The 2012 Paperless Banking Challenge: Interim results

In June I asked which of three paper turn-off models would drive the greatest adoption. The answer should have been obvious in my book, but the numbers are interesting.

Here's a reminder of the three projects:

The Interim results

Bank A:

This project was over before it began. The web portal team took over the project and didn’t want any interference with their current model – potentially due to personal incentives. Apparently, less than 5% of the one million customers have signed up over the past 5 months.

Comment:

• Results are predictable as most of the customers wanting to use Internet Banking already are.
• Each incremental percentage adoption is harder than the last.

Conclusion: In order to break through the adoption barrier, a new approach is necessary. Instead of the website-only paperless adoption project, they should include "Push" as an additional option..

Bank B:

Sign-ups are disappointing, with around 2% of the targeted customer base going through the three page registration process.

Comment:

• Although there are consistently hundreds of customers opting-in each day, it falls far short of the thousands required to meet expectations.
• It highlights how critical the on-boarding process is. If you have barriers to adoption at the beginning, then it doesn’t matter how compelling the offering is, customers will drop off in droves at each barrier.

Conclusion: Cut through the adoption barriers by offering a registration free paperless process - a simple opt-in via email.

Bank C:

The results are very impressive. Just under half of the initial on-boarding emails are opened and over 85% of customers choose eStatements. A simple YES and NO button has forced people to make a choice rather than just do nothing. Customers in month’s two and three are also opting for Push eStatements, driving the total to 53% of customers (with an email address) turning off paper.

Comment:

• Fantastic results – more than expected and on track to convert 50% of their customer base to eStatements within 6 months.
• This has the potential to be a world leading case study for paperless adoption of bank statements when it has run its course. And the long term prognosis is even better as the program keeps running for both old and new customers.

Conclusion: The moral of the story is simple – to move the paperless dial you need the right model – but even that can be negated by a bad customer journey.

The good news is that we have a case study for the perfect paperless adoption process – come chat to us about making it work for you .

Michael Wright
striata.com

Paperless and simplified-simple for whom?

Ask yourself this question:

When it comes to simplification, who am I considering?

1. The business
2. The customer’s life
3. Both?

Paperless success is measured by your answer

The success of your paperless campaign will be measured by your answer. No need to be cryptic here. The most triumphant campaigns producing the fastest return on investment will simplify both your customer’s life and your own business processes.

The buzz word is 'simplification', what are you doing to achieve it?

The mission statements and images of banks vary from black to white and every shade of grey. But the answer to the question of how to reduce paper and simplify the process ALWAYS, without fail, comes back to online banking, the portal and online, secure inboxes. Understandably so, financial institutions have invested buckets of time and money in this direction with the aim to maximise investment.

However the fact remains that a portal’s ability to convert people to paperless has already been tested for several years. I have yet to meet a financial institution that hasn’t attempted this process for at least a few years. And although there is a degree of success in migrating technophiles to online, the numbers seem to stagnate at around 20%.

The proof is in the pudding. Something isn’t working here.

Does a paradigm shift sound simple to you?

Keynes’ animal spirits have explained a lot in history. Markets have been like dinghies on a tsunami because of simple feelings. Human emotions have been proven throughout history and by the biggest thinkers in modern economics to be a measure of consumer confidence. So why are we asking our customers to accept such a huge paradigm shift as to go from push to pull?

Traditionally, your customers are used to being PUSHED all necessary and relevant information. They haven't had to proactively ask for the post to deliver statements or notifications. They did not have to dream up usernames and passwords and then remember them. There was not a single requirement of effort needed for them to receive important information from the institution they trusted to take care of their hard earned cash. So why do we now think they will be open to being PULLED?

A paradigm shift in customer behaviour is still a long time coming. Analyst reports indicate that:

• 37% of people say they will never give up their paper statements according to Forrester
• 61% say that remembering multiple use names and passwords is a barrier to paperless adoption
• And more telling still...46% would like a statement emailed to them whilst only 14% want to fetch it on a biller’s website as covered in Seybold’s report

All they need is a PUSH

Reduce the number of clicks, passwords, time, effort, print and post by adopting a tried and tested push model in the digital space. To convince your customers to go paperless and simplify your business, all they need is a little PUSH. Send them their statements securely via email and make the process of switching easy and you’ll find that customers are willing to convert as they’re moving from the push of paper to the push over email.

Simplification is the buzz word, make it work for you AND your customers. We have some great success stories if you’re keen to hear more.

Sarah Appleby 
striata.com

Making the right eDelivery choice for 2013

eBilling and eStatements: What are your paperless options for 2013?

When it comes to electronic delivery of documents to your consumers and business customers, you have three choices: build your own self-serve portal (and mobile website or app), use a third party consolidator, or deliver them via email.

Let's examine the pros and cons of each:

Option 1: Internet Banking/Biller Direct website:

Definition: A self-serve website that is run by a Biller or Bank that typically offers document presentment, payment and other customer service functions.

Option 2: Consolidator portal:

Definition: A third party provider that undertakes to consolidate numerous bills, statements and other electronic documents into a single central location, so users can enjoy the convenience of accessing all these documents via a unified website.

Option 3: Electronic document delivery via email:

Definition: The delivery of electronic documents as email attachments.

So what is your plan?

We suggest you re-examine your goals and objectives carefully and ask the following questions:

• Is your current offering going to bring you the paper suppression numbers you need in 2013 and 2014?
• If you add another channel, will it help you achieve these numbers?
• Have you asked the 70%+ of customers still getting paper what electronic option they prefer?
• Are you geared for the smartphone growth explosion?

More important than what to do, is which to do first, (If you already have Internet Banking or a self-serve portal then it makes this decision much easier).

After 5 to 7 years of lackluster paper suppression results, isn't it time you did something different?

My challenge to you: What's it going to take to get your company to 60% paper suppression?

Garin Toren
striata.com

Part 4 - Improve deliverability: Essential technical setup

Throughout this series I have shared tips and tools you can use to help enhance your email deliverability. In this final instalment, I would like to take you on a journey 'behind-the-scenes' and discuss some of the technical set-up associated with deliverability.

When it comes to sending bills or marketing via email, they are rarely sent from the same domain/server where the 'FROM' and 'reply-to' addresses exist.

Consider the common scenario where company X utilizes the services of an email service provider (ESP). The IP address of the server that attempts to deliver the emails is owned and operated by the ESP, with no administrative link back to the company whose emails are being sent to outside mail exchangers.

To use an analogy, the company is using a third party courier to deliver its correspondence and it may be an unknown entity to the recipient. It is therefore necessary to use technology to prove that the courier has permission to send the package.

In the world of email, there are two accepted methods of proving that this relationship exists: SPF and DKIM.

