building long-lasting relationships through email, social ... · 3. know when enough is enough •...
TRANSCRIPT
Building Long-Lasting Relationships through Email, Social and Mobile
John MastVice President MarketingExpedia CruiseShipCenters
Friday, January 22, 2010
Who We Are
OUR VISION: The #1 Cruise Vacation Specialist in the WorldOUR MISSION: Making Dreams Come True
We Sell Cruise Vacations
• Cruise Vacations appeals to a wide variety of people – Baby Boomers, in particular
• 60% of the market is interested in a cruise
• Cruisers are far more likely to use a Travel Agent (83%) – It’s Complicated
• 9 out of 10 people who cruise say they will cruise again – high repeat factor
About Us
Michael Drever, CEO & Founder
• Began franchising in 1987
• Rebranded Expedia® CruiseShipCenters® in 2007
• 115 retail locations and 2,500 Cruise Consultants
• 2009 – USA 4 New Retail and 350 Consultants
• 75+ Person Partner Support Team including:
o Marketing and Sales
o Education and Training
o Business Development
o Product & Supplier Relations
o Information Technology
Sales Growth
0
50,000,000
100,000,000
150,000,000
200,000,000
250,000,000
300,000,000
350,000,000
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Booked S
ale
s (
$) Continuous Growth
Customers 47,290 58,753 69,383 89,500 105,930 114,246
Average Annual Growth 21% - 3 times the industry average
How We Do It
“Bricks and Clicks” Strategy:
• Bricks and Mortar locations staffed with teams of professional Cruise Sales Consultants
• Plus traditional advertising
• Plus interactive marketing
• Plus tri-messaging
- social
- mobile integration
B2C Marketing
Objectives:
• Grow the database
• Attract 1st time cruisers
• Attract existing cruisers
• Retain customers
• Create advocates
Customers for Life System
Customers for Life
Permission Marketing
Customer Service
Retention
Marketing
Professional Sales
Referrals
Customers for Life
Customers
for Life
Referral Program
Receive Buying Signal
Research and Present
Answer Questions / Overcome Objections
Complete the Sale
Add-on Sales
Back Office
Customer Communication
Cruise Line Promotions
7SEAS® Email Marketing
Dream Voyages® Magazine
Aeroplan® Program
Welcome Home Call
Welcome Home Email
Thank You Card
Personal Selling
Direct Marketing
Advertising
Promotional Sales
Public Relations
Establish Rapport
Qualify Customer Needs
Enter into 7SEAS® Club Data Base
Build Rapport and Trust through email
Inner Circle
Permission Marketing with Tri-Messaging
From Attraction to Permission
Goal:
• To have people join our 7SEAS® Club database and subscribe to email
• With their permission, we then send only the cruise and vacation information that interests them via email
What is Tri-Messaging?
Orchestrated and Unleashed
Messages
(subject lines, tweets, SMS, links)
More Content (Focus on Value)
(email campaigns, landing pages, offers,
video, etc.)
More Engagement & Interaction
Higher Propensity to Commit
(blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, networks, etc.)
Social
Opt-in
Mobile
More Empowered People & Businesses
Tri-Messaging Effect
Orchestrated and Choreographed Messages
(subject lines, tweets, SMS, links)
More Content (Focus on Value)
(email campaigns, landing pages, offers, video, etc.)
More Engagement & Interaction
Higher Propensity to Commit(blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, networks, etc.)
Social
Opt-in
Mobile
More Empowered People & Businesses
•Outbound
•Widely Used and Accepted
•Catalyst for other channels
•Measurable
•Inbound
•Customer comments
•Service requests
•Outbound
•Relevant content encourages sharing
•Removes friction in content consumption
•Target prospects based on propensity to engage with social media sites
•Inbound
•Grow opt-in database
•Real-time interaction
•Voice of customer impacts product and marketing decisions
Social
•Outbound
•Deliver content dynamically when it’s relevant (location, time of day, etc.)
•Coupons, Promotions, Alerts, Invitations
•Inbound
•Location based SMS texts / responses
•Sweepstakes, polling, etc.
Mobile
Opt-In
Member
MaryMary’s
Network
Mary shares
with her
network
New opt-in
membersTri-
Messaging
in Action
Build rapport with
personalized email / socialLinked to agent’s
personal website
Website features all details,
Virtual Tours, video, etc.
Client contacts agent
via call or click (mobile)
To agent’s email inbox,
phone or mobile device
They follow-up and sell
Permission Marketing
Email Marketing
• Customized - to your clients’ preferences
• Relevant - clients will receive Caribbean weekly once they’ve expressed interest in that destination by subscribing
• Anticipated - asked for permission to send = expected
• Personalized - To “John Client” From “Mary Consultant”
Permission Marketing is a load of CRAP!
2010 B2C Email Program
CruiseShipNews Newsletter• Cruise information newsletter
• Special product offers
3 Unique CruiseShipWeekly eflyers• Caribbean/Mexico deals
• Alaska deals
• Europe/Exotic deals
CruiseShipFlash eflyer• Tactical offers when deal is excellent
Each Piece• Dual currency (CAD and USD)
• Dual language (FR and EN)
• Personalized and linked to consultant specific websites for click through
Permission Level Website
• Custom built to support the ECSC sales structure and strategy
• www.cruiseshipcenters.com– Drives business to Centers
• www.cruiseshipcenters.com/miami– Drives business to specific location
• www.cruiseshipcenters.com/Janesmith– Drives business to Cruise Consultant
Welcome Home Email
• Fully personalized welcome home email
• Powers Cruise Review system
• Sent via email 7 days post cruise end
• Surveys clients’ cruise experiences
• Drives web database of cruise reviews
• Encourages clients to update their subscription status to tell us where they want to go next!
