Targeting

The snapshot

Although The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (The Institute) had a "captive" audience of lifelong members, engagement levels were surprisingly low. To turn this around, we established a unique segmentation system that delivered the right message, to the right person, at the right time.

The challenge

The Institute was experiencing a decline in member engagement, with a high volume of multi-channel communications losing effectiveness. Our task was to improve the member engagement score by the end of 2011, with a longer-term goal of improving The Institute's ranking against other similar industry bodies.

The approach

Our vision was to deliver timely communications with a high level of personalisation. Each piece was to have a distinct purpose and visual identity to drive response.

A tiered communications platform would meaningfully engage a member, to drive relevance and build brand equity and value - with the aim of driving incremental revenue.

Our approach was to first segment by age and company type, and then deliver targeted communications relevant to that segment. This new method of communicating would be delivered to members in two fortnightly emails, along with an insert placed in The Institute's monthly magazine to its national subscriber database.

The solution

To better understand different groups within the member base, we carried out an in-depth data audit. Working with the team at The Institute, we collated member data sources, using key variables to build member segmentation. We split members by employer type, life stage and tenure with The Institute. 13 distinct member groups were created, using key geo-demographic and event attendance data.

In addition to segment profiling, we split communications into three distinct themes: training and development, benefits and rewards, and thought-leadership. Variables were applied within each stream in accordance to each segment's needs. A value index was also applied to reduce the number of communications, while ensuring messages were relevant. Emails are managed through a dynamic content tool that automated the process so it didn't create extra work for the marketing team.

The results

The message is clearly getting through with both open and click-through rates are up from previous emails. This campaign has also resulted in significant time and cost savings that will improve over time as communications become more targeted through improved segmentation and regular updating of customer data and improved segmentation.