Sender Policy Framework (SPF)

SMTP, the protocol for email, was designed so that any computer can send an email to any other computer on the Internet. While this created an open, easy-to-use system, it also relies on the sender to be honest enough not to send a mail claiming to be from somewhere else.

As we know this is not the case and spam is almost always sent from one party pretending (or spoofing) to be someone else.

SPF was designed as an anti-forgery system and provides a way for a receiving email server to verify that the sending mail server has permission to send the email.

When selecting an ESP, it is very likely that they will send emails from their servers using your FROM address. It is for this reason that you MUST give the ESP permission to send emails using your FROM address (and domain name).

This is achieved by a simple DNS entry on your domain which lists the approved senders of your emails, including your internal mail servers.

While SPF deals with the permission to send emails from an ESP on behalf of a domain, there is a second level of authentication that deals with the ownership of the actual email message.

DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)

A common problem with nefarious email senders is that details of emails, such as the FROM address and entire contents of emails are often forged so that they appear to be generated and sent from a legitimate source.

DKIM controls this problem by making use of sophisticated cryptographic techniques in order to create a unique signature for every sent email.

In the courier analogy above, this is the same as the physical package being stamped with a keyword that only the actual sender could have possibly known, verifying that they are the actual sender and not a third party.

While DKIM signs the email going out; a DNS entry must be made on the FROM address domain in order to allow the receiving mail server to verify that the signature has been created from a trusted source. An ESP will assist with generating keys, as well as the required DNS entry.

The two methods described cater for the delivery of the message, but do not provide information on who is TRYING to spoof emails, nor do they allow a directive to the receiving mail server on what to do if they encounter spoofed or forged messages.

Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC)

Allows the domain owner the ability to be notified when forged messages are being sent to ISPs. This identifies campaigns in the email environment that are acting against the reputation and best interests of the company. Reporting is available in simple formats which can be evaluated in the case of spoofed or forged emails being sent out.

In addition to reporting, DMARC also allows the domain owner to instruct the ISPs on how to deal with a message that has been forged. This may be as liberal as allowing the messages into the inbox, or in the case of companies who are targeted in spam and phishing campaigns to instruct the ISP to delete any emails that do not have a valid DKIM signature.

In our example, SPF and DKIM acting as the mechanisms to authenticate emails equate to the security practices that can be used in the real world, such as ID badges to help prove association and stamps or barcodes to prove authenticity.

DMARC is the last link to the chain and can be compared with a receptionist who is responsible for receiving and distributing all incoming packages. By having a prior knowledge and relationship with the senders of packages and a list of defined rules on what to do when packages are not delivered from a courier with a suitable ID. This also includes packages that don’t have the correct packing slip - this person could take action depending on the circumstance.

Thanks for joining me on this exciting journey of email deliverability. I hope that you have found the deliverability blog series interesting and useful!

If you haven’t had a chance to download our new deliverability white paper '7 steps to better email deliverability', then you can do so now, simply click here.

Alex Papadopulos
striata.com

Part 3 - Improve deliverability: Your email has been delivered, now will it be opened?

Now that you've figured out how to get your email past the predictable technology based filters (as discussed in part 2 of the deliverability blog series),  you have to deal with something way more complicated - your customer. 

The average corporate user receives about 75 emails per day, with an increasing amount being read on mobile devices. Considering that 20% of these emails are probably spam, your number one objective is to ensure that your company’s email is opened, read and that the relevant action is taken.

Your email should always have a specific purpose, whether that is a call to action to click a link to make a purchase, view an account or simply to convey important information. There are a number of key areas where you have an opportunity to grab the recipient's attention and also take advantage of understanding how customers are interacting with your emails.

It is paramount to get as many emails opened as possible, not only for the obvious reasons applicable to the consumer but also for your reputation at an ISP. Opened emails are trusted more than frequently deleted (or emails marked as spam) and the higher the rate the greater the chances of inbox penetration and inbox placement.

What to remember about first impressions?

Three key elements of your email are the subject line, FROM address and pre-header. Email recipients make split second decisions and will instantly delete or send mail to the junk mail folder if they consider it to be spam.  As these are the first points of this instant evaluation, it’s important to get it right.

Here are some tips:

• The FROM address should be recognizable and easy to read, for example name@companyname.com is often a better match than unknownname@department.division.company.com or donotreply@domain.com
• A subject line should accurately portray the content of the email and not mislead customers in any way, so avoid using cryptic subject lines to ‘trick’ them into reading an email, it’s a sure way to lose their trust - if you are sending out payment confirmation emails for example, a subject line such as 'We have received your payment' is sufficient  
• Have a call to action in the pre-header and be very clear about the purpose of the email. The pre-header is seen alongside the subject line in most email clients and devices and is your first piece of content that can be used to entice positive action. 

Always remember that testing variations of the above is extremely important because often, one combination will result in a higher open rate compared to another and there is no logical reason why.

Layout can also influence click rate

Recipients also base their decisions purely on the overall look and feel of the email. Does the mail display correctly in their browser, email client or mobile phone? Do the images take too long to load (if at all)?  Is the important information or call to action in the appropriate location?

The creative design of an email can be likened to photography. An aesthetically pleasing and flowing layout will be the difference between your message being received or totally overlooked.

As with subject lines, testing different layouts is important and is compounded by the fact that email clients often change the way they render emails. 

For more advice on how to structure the perfect email, be sure to download our new deliverability whitepaper '7 Steps to better email deliverability'

It may be open, but have they interacted?

After achieving your perfect layout, ensure that the call to action in your email is clear.

Placing too much copy before an action link or button will undoubtedly result in readers not even getting to it. Conversely, one large button saying “CLICK NOW” may be too intrusive. It’s a delicate balance between a pleasant looking layout, relevant information and a strong call to action.

In conclusion

Email deliverability is a complex subject but there are great tools in the market today that can help you get the most out of your emails. We discuss these tools and strategies in our new deliverability white paper '7 Steps to better email deliverability', click here to download it.

Next week is the final installment in this series. I will be taking you behind-the-scenes and discuss some technical stuff you should know about deliverability

Alex Papadopulos 
striata.com

Part 2 - Improve deliverability: How to glide through spam filters

We dealt with validating customer email addresses last week in this special deliverability series and today we are going to tackle the issue of spam filters.

One of the biggest concerns when sending out an email, is whether or not it will be marked as spam by any of the filters it passes through on its way to your customer’s inbox. Even when adhering to authentication  standards such as SPF & DKIM, using "warm" IP addresses and ensuring that your email lists are clean; the spam filters have the last say on your deliverability and their decision-making logic is a well kept secret.

There are no well documented algorithms, keywords or methods used to filter emails. What makes the challenge even harder, is that spam filters constantly change their rules to keep up with new methods used by unscrupulous spammers.