Testing is Key
• New email templates are tested through our systems email preview feature
• Shows us how our email looks in key email readers, and we can fix any issues before we send
• On a monthly basis, we check the deliverability % and monitor any blacklisting issues
Analytics
Things We’ve Learned Through Testing:
• Personalize!
– Sending from a real consultant, Cathy Cruiser is better then generic ECSC
– 5.5% higher open rate
– 23% higher click through rate
– Less likely to be flagged by subscribers as spam or unsubscribed from
• Test Different Subject Lines and learn what works
• Personalize the Subject Line:
– “Dave, Your 7 Day Alaskan Cruise Awaits”
– Increased open rates by 10%
• Know the Frequency to Send
– 2x/week is our max -- any more, and our unsubscribes increase
– In 2010, we will not send more than 1 email set per week
Email Metrics Oct. 09
• ECSC Delivered 1,750,000 Email “Exposures”
Campaign response rates:
– Open Rate: 27% or, 472,000 “Impressions”
– Click Rate 8.9 % or, 157,500 “Interactions”
– Unsubscribe Rate <1%, 2000 “Rejections”
– Web Form Submitted “Leads” approx 7000
– Phone “Leads” 21,000 +
Viral Contest• Prize: Win 1 of 25 Free Cruises
• Contest Objectives:
– Generate new members into 7SEAS prospects database
– Encourage existing customers/prospects to update or verify contact info and subscriptions
– Tap into current customer network and generate new referrals
– Give our consultants a reason to call their database
• 172,269 Total # of people who entered
• 83% % new subscribed to at least 1 email newsletter
• 3.5 Average # of Newsletters Subscribed To
• 300,000 Increase # of email subscription sent each month
• CruiseShipNews® 20%
• CruiseShipFlash® 28%
2009 Contest Results
CruiseShipWeekly®
Alaska 18%
Caribbean 25%
Europe/Exotic 19%
Social Media: Facebook
• Launched our ‘Fan Page’ in Aug ‘09
• Now have nearly 2,000 fans
• We use it to leverage the huge audience base – brand awareness, not hard-sales call to action
• Over 55% of Facebook users are over 35 years old, with the largest growing segment being those 55+.(this is our demographic!)
• Another way to be front-and-center with our prospects/customers on a regular basis
• Postings include cruise news, sales and promotional events and videos
Become a Fan atwww.cruiseshipcenters.com/facebook
Social Media: Twitter
• Launched Feed in Aug ‘09
• Now have 700 followers
• We’ve found our demographicisn’t quite there... yet
• Currently update it through Facebook – as we update our Facebook page, it automatically updates our Twitter feed
• If/when our demographic emerges, we’ll put more emphasis on it
Follow us at @CruiseShipNews
Tiny URL Tip
• Our branded URL is long: http://www.cruiseshipcenters.com/younameit/more
• On the social media front, we keep our branding alive by using custom URL shortening http://goecsc.com/
Mobile
• Emails optimized for mobile reading
• Key reading area is easily readable and zoomable
• Links are highly visible and easy to click
• Phone numbers can click to call
Mobile
• Emails optimized for mobile reading
• Key reading area is easily readable and zoomable
• Links are highly visible and easy to click
• Phone numbers can click to call
Takeaways
1. Cross-Platform Integration is Key
– (CRM) with Tri-Messaging• Permission-based email
• Social media
• Mobile integration
– We integrate in-house system with the LyrisHQ API
– Allows us to power our business with our proprietary software, but use the power of integrated, online marketing to send out high volume emails easily
– Instantly, uploads, unsubscribe, etc, are handled and sent up/down API feed keeping everything in sync with no effort
– Allows tracking and testing, save time and money
– Clearly this is a strategic investment– but critical
Takeaways
2. Get Personal with Permission Marketing• Practice segmentation and send relevant content
• Build relationships (personalized by destination and from consultant, email, phone, web links, photos, etc)
• Provide a real face and real name behind the system – it’s tough to unsubscribe from someone you know
• Consumers can do business with a faceless corporation, or some you know - cruises are complex – our clients buy cruises from people they trust and know
• Send them what they want, when they want it - don't just “spam bomb” all offers to whole list
Takeaways
3. Know when enough is enough
• Just because you can, doesn't mean you should send it
• Make sure your messages (email, social and mobile) adhere to a permission marketing strategy, and be true to a schedule
• Customized
• Relevant
• Anticipated
• Personalized
• Strive to send quality over quantity
Takeaways
4. Consider how you might monetize your list?
• ECSC has a list of over 500,000 people who have -- or are interested in -- taking a cruise subscribed to email marketing
• We sell ad space to our suppliers (CRUISES ONLY) in the newsletters we send – Banner sales
– Ad placement Charges
FREE Cruise Winner
• Congratulations to our lucky winner of a 7-Day Caribbean Cruise for two!
• Giveaway made possible by:
Credits / Thank YouBig thanks to:
• Dave Mossop, Interactive Media Specialist, Expedia CruiseShipCenters
• Interactive Marketing and Dev teams at Expedia CruiseShipCenters in YVR
• Erick Mott, Community Practice Leader, Lyris HQ
John Mast, Vice President Marketing
Call or email me at: 604-678-3541, or