications and offers for these customers that are versioned by segment membership. Communications that resonate with young married couples with preschool children aren t necessarily relevant for affluent empty nesters, for example. marketing can play an important role in optimizing customer loyalty By leveraging to communicate with loyalty members, your business can benefit from extensive opportunities for enhanced customer relations and generate increased revenue. Loyalty-focused campaigns tend to perform better than standard promotional mailings in terms of customer response and revenue. s targeted to current loyalty program members outperform bulk promotion mailings Compared with bulk campaigns, s targeted to current loyalty program members have 40 percent higher open rates; 22 percent higher click rates; and transaction rates and revenue per that are 29 percent and 11 percent higher, correspondingly. Loyalty mailings generate higher transaction rates and revenue per 0.10% 0.09% $ % $ % $0.18 Transaction rate 0.06% 0.04% 0.02% $0.17 $0.17 $ % Loyalty Nonloyalty promotional mailings $0.15 Revenue per Page 12 The loyalist: Leverage relationships with existing customers to increase return on investment

12 Source: Experian CheetahMail Loyalty mailings boost open rates by 40 percent and click rates by 22 percent 30% 27.4% 25% 20% 19.6% 15% 10% 5% 4.0% 3.2% 0% Total opens Total clicks Loyalty Nonloyalty promotion mailings Source: Experian CheetahMail Loyalty programs engage prospects Mailings targeting prospects with an invitation to join a loyalty program outperformed promotional mailings by 28 percent. An Experian white paper Page 13

13 0.10% Sending loyalty mailings to prospects also boosts transaction rates and revenue per 0.09% $0.22 Transaction rate 0.08% 0.06% 0.04% $0.21 $ % $0.20 $0.18 $ % $ % Prospects Nonloyalty promotional mailings $0.12 Revenue per Source: Experian CheetahMail Many types of loyalty programs perform well Loyalty programs provide a unique opportunity to have an ongoing dialogue with your most highly engaged customers. Today s savvy marketers leverage the low cost and effectiveness of by deploying a variety of loyalty-based communications. Listed below are nine mailing types that collectively provide a platform for achieving high loyalty program results. Page 14 The loyalist: Leverage relationships with existing customers to increase return on investment

14 Many types of loyalty mailings have high open and click rates 140% 120% 100% 126.4% Total opens Total clicks 80% 60% 53.6% 50.0% 56.1% 49.7% 51.1% 58.5% 40% 20% 0% 26.2% 3.5% Loyalty promotions 30.7% News 9.0% Redemption reminder 11.4% 11.2% Renewal Reward arrival 19.0% Statements 6.5% 7.9% Status-level 12.4% Survey Welcome 9.7% Loyalty mailings provide opportunities for outstanding transaction rates and revenue per 1.6% $ % 1.4% Transaction rate Revenue per $ % $ % 0.8% 0.8% $ % 0.9% $3.86 $5.00 $ % 0.4% 0.2% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% $0.17 $0.11 Loyalty promotions News 0.5% $1.26 Redemption reminder $1.60 Renewal Reward arrival $1.82 Statements 0.4% $1.62 Status-level Survey 0.6% $0.80 Welcome $3.00 $2.00 $1.00 $0.00 Source: Experian CheetahMail An Experian white paper Page 15

15 Promotional loyalty mailings Clean, simple designs with clear, short messages work well for promotional mailings. Newsletters Newsletters work as a means of providing offers, membership information and highlights of upcoming events. Statements Statements can be the heart of a good loyalty program, with double the open rates and 10 times the revenue per of loyalty promotional mailings. It is a best practice to provide clearly defined account information, reward or point value or certificates earned, as well as new offers to continue to engage your members. Surveys Loyalty members can be great resources for obtaining valuable customer feedback on products and services, as well as opinions on new products or proposed events. Surveys were second only to reward arrival mailings in performance, with double the open rate, three times the click rate and nine times the transaction rate of promotional loyalty mailings. Following proven best practices can significantly deepen customer engagement through loyalty-based marketing Engage loyalty members throughout their life cycles A good loyalty program is more than a simple sign-up and special offer. From the initial welcome campaign on, there are a number of triggers related to loyalty activity when you can engage with your customers. The loyalty messaging also can be incorporated into all other communications, including promotional s, newsletters, monthly statements and surveys to enhance member engagement with your business. Clearly present account information Enhance your customers experience by prominently including account details and benefits on statements, particularly the loyalty number. Account links can also be placed on other types of loyalty mailings to reinforce the benefits of your program. Page 16 The loyalist: Leverage relationships with existing customers to increase return on investment

16 Include offers Account management s do not need to be limited to text. Including HTML offers in mailing types such as statements, renewals and status changes can provide effective ways to increase brand awareness and generate transactions. Clearly communicate program benefits To remain active in your loyalty program, customers need to understand and be able to take advantage of the program s benefits. Make reward benefits clear in all of your loyalty communications, and include reminders in your main communications, so that your customers perceive the special attention and reward values. Conclusion Creating a successful customer loyalty program doesn t have to be a daunting task. To overcome today s obstacles and build a program that is worthwhile to your customers as well as your business, remember to look at your customer data and key trends to determine your marketing strategies. Arming yourself with the right data and expertise will deepen customer engagement and increase return on investment now and into the future. Do you like this paper? Tweet about it! An Experian white paper Page 17

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