Just as illegitimate mass emailers learn the rules to stay one step ahead of the filter software, so too do spam filter rules change and we have to understand the parameters which cause some emails to be cast away.

Don’t get labelled as spam: structure your email correctly

If your email "looks" like spam, it’s likely to be marked as spam by the receiver. You may also find that your campaign starts off with a good  deliverability rate, but this quickly deteriorates as the filters "learn" from their users. So how do you structure your email?

The underlying HTML needs to be impeccable. There are rules that must be adhered to when building an email and simply converting a word document to HTML format will not conform to the strict standards.

• Make sure you remove misunderstood "spammy" words and avoid using excessive punctuation or CAPS.
• Identify yourself in the FROM 
• Make sure your subject accurately describes the content.
• Have the correct balance of images and test. You’ll want to send it as a Multi-part MIME email (HTML & Text versions).
• Make your email short and sweet so that it is easy to read. You don’t want it being mistaken for spam just because at a glance you could not tell.
• Make sure you have an unsubscribe link so people don’t click the spam button instead. 
• Unfortunately, following the above ‘rules of thumb’ will still not guarantee that an email will go straight to the inbox.

The solution is to test, test, test

Start with your content -  test your email copy using the many free tools available, then test the entire email as a package by monitoring inbox open rates and previewing emails in multiple email clients. This is essential to an ongoing, successful email send.

Adjust and take action

Many of the top ISPs provide a mechanism to report back to the sender whenever a mail is reported as “spam” or “junk” by the customer. Called Feedback Loops, a standardized report is returned as an email which provides the sender with the information needed to remove the email address from the list.

ISPs provide a subscription method via a web form, usually on the same postmaster site that is used to register for whitelisting. By entering into the agreement that the sender will monitor and take action on complained email addresses, the reputation is increased and the emails being sent are legitimized.

In summary:

• Create a well structured email
• Check the content
• Test before you send
• Adjust if you are getting complaints or see the open rates dropping

We hope you are enjoying our email deliverability series. If you haven’t yet downloaded the white paper, why don’t you do so now? It’s full of easy to understand advice on how to improve deliverability of your emails. Plus it’s free!

Keep following the series, next week I will be covering the big topic of how you get your customers to OPEN your email!

Alex Papadopulos 
striata.com

Email Deliverability Part 1 - Improve deliverability: validate customer email addresses

Getting the email into the inbox is so much more than just creating something that looks great, passes spam tests and having your database of addresses ready. Before hitting send it’s vital to validate the email addresses in the customer database that you are sending to. Our special deliverability blog series starts here!

This is an important step in your deliverability efforts because continually sending communications to a failed email address can result in your emails being blocked by the receiving mail server. Email addresses are captured incorrectly because of user typing errors, but all too often email addresses have been gathered over the phone or via hand written correspondence, which can then lead to misreading and input errors. The good news however is that a large percentage of these can be corrected before the first email is sent.

4 Easy steps you can take to ensure proper email validation

1. Check email addresses for correct formatting
   This first step can be performed at its most basic level by checking for the basic structure of an email address, i.e. name@domain and excluding obvious errors such as name@nodomain.


2. Measure emails against common rules
   By running through each email and validating against common rules, you can eliminate the incorrect email addresses. This helps your deliverability rates and also gives you the opportunity to reconnect with your customer and verify the information you have on file. This is not an intensive process, so it can be performed every time an email is sent out to avoid badly formatted emails from even attempting to enter the delivery queue.


3. Scan for common mistakes
   Take the process one step further by searching for common mistakes. For example, a common manual input error would be recording the email domain yahooo.com instead of yahoo.com by mistake. By using a database of the most common errors, a report can be generated showing the suspected incorrect email address and suggesting the correction. Unfortunately, this method is open to mistakes and as such should always be validated manually – (for example, while Yahooo.com is almost always an input error, it is not guaranteed that this domain does not actually exist). It is also advised to remove placeholder email addresses such as no@email.com.


4. Run every email address through a server, which does a 'live check'
   The last method to verify email addresses is the most accurate, but unfortunately, also the most intensive. It requires running every email through an application which makes a connection to the SMTP server of the domain and "asks" whether or not the email address is valid. Due to the fact that this is a live check, results can be regarded as almost 100% accurate. For larger lists, this can take a lot of time and should only be performed once (or periodically) rather than checking emails individually as they are being sent. Also use your delivery report information to remove any bounces and undeliverables from your database, as this will help you avoid spam traps.

These methods should be applied to any email list or customer database, whether marketing based emails or those that are transactional in nature, to ensure optimal deliverability.

It is important to note that, as each of these techniques has its merits and pitfalls, you’ll need to determine which one applies best to the type of email, source of the email list and number of emails you are sending out. Email is a powerful tool, so make sure it works for you.

For more strategies and tools on how to ensure your emails reach customers’ inboxes, be sure to download our new Deliverability White Paper "7 Steps to better email deliverability"

Look out for next week’s installment of this special deliverability blog series; I will be focusing on spam filters and how to avoid them.

Alex Papadopulos 
striata.com

How well do you deliver? Follow our deliverability blog series and make your emails count

The discipline of email distribution is riddled with acronyms and industry terms. DMARC, SPF, DKIM, CTR, pre-headers, engagement rates... are just some of the expressions that you are faced with on a daily basis when involved in sending bulk or triggered emails.

We’re making it easier for you to get in with the lingo

When it comes to sending emails, the one area that is full of the lingo that every person involved needs to know and understand is around deliverability – the art of getting your emails into your customers’ inbox. And as fantastic a tool as email is to send bills, statements, policies, marketing, promotions, lifecycle communications, letters, etc., it has to reach the recipient’s inbox in order for it to be effective in any way.

Bearing this in mind, we thought we’d share some of that knowledge with the launch of our Deliverability White Paper and Deliverability Blog Series that will give you the information you need to make your emails count!

You can download our White Paper '7 steps to better email deliverability' and make sure you’re glued to your inbox over the coming weeks as we delve into the following topics in our blog series to help you understand the subject of deliverability:

1. Validate customer email addresses
We look at why data hygiene is important in getting your emails delivered and give you some tips on fixing common errors and purging those bounces
2. How to avoid spam filters
We will give you the tips on structuring your emails correctly, appraising your content and testing the email to see the results before you send
3. Getting customers to take action
Your email has been delivered. Now what? Your customer engaging with your email is also important in deliverability, so we take you through the details and advise on how to increase engagement
4. Behind the scenes technical stuff you need to know
This blog tackles all that jargon by giving you the details you need to know and action in a manner that doesn’t make your eyes glaze over.

So why is it so important to understand the ins and outs of email?

