Driving conversion with automated email marketing
Background
Through its subsidiary FlexiFonds de solidarité, the Fonds de solidarité FTQ offers the option of contributing to a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) and a tax-free savings account (TFSA) by purchasing units of FlexiFonds mutual funds.
The market for these types of financial products is extremely competitive, especially at the beginning of the year. During this time, nearly every financial institution is also promoting TFSAs and RRSPs, since new contribution room for TFSAs is unlocked in January, and taxpayers can make RRSP contributions to reduce their taxable income until March 1.
To succeed in such a market, differentiating yourself from the competition is key.
Mandate
The Fonds hired our team to propose, develop, and implement an email marketing strategy targeting its savers. This strategy had two objectives:
- Increase the number of FlexiFonds TFSA and RRSP contributors
- Increase the total contributions from existing contributors
Execution – Strategy
Email is an effective communication tool for reaching existing Fonds and FlexiFonds customers: data collected year after year proves that every newsletter or email sent leads to increased contributions.
We leveraged the full potential of this tool to set the Fonds apart from its competitors. Based on our knowledge of the target audience, we developed a long-term automated email marketing strategy that is designed to accompany the user through the conversion funnel.
- An initial email was sent to all savers with messages tailored to each recipient’s savings vehicles and contribution habits.
- A second email went out a few days later with a personalized message based on the content consumed by the target and the actions they took after receiving the first email.
- This cycle continued until the end of the relational sequence. There were several possible scenarios, but a single user could not receive more than four emails.
Execution – Digital operations
Automation and segmentation played a key role in the success of this email strategy.
With our digital operations team, we helped the Fonds segment its audience to deliver the right content, at the right time, to the right target audience.
We then created a sequence in our client’s mailing management tool (Dialog Insight) so that the mailings could be sent automatically based on the following criteria:
- Opens
- Clicks
- Web pages visited from the email
This allowed us to follow the recipients on their journey and send them personalized content. A visit to the TFSA page led to a follow-up email to drive TFSA conversion. Undecided users received an email about their options. If a recipient clicked on the RRSP content, they received a follow-up email to drive RRSP conversion.
Different follow-up strategies were used depending on the behaviour of the users and whether they were converted along the way.
This allowed the Fonds to customize its communications while optimizing its production process.
Results
This email automation sequence has paid off: the Fonds has achieved its communication and business goals.
We were able to gather more information about our client’s target audiences to optimize conversion paths and messages. The initiative, which was part of a broader promotional campaign, supported a large portion of the revenue generated during this period.
The open and click rates were very good, and the unsubscribe rate was very low. In addition, after the personalized messages and integrated communication sequence were deployed, target audience engagement on the Fonds’s site doubled—in fact, nearly tripled. The strategy was an all-around success!