A few short years ago, CRM was much discussed but little practised. Now, everyone seems to be in on the act to some degree. While most brands use a mixture of on- and offline channels for their CRM activity, a growing amount of it is taking place online. Arguably the cheapest and easiest route is that of the personalised email.
But are personalised emails enough to win hearts and wallets? A few innovative brands are pushing further. Microsites, pURLs (personalised URLs), SMS, viral activity and online virtual worlds like Second Life are all being used to build more meaningful relationships with customers.
Multimedia communications specialist Eclipse works with Esprit Clothing, managing its CRM database of 1.2 million customers worldwide. It combines on- and offline channels in its CRM, handing out cards to customers in-store inviting them to register for the Esprit Club online, the benefits of which include birthday mailings, special offers, competitions and the chance to collect and redeem e-points in the e-shop.
Esprit has also ventured into viral activity, which in seven months has generated 1.5 million email addresses. "If you have a viral element on a pURL, it is fun and interactive," says UK managing director Mark Carmichael. "And you're getting the sender's email address and that of their friend."
SMS is also being used. Bales Worldwide uses it to contact customers with last-minute trip information and to conduct post-trip follow ups. It also uses email and variable print. "We are totally integrated," says Raymond Howe, its marketing communications manager. "Before we just had a standard email personalised with the name. The idea was to create more relevant communications for consumers."
Some brands have gone further in their eCRM ambitions by investing heavily in website-centred programmes. Baileys' loyalty club is called the Baileys Lounge, which encourages customers to sign up at baileys.com to help them make the most of enjoying Baileys. It provides members with offers, cocktail recipes, get-together ideas and the occasional mailed-out gift.
Last month car marque SEAT UK launched Club SEAT, a CRM and brand experience programme based around a website (www.club-seat.co.uk) built by marketing data specialist Tangible Data. This programme involves channels such as online, email, SMS and mail to give members a branded experience, including events and tailored offers (see case study, above).
Life's Rewards, a Barclays Bank membership programme for high net worth individuals, is run by agency Black Sun and uses the premierlifesrewards.co.uk website to offer business and pleasure benefits to customers of Barclays' Premier Life products. Giveaways include exclusive access to entertainment, business information as well as sporting and cultural events - all tailored to the individual. The programme captures what customers want to hear about and tailors e-communications according to these preferences.
It should perhaps be noted than none of these brands are exclusively conducting eCRM, and for a good reason, says Richard Dixon, director of customer marketing at Black Sun. "eCRM is part of the bigger picture of CRM. Not many organisations can adopt a solely digital strategy. It's a subset of the customer journey experience."
None of this is to downplay the power of the personalised email. With the right data, and the speed at which emails can be sent out, there is little limit to how personalised communications can be. A thorough database with customer data, and ideally behavioural data, is at the heart of it.
Business and communication rules - which decide the message a customer should get, based on what they did and when they did it - are vital. So is good web and campaign analysis, particularly when using multiple channels.
"Sending out an email is simple but linking it up is different. If you want to link with your other activity, you need to involve web analysis," says Nigel Magson, chairman of Tangible Data.
This is also useful for measuring success, and for many marketers considering eCRM, a big question is how easily it can be measured and linked back to return on investment. The answer depends greatly on the activity's objectives.
Jeremy Bedford, director of UK operations at enterprise marketing software firm Neolane, says: "You can measure the emails you sent, the amount that arrived, open rates, click-throughs, who went onto the site from there, where they went, and who went on to transact, in real time."
Measure of success
It can be more difficult to tie loyalty business activity to a return on investment as it is not aimed at driving an immediate sale. It can be measured through traditional qualitative groups and brand tracking but is harder to quantify. "You can send out questionnaires to customers and see how perception changes over time," says Ellie Beasley, strategic planner at digital agency Underwired. "If you can educate the customer over time and they become a brand advocate, that's a measure of success."
To ensure the Life's Rewards loyalty programme remains cost-effective for Barclays, Black Sun carries out an analysis of the cost of each element before recommending adding new benefits. "We capture what customers want to hear about and tailor e-communications according to their preferences," says Dixon.
Another question for marketers is which route to take - for example, email or mobile? At a very basic level, one could say a personalised email approach fits all because it is very cost-effective and can be as simple or as complex as you like. But this is to oversimplify. Martin Lawson, head of data at digital agency i-Level, says: "Just to send out an email doesn't maximise the opportunities out there, and there's also a danger of overusing the medium because people say it's cheap and effective."
And as Bales Worldwide has discovered, the main driver should always be the customer. "Activity should be customer-driven, not marketing-driven," says John Wood, MD of creative agency RPM3 Beechwood. "Companies often struggle with this, thinking they are doing it by sending out personalised letters, but that's not customer-driven. Ask how people want to be communicated with."
Whichever route a brand chooses, all activity should be integrated. This is an area often overlooked according to Andrew Freeman, MD of marketing operations agency CRM Technologies. "A lot of the time when you get a personalised email, you go to the site and become anonymous again," he says. "Take the personalisation through to the website and use the profiling information you have on customers to drive that."
The more channels used, the more complicated eCRM starts to sound. However, there are solutions available to manage the work, from entry-level email packages to enterprise marketing solutions from the likes of Neolane and managed services where a firm such as Black Sun or Tangible Data does everything from data analysis and campaign creation to email broadcast, web page design and campaign analysis. Experts say eCRM is only really expensive when it is done wrong. "People say it's not worth doing if they're not getting enough out of a campaign, generally because they're sending out too often and not getting enough responses," says Lawson. And if brands across all sectors are buying into it, it must be worthwhile. "Brands are missing a trick by not doing more eCRM," says Howe. "It's very cost-effective so there can't be a commercial case against doing it." If that is the case, there is no excuse not to get as innovative as possible, and win those hearts and wallets.
CASE STUDY - CLUB SEAT
Brand: SEAT
Supplier: Tangible Data
This recently launched programme uses club-seat.co.uk, email, postal communications and SMS to provide a branded SEAT experience for members, including events and tailored offers. The website, regular data audits, profiling and customer segmentation will give information on customer behaviour and trends that will be used to drive intelligent and personalised web content and messages to members. The system is also constantly updated in real time from customer interactions on the web. "We've got the ability to track customer interaction and respond to it via the web, online and offline channels," says Tangible Data's Magson. "Next year we'll also be sending SMS/WAP messages to people at events."
OPINION - OUR FAVOURITE ECRM COMMUNICATIONS
- Martin McDonald, Creative managing partner, Balloon Dog
Zappos.com
"The site started off selling just shoes and now sells clothing. It provides free delivery and free, instantaneous returns - if they don't fit, send them back and get a new pair the next day. It also does a brilliant job of staying in touch with trends and of saying, 'You ordered this last year, how about these new styles?' They make it easy for you to keep your data current too, sending an email for you to send back so they do the data management for you."
- John Wood, Managing director, RPM3 Beechwood
ASOS.com
"ASOS gives a lot of added content. They know I'm a bloke and what I have bought so don't send me information on women's stuff, but send me content about jeans cuts, and how to tie a tie. It also doesn't go too far - they're not writing to me and saying: 'Dear John, we know you like boot-cut jeans.' People can get a bit nervous with over-personalisation - we don't want to be everyone's mate. It's important to get close to customers but on their own terms."
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