There is usually a separation of tasks and activities between business and IT/ ESP when it comes to email distribution, with the focus on deliverability falling into IT / ESP remit. However, the processes and decisions on implementation need to be understood by everyone involved, because getting an email delivered and getting customers to engage, involves a number of moving parts, all of which have to work in unison.

Without a focus on deliverability, all efforts in sending emails to customers, is diminished. Systems, people and processes are all crucial in the quest to get emails into the inbox.


Keen to get some expert advice on deliverability? Then be sure to sign up for our deliverability blog series

Check out our new Deliverability White Paper '7 steps to better email deliverability' as well - you can download it here

We hope that you find the information useful and if there is anything more you would like details on or if you would like to chat to an email specialist, please contact us.

 Mia Papanicolaou
striata.com

What do they do with my data?

I recently purchased my first residential property, so I have had firsthand experience of the rather harrowing process of applying for a mortgage through a mortgage originator. The application process required handing over a plethora of personal information, including my personal identity number, bank details and salary slips. I understand that the financial institution needs this information to register and validate me, but if a criminal got hold of it, I could lose everything.
This got me wondering (in a slightly panicky fashion): Can I trust my suppliers to keep my personal information secure?

I assume that because I’m dealing with a reputable company, my information will remain safe. But sadly, thanks to Google, my panic level rose as my search result revealed numerous data breaches leading to millions of personal records landing in malicious hands.

What companies should be doing:

Given the rise in these malicious attacks and the potential impact, companies should consider a holistic approach to protecting data wherever it is – at rest, in motion or in use.

I recently read an article quoting Tim Matthews, Senior Director of Product Marketing at Symantec: “The good news is that there is a straightforward regimen to help stop these kinds of risks.”

Matthews recommended that companies look at the following security measures:

1. Installing device control: where no copying onto a disk of any type is possible, or via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi data transfer.
2. Endpoint data loss prevention methods: which prevents sensitive data from being copied - copying of data or files is blocked based on content.
3. Encryption: these types of programs render some or all data unreadable by anyone who does not have proper authorisation, should they bypass the access control to these documents. End-to-end encryption is preferable because at every stage whether data is in use, in motion or at rest, is it encrypted and secure, and it is never ‘in the clear’.

Furthermore, documents that contain sensitive information, such as my electronic statements, should always be encrypted and password protected. In an online environment, companies can have firewalls and monitoring facilities where they can detect a breach. Whereas once a document is emailed out, the biller has no control over who can get access to that customer’s information. The sensitive information in these documents can include credit card information and personal identification details like ID number and date of birth. The only way to prevent unsolicited access is to password protect the document.

I wholeheartedly agree with Matthews' statement: “With such well understood defences available, companies really have no excuse for not putting them in place.”

What should I be doing?

Simply put, I need to be cautious and vigilant. Always find out who is receiving my personal information and ensure that they implement the appropriate defences.

The cost of a data breach

The 2012 Verizon Data Breach Investigations report says that in 2011 there were 855 data breach incidents involving 174 million compromised records.

The personal cost of a security breach to each compromised individual is potentially massive: a sudden zero bank balance or complete identity theft. But the cost to companies can be catastrophic. From Symantec’s Cost of Data Breach study, United States (2011), the average cost per data breach for an organisation is $5.5 million, or $194 per record.

While customers need to be cautious and vigilant when sharing personal information, organisations collecting customer data must ensure that they implement the necessary defenses against data breaches - don’t take the risk. Increase your security and reduce risk with 'Push' eDocument delivery, call us for a free consultation.

Simon Johnston
striata.com

Email: 8 Rules of engagement

So you’ve been through all the deliverability tutorials and you have implemented all the recommended best practices. The emails should land in the Inbox and your job is done!

Not so fast...

It is just as important to ensure that customers are reading and engaging with your email messages. Why? Many ISPs use engagement as a measure of whether or not an email is in fact wanted by their customer base. No engagement means you could land up in the junkmail folder.

Engagement measures the customers' responses and interactivity with email messages. Engagement can either be positive (+) or negative (-). Together with your ISP, you can now evaluate engagement in a way that essentially asks the question: Are these emails valuable – and should we allow them into inboxes?

1. Set & maintain expectations
   Set up expectations around what customers will be receiving. This can be done in the welcome email when they sign up. Then do exactly what you said you were going to.
2. Provide relevant content
   Send segmented messages based on preferences, performance or history - it shows customers that you are listening.
3. Reply address
   Make sure you have a working reply address, as replies to emails count towards engagement. Implement an auto-responder if replies cannot be monitored.
4. Subject lines and pre-headers
   The subject line is the first point to pique the customers’ interest and get them to open the email. This copy should reflect the content and attention grabbing.
5. Content
   The key to high engagement metrics is relevancy. Your content has to be relevant and valuable to recipients or they simply won’t open or read your emails.
6. Mobile device support
   Make sure customers are able to engage with your emails easily on all devices. If they can’t read it, they’ll just delete it.
7. Good hygiene
   Remove all undelivered email addresses from your list. A high bounce rate to a particular domain, could be confused for spam sent to a bought list.
8. Re-engage inactive customers
   Create periodic re-engagement campaigns for inactive users.

Aim for the following metrics:

• Unique open rate above 6%
• Click-to-open-rate (CTOR) of 20%
• Hard bounces below 1% – ideally below 0.25%
• Spam complaint rate below 0.1% – ideally below 0.05%

Engagement activity is already influencing several areas of email:

• Deliverability : If your customers are well engaged with your messages, you will see more benefit from your email efforts. The more they interact, the better your deliverability.
• Inbox placement: Gmail’s Priority Inbox uses engagement to tag order of importance and sorts emails based on user behaviour. It automatically identifies important emails based on which have been replied to or marked as important.

Give your customers what they want, when they want it. Compelling and well-designed content is paramount to creating immediate interest and long-term engagement. Do you need some help with this? An email messaging specialist is only a click away

 Linda Misauer

striata.com

66 Reasons to simplify your customers’ eBilling experience

For many years I thought I was alone in my frustration with multiple passwords for the various websites I need to access on a semi-regular basis. There are just so many! Don’t tell anyone, but hidden on my PC I have a (password protected!) Word document. It’s 10 pages long detailing URLs and IDs/Passwords hints for 66 separate logins. Everything from online banking to cinema ticketing via all the usual suspects; EBay, iTunes, Facebook, Twitter etc.

Whilst I’ve clearly overcomplicated my own online life, a recent article on the Fox Small Business Centre website highlights that this password fatigue is endemic throughout the online community. A survey of 2,000 adults showed that 30% have over 10 unique passwords to remember, and I’m one of the 8% with more than 21 passwords.

From an eBilling and eStatement viewpoint, there are 2 main issues with this: customer experience and security.

Customers would rather clean toilets!

While you may feel that your new eBilling portal is a paragon of best practice online design and ergonomics that your customers will enjoy using every month, there’s a good chance that your customers actually see it as just another IDs/Passwords problem. In the aforementioned survey, almost 40% of respondents said they would rather clean the toilet or try to solve world peace than create and remember another unique IDs/Passwords combo that meets the ever-expanding security requirements.

That’s an amusing statistic, and if the customer really requires the service being offered online (maybe online banking, or they’ve seen a must-have handbag bargain on EBay), they’ll probably forego domestic chores and follow through to create/manage another password. But when you’re trying to change your customer’s behaviour - switching from paper based bills/statements to electronic versions, the choice in their head is between doing nothing and keep getting paper (which does the job), or to voluntarily do something that’s less appealing than cleaning the toilet!

That goes a long way to explain the poor adoption of portal eBilling solutions around the globe, and is backed up by numerous other reports and surveys. For example, Infotrends’ Future of EBPP in North America Report in 2010 found that 61% of respondents cited remembering multiple IDs/Passwords as the reason for not going paperless.

The security Catch 22 situation

Unfortunately, modern password guidelines have created a security Catch 22 situation. The more we are all asked to create secure, long passwords with upper and lower case characters, numbers and punctuation marks, but excluding names and words; the more we all need to write these down and/or re-use the passwords on multiple sites, making them inherently less secure. Another recent article by ARS Technica highlights these issues. Password management solutions only partially solve the problem. In fact at Striata our Security Policy prevents the use of these to access any of our servers.

Good news – there’s a way to maintain security AND keep it convenient

Can we, as billers, provide the convenience required for the customer, while still maintaining the level of security commensurate with the information risks contained within our documents?

A move from a centralized portal to individually encrypted PDF documents delivered to customers via email dramatically reduces the risks, as access to one document is all that could ever be gained (after days of brute-force attack) should the email somehow fall into the wrong hands. Hence a simple shared secret – maybe a combination of a few characters of the customer’s name plus their date of birth –provides enough security, without the customer having to remember or write down a new password.

One more digital service delivered; one less stamp used; one less bit of forest cut down; no new password created. Everyone’s happy! Want to know more? I’m happy to stop cleaning my loo, so get in touch!

Keith Russell
striata.com

Will the launch of "De-Mail" drive paperless adoption in Germany and beyond?

Now that Deutsche Telekom has finally moved government-certified secure digital mail solution, De-Mail, from pilot to launch, I predict Germany will see an uptick in consumer acceptance of paperless communications. You know the old saying… a rising tide lifts all boats.

Competition to De-Mail (the solution) is already on the market: DHL Deutsche E-Postbrief, which is compliant with De-Mail, has seen underwhelming user adoption, with analysts citing cost and inconvenience as barriers to adoption.

The specifics of E-Postbrief:

1. Costs around €0.55 per document that is sent


2. Challenges users to onboard vis-a-vis an unwieldy registration process requiring them to obtain a unique email address AND to register with government-issued ID (exactly the same for the De-Mail solution)


3. Has, until now*, included separate encryption and signature options

Most German consumers are customers of either Deutche Post or Deutsche Telekom, but will they use either of the De-Mail compliant solutions?

Probably not. De-Mail and E-Postbrief are secure point-to-point communication solutions that require sign-up by both sender and recipient, using government-issued identification and a completely new email address.

If you are wondering who would actually use such a solution, think “C2B” – consumer to business such as a note to your lawyer, a dispute with your telco.

So, whilst actual volumes will probably be slim, the market itself is slowly becoming educated and accepting of paperless communication.

'PUSH' methodology is ideal for B2B & B2C

For B2B and B2C eDocument Delivery - where outbound volumes are massive, especially eBilling and eInvoicing – a much simpler approach is needed. Onboarding is an intuitive “path-of-least-resistance process" and regular usage requires no initiative.

A highly secure “PUSH” methodology yields user adoption results two to three times higher than average, across industries and regions. “PUSH” sends secure document by email and protects the confidential information by encrypting the document and applying a “shared secret” password to open it. It’s easy to use, aligned with customer preferences, and gets results.

(See my earlier blog post “Innovation Inside – Email on the Edge” for more on the importance of intuitive, path-of-least-resistance methodologies for effective onboarding.)

Our highly secure 'PUSH' methodology drives significant user adoption results, we’re happy to share our success stories with you.

* Interestingly, DHL Deutsche Post spokesman Alexander Edenhofer has just announced that, starting next month, separate encryption and signature options will be removed from E-Postbrief, because Deutsche Post now believed that the platform itself meets the De-Mail protocol’s requirements for transmitting legal documents electronically. So, most likely, prices will also be lowered soon, in order to be competitive with De-Mails price tag of €0 .39 per message.

Keira Holland
striata.com

Send Birthday emails to customers - your gift is a great ROI

It’s been a month since my birthday, so my mobile phone and email inbox are no longer flooded with all sorts of well wishes and social birthday notifications. While I am grateful the number of emails in my inbox has been hugely reduced - I have to admit, I miss the attention and the surprise of suddenly coming across an email that celebrates a date so special to me.

As an email marketer, I know that birthday emails are triggered, event based communications. They’re a good opportunity to encourage customers to go in store, click through to the website or update their details.

It is however important to keep in mind that the end goal is to create valuable, long-term relationships with customers. A birthday wish from a friend who understands me and knows what’s important to me is priceless and this is what any good birthday email campaign should aspire to achieve.

With my wedding fast approaching, the birthday email that I got most excited about was one from a wedding planning website - “Happy Birthday, your last as a single woman…” This was easy to execute, as the sign-up required both birth and wedding date. It made such an impression that I referred all my friends to the site.

*My top tip: Create a Birthday Email Experience that takes advantage of marketing and cross selling opportunities but most importantly connects and relates to the customer on a 'real' level.

Birthday emails do have the potential to generate a high ROI with relatively low effort – especially if the program is properly set up, tested and automated. On average, Birthday emails have a 300% higher open rate and 100% higher click-through rate*.

*Source: Experian, the birthday and anniversary report

4 Ways to build a great Birthday email:

1. Set up your data collection with triggers in mind:

   Birthday emails are a great way to launch a customer lifecycle communication programme. Birth dates are easy to include in sign-up or opt-in forms.

2. Get the timing right:

   Ensure that the data is correctly captured and send the email on your customer’s actual birthday. A friend would never forget my birthday or wish me the day before. I have never said "Happy Birthday month” to a friend either, but if your communication is based on birthday month, perhaps a birthday email series is more appropriate.
   
   In addition to the actual birthday email, triggers in the series could be:

It’s almost your birthday – here’s what to look forward to or specials during this month Birthday wish list – pick your favourite products or services and send your friends an email wish list Reminder to redeem vouchers/discounts

1. Be specific in your subject Line:

   Be clear; include “Birthday” in the subject line, as this is likely to increase the open rate.
   
   For these emails, personalisation is important. It indicates that the relationship with your customer already exists. Personalising the subject line makes subscribers feel valued.
   
   Using special characters in subject lines is popular at the moment and Birthday emails present a nice opportunity to play with symbols in the subject line - being bold and celebratory will help these emails stand out in a crowded inbox. If your campaign includes a giveaway or discount, ensure you mention this in the subject line.

2. Think about the design & how your email will be used:

   It is of utmost importance to design birthday emails for mobile devices. If you include a voucher code or redeemable voucher, the customer is likely to take their mobile device in-store. Add to the convenience by designing appropriately so it renders well and think about including functionality that enables customer to send the code to their preferred mobile device.
   
   Use design to celebrate with fun, festive images, bold colours and perhaps even an animated gif for impact. Animated gifs are not supported by all email clients, it will look great for those that do support it and for those that don’t, you could still allude to the animation by including a hint in the pre-header. “Go online to view the animation” or “Go online and unwrap” Don’t forget the fundamentals of email design, the discount, voucher number or offer - these should all be clear and readable without the use of images (as should any call to action).
   
   Below is an example of a well designed email (in my opinion) from Philips. All the copy, including the voucher code can be read without having to download any images. The call to action is clear and easy to spot. The email is not cluttered, it’s simple and the use of colourful images makes the email feel fun and celebratory.

Lifecycle communications (such as birthday messages) that are personalized and triggered on a special date or event are an important component in engaging customers and increasing loyalty to your brand.

Get in touch with one of our email marketing experts and get it right.

Sheryl-Lynn Collins 
striata.com

6 Ways to measure customer satisfaction

I recently leased a car and a few days later I received a customer satisfaction survey via email, which I duly completed. My feedback was less than stellar. While the sales and delivery process was fine, I had to go back into the dealership TWICE to re-sign the lease agreement after they discovered errors in their contract.

A day after submitting the survey the General Manager of the dealership called me to say he was very disappointed with my feedback. He told me that his staff is incentivized based on 5-star satisfaction ratings. I was asked to rather contact them directly in future if anything ever goes wrong. This begs the question: what’s the point of the customer satisfaction survey if they only want to hear positive feedback?

ALL feedback is necessary and we’re ALL responsible for customer satisfaction.

Whether you’re in finance, billing, marketing, customer service, sales or operations, it’s essential to ensure that everyone is aligned to positively impact the customer. Even if you never come into contact with customers directly, it all bubbles to the surface.

Turn the negative into a positive

Nobody wants to hear that customers are unhappy, but in today’s world of social media, blogs and increased competition, a negative satisfaction rating can spread like wild fire. You need to know how your customers feel about you – and the sooner, the better! By dealing with negative comments efficiently you will have the opportunity to win back their trust.

6 Ways to measure customer satisfaction

1. Send out a customer survey across a range of media so that you get a good cross-section of customers


2. Make sure the questions are not loaded in favor of what you want to hear


3. Don’t offer customers a neutral option – i.e. have a rating scale of 1-4 rather than 1-5 so that people can’t sit on the fence and choose a rating of 3


4. Consider including a monthly poll on your website and in any eBills or marketing emails you send out – this increases the dialog with your customers and makes them feel like they have a voice


5. Plan to take action based on the feedback


6. Use the results to improve customer service and actively track the progress over time

A key measurement of satisfaction is “will customers proactively recommend you?”

You’re not going to please all customers all of the time, but aim to correct any areas that are performing below expectations. Send out a newsletter highlighting the results of the survey, including where you did well, but also confirming your commitment to improve in certain areas. Customers appreciate that you take their opinions seriously.

Speak to us for best practices on collecting customer satisfaction data – from full length surveys to snap polls.

Barrie Arnold
striata.com

FROM nobody@example.com – Why do some senders neglect the basics of email marketing?

I get so excited when I see clever email marketing or even simple relevant email marketing. There are so many great examples from companies getting it right. Unfortunately there are just as many companies getting it wrong – and I’m referring to the basics of email marketing: the FROM name and from and reply addresses.

Why is it so important to get right? In email marketing terms, these are the elements that help make that visit into the customer’s inbox a worthy one or one that will result in a quick exit via the delete button.

FROM name

Customers open emails from brands they know. Just recently the DMA sent out an email that came from an individual instead of the organisation. The uproar from the email community at this basic error was palpable.

Nobody wants to receive an email from someone they don’t know. There is enough spam going around without having to guess who the email is from. Stick to your brand name, as customers have become accustomed to recognising a brand and opening the associated emails.

Take note: The FROM name is important for all emails. Far too often, automated emails are completely forgotten and as       you can see from the example below, will quite easily get lost in the crowd of email with the same non-branded FROM     names.

 

Reply address

Emails may be sent in bulk, but are often perceived to be a two-way communication channel. The recipient may want to respond by simply clicking reply. Far too often though reply addresses don’t work or they are unmanned, leaving a frustrated customer on the other end.

Nothing quite says ‘we don’t care about you’ as much as not responding to customer replies and making it difficult for them to reply to your email. This may lead to them unsubscribing or worse, hitting the junk-mail button.

Many customers will use the reply option as a means to unsubscribe – let them. It’s better than having them mark your email as junk-mail.

Take note: Allowing customers to reply is great for customer service and fantastic for deliverability. When customers     reply  to emails, it registers as engagement at some webmail providers like Yahoo! Gmail and Hotmail. If your     engagement is high, your inbox penetration will also be higher.

FROM address

Not enough time is spent thinking about the FROM address. Considering that this address is often displayed in email clients, it should be higher up on the priority list.

The FROM address is the email address that is displayed next to the FROM name in email clients. I have included three examples from my Gmail account, however most other email clients treat the appearance of the FROM address in a similar way.



So, when you haven’t tested that pesky automated email and it comes from nobody@example.com, or a long FROM address via another address displays next to your brand, that personal interaction with the customer goes flying out the door.

Take note: When the FROM address mimics the reply and the FROM name hasn’t been set up correctly, you are also in      a situation where that email address will display in the FROM area. See the example below. It really screams ‘we just      don’t care’ - doesn’t it?

Don’t assume anything – check your basics!

Take time to get the basics right, as they will impact campaigns and the experience the customer has with your brand in their inbox. Test every email leaving the organisation – including those automated emails everyone just assumes are right.

If you would like to get it right with email, then get in touch with one of our email marketing experts..

Mia Papanicolaou
striata.com

Effective communication can reconcile the insurance industry

I have a broker / personal financial advisor (PFA) who keeps me up to date with the latest products that should be of interest to me within the financial services and insurance industry – or so I think. The upside of this arrangement is that I don’t have to do any research on products in this space because hopefully, my PFA does this for me.

The downside of this arrangement is that I am left with little choice. Sure, I get to say “yes” or “no” to a product that comes my way, however I rely heavily on him pushing this information to me. I never hear directly from any of the companies who underwrite these products. Come to think of it though, it’s been several months since I heard from my PFA.

Why the ‘middle man’ is an obstacle

As a traditionally intermediated industry, a great deal of insurance business is done through third party brokers and PFAs who play a ‘middle man’ role between the product owners and their end customers.

The result is often a crippling communication void between the insurance companies and their policyholders which, in many cases, is nurtured by the ‘middle man’ to retain control over access to the customer.

I understand why. The broker / PFA fears being left out of the loop. In fact, in some instances, intermediaries block the communications sent to customers by setting up multiple mail boxes (for traditional and electronic communication) to ensure only what has been vetted by the PFA is sent onto the customer.

So, what’s the solution for a consumer like me who wants targeted, relevant information to assist in making wise financial choices? The answer is to develop a solution for the companies who create the products, that allows them to communicate effectively with the people using their services.

Communication strategies that are win-win-win

Introducing a strategically inclusive communication plan can benefit all parties. The argument about who owns the customer becomes moot when the insurance company works alongside the broker or PFA to present appropriate products to the end customer.

It is possible to create digital communication strategies that effectively communicate with policyholders, while maintaining the important relationship between the broker and his customers.

There is fantastic flexibility in digital communication which enables agile segmentation and targeting of communications. The outcome is a relevant communication that the customer receives from their broker, allowing them to take up the offer or request further information from within the email (the information request is on sent to the broker). Customers are also kept up to date with the latest products that cater to their individual needs.

Using interactive digital marketing helps bridge this communication gap via a three way approach that markets an insurance company’s product offering on behalf of a broker to a customer. Everybody wins in this scenario.

Striata can assist you with a win-win-win digital communication strategy, get in touch.

Nicola Els
striata.com

3 Top reasons to start sending email receipts

Email receipts are a highly underutilised tool. They are an incredible addition to your communication suite, an opportunity to cross sell and they enhance future marketing, yet only a handful of bricks and mortar retailers are actually using them.


I believe all retailers should move to email receipts - for purely selfish reasons. I am sick of sifting through grubby, crumpled bits of processed tree in my wallet. I want to start organising my purchases wisely, effectively and easily. I want to stop digging into the crevasses hoping I saved that bit of scrap with £5 off.

And it is for these reasons alone that I give you my  three top reasons to start sending email receipts:

GOOD EXPERIENCE = GOOD MARKETING

In some stores it seems as if it now takes ages to checkout. By the time the salesperson has asked me for my phone number, post code, first line of my address and my first dog’s favourite food, I am often left wishing I had trolled online for that woolly jumper. It is annoying at best and like most of you, I feel like I just inherited a stalker.

Instead of asking if you can have a customer’s email address in order to add them to your “VIP” list, offer them an email receipt and watch the response change. Suddenly, you are enhancing their experience. You now offer them a chance to make life easy, should they want to make a return. And, you can softly and gently make them a transpromo offer of 10% off their next purchase when the receipt hits their inbox.



EMAIL RECEIPTS = ACCURATE EMAIL ADDRESSES

Asking a customer for their email address in order for you to issue an email receipt is a sure fire way to get an accurate path to your customer’s inbox. If a correct address is the only way a customer will be able to return an item, you can bet your bottom dollar that you will be given the correct information.

Most retailers know that having a proper email address for a client is fundamental to driving inexpensive marketing campaigns and further footfall.



EMAIL RECEIPTS = A MOBILE STRATEGY

In 2012, many IT bloggers have taken on the analogy of online being a wave, and mobile being a tsunami. The numbers certainly support the case. There are nearly 6 billion mobile subscribers now, which is roughly 87% of the world’s population. It won't be long before many mobile web users will only be mobile as the sales of Smartphones indicate. 486 million were sold in 2011 alone compared with 365 million PCs.

Email receipts are an easy way to make your marketing strategies more relevant to the way customers are accessing your campaigns. Email receipts land in your customer’s inbox, which nowadays means it’s on their smartphone. These are transactional emails that can be easily rendered for every mobile device, ensuring your transpromo opportunities are displayed pretty as a picture on those Smartphone screens.

Companies can no longer rely on websites alone to sell their goods. Apps and mobile rendered emails are current ways to literally make your way into the hands of the consumer.

EMAIL RECEIPTS ARE THE PERFECT QUID PRO QUO

Pease do something for me and I’ll do something for you... Email receipts are a perfect quid pro quo. Your customer receives a better experience and news on promotions, while you get sales and loyalty.

I’m happy to share the knowledge, get in touch if you are keen to know more about retail receipts and how they can benefit your business.

Sarah Appleby
striata.com

9 Reasons email is best for the delivery of confidential customer documents

I don’t need to preach the advantages of email, but it seems many of its clear advantages are not being utilized when it comes to communicating with customers on confidential matters – such as sending them a statement or insurance contract document. The confidential nature of these documents has previously prevented them from being emailed over the “public” internet.

Customer experience drives adoption
The current process is that these documents are housed on a secure website and an email notification is sent to customers to login (or even register first) to retrieve them. This is not a great experience for customers who then quickly opt to receive paper documents again.

The solution to this problem is to send the secure document by email , but to protect the confidential information by encrypting the document and applying a password to open it.

This immediately takes the pain away from the customer, allowing them to replace the opening of an envelope with clicking on an attachment directly from the email - so much easier than having to visit a website and login. It also plays to the strengths of email.

Here are nine reasons why email is king for delivering secure documents

Customer adoption

Due to the nature of email, it’s so much easier to get customers to opt-in to receive documents via email, compared to asking them to register and then visit a portal. Registration is a barrier, as it requires the customer to remember yet another username and password.

Reduce phishing concerns

Since you’re not asking customers to visit a website from the email, the phishing concerns are significantly reduced. The document is attached and the email contains authentication information on each customer.

Ease of use

It’s easy for the customer to open and save these documents. No registration is required, instead the document password is a “Shared Secret” which is a mixture of known information about the customer (birth date and postal code as an example). Coupled with password protection to your inbox, this provides adequate security of the documents.

Reduce payment time

Email bills arrive quickly and most often sooner than the paper. In our experience we’ve found that more than 50% of customers pay within two days of receiving the email bill, which is a significant improvement on paper processes.

Increase self service

Advanced functionality can be included in the attachment, such as payment calculators, change of address forms, call-back request forms, cross-selling tools and basic dispute resolution.

Archiving & Control

The customer can quickly and easily save their document to their own PC and back them up without reliance on third parties.

Reduce operational costs

The solution significantly reduces paper, printing and postage costs by substituting email for paper delivery.

Security

An email bill is totally secure, using the latest encryption technology and remains encrypted when not in use, protecting confidentiality.

Marketing

Personalized and relevant marketing can be included to cross-sell and up-sell to customers, a touch-point that is often missed in a notification.

It’s never too late to make the switch
Remember to always think about the user experience. And don’t forget to leverage all the benefits of using email as a medium (automated triggers, relevant marketing included, etc). Then look at the various types of documents that you want to convert to email and establish what level of security needs to be applied to each one, as they won’t all carry the same amount of confidential information.

If you have the documents, but not the solution, then reach out to a specialist this field. Call us for a free consultation

This blog post first appeared on the Email Vendor Selection site. To read the full version, click here

Mia Papanicolaou
striata.com 

3 Easy steps to mitigate phishing attacks

Another day, another phishing attack... Unfortunately there’s no way to stop phishing, but there are a number of ways to minimize the risks. The recent attack on Telstra customers, as reported in Australian Courier Mail, caught my eye for a couple of reasons. 

The Attack

Without going into too much detail, a Telstra-branded email was sent out with instructions to click a link to update your details “following an error in scheduled maintenance”, but the link of course didn’t go to any Telstra site (reportedly, it pointed to a British spa website which is a bit bizarre in itself).

Your service provider says 'click' - the Fraud Squad says don’t!

What interested me the most was the statement from the Queensland Crime Prevention Command’s Fraud and Corporate Crime Group:

"Regardless of what’s in this email - logos, account details and email addresses - the most important thing to remember is that they asked you to click on a link within an email. Legitimate companies will never ask you to do this, especially when it comes to providing your personal information.”

While this is well intentioned advice, it is fundamentally wrong! The fact is that thousands of legitimate companies send millions of emails every month asking their customers to click on a link – in most cases to view their eBills or eStatements online. And we’re talking big names; American Express does it, HSBC does it, 3 does it…and Telstra does it too.

So, now we have millions of confused customers out there being told by the police never to click on a link in an email, while their service providers are asking them to do just that! What’s the answer?

The Solution

The fraud squad suggests that the safest solution is to just stop using links to web portal log-in pages in your emails. So, perhaps you should consider delivering your customers' eBills or eStatements as PDF attachments to the email instead? This way, there’s no need for a link and a significantly reduced risk of the email being a phishing attack. However, if you have no alternative, there are a few things you can do to protect your customers...

3 steps to prevent phishing attacks:

1. Educate your customers – While it’s important to ensure that you use consistent branding in all your email communications, fraudsters are getting smarter about replicating these. Educating your customers to recognize your emails is one of the most powerful ways to protect them from phishing attempts. Look for alternative ways to help them identify your legitimate email such as using a customer selected image that must appear in every email.
2. Personalization – “Dear Keith” is better than “Dear Valued Customer” (and does anything make you feel less valued than being called a ‘valued customer’??), because generic greetings are an easy way for a fraudster to recreate a company’s style.
3. Authentication – This is the big one! Consistently include authentication in every email communication with the customers. Name, partial account number, partial address or postcode are all easy for a legitimate company to include in the email body, but impossible for a fraudster. Educate your customer that your emails will always have authentication, so any phishing email becomes instantly recognizable. Make use of the various security features available, such as digital email signatures, DKIM, DMARC and SPF to further authenticate the email and minimize the risk of it ending up in a spam folder.

Taking these steps will minimize the risk of your company and customers becoming the victims of phishing attacks. If you’d like to find out more, contact one of our email specialists...

Keith Russell
striata.com

5 Common challenges organizations face in maintaining email data

Every digital communicator knows that your ability to reach customers starts with valid contact details. If ‘position, position, position’ was the holy grail of the traditional marketing era, then ‘data, data, data’ is its replacement in the digital era.

Getting customers' contact details (and their permission to communicate electronically) is the first step in the digital game. But maintaining the validity of that data has to be an ongoing program, and one that often presents significant challenges to an organization.

The good news is: if data hygiene and reactivation keeps you up at night . . . you are not alone. The bad news is: there’s no easy way out.

Five common challenges organizations face in keeping email data up-to-date:

1. Failure reports are non-negotiable
I am always shocked when I hear the following statement: “We sent the campaign, but have no idea which messages were successfully delivered and which failed.” There is no reason whatsoever to settle for a lack of basic reporting. Any decent email service provider (ESP) or self-service email application will provide standard delivery reporting, so insist on a report indicating the success or failure of each message sent, at the very least.


2. How many is too many when it comes to failures?
Sometimes delivery reports are available, but no intelligence is applied to drive down the percentage of undeliverable email addresses. This impacts on both the reach of a campaign as well as sender reputation, so it’s important to have a strategy around successive failures. Ask yourself the following questions: How many times does an email address fail before it is entered into a hygiene process? Is this based on frequency of contact or the period in which the contacts were attempted?


3. Alternative contact details are vital
If the email address fails enough times to be deemed invalid, it’s crucial that the organization has alternative contact details on record. Keep costs in check by opting for another electronic channel such as mobile text messaging or SMS to request an updated email address, keeping high cost channels such as outbound calls to a minimum.


4. Uploading new addresses
Running email hygiene processes will produce valuable data sets that need to be uploaded onto the master customer information system. It’s surprising how many organizations battle to execute bulk uploads. If this step in the process is not resolved, successfully implementing the first three steps above becomes meaningless.


5. Automating processes
The motto here is: avoid manual processes at all costs. In my opinion, data hygiene programs should be fully automated and regulated, with little to no reliance on human input. The most successful programs I have seen consist of multiple triggers that cater for every failure type with a combination of processes that just run.

To summarize -  if you can:

1. Identify which addresses on your base are undeliverable
2. Define an approach to frequency of failure
3. Use a different channel to get updated email addresses
4. Bulk upload the corrected details, and
5. Automate this whole process . . . .

...then you deserve to sleep well at night, knowing you have achieved what many organizations have not. If not, get in touch with us and one of our email messaging specialists will assist you.

Alison Treadaway
striata.com

The 2012 Banking Challenge: Paper turn-off test cases – predict the outcome

“We offer electronic bills and statements, but can’t get customers to turn-off paper”

Does that sound like you? Striata is often approached by organizations to assist them with turning off paper rather than just providing an electronic billing or secure document delivery service.

Have you heard these excuses from your output management or eBilling team?

“Customers aren’t signing up anymore” or “Sign-ups are good but customers still want the paper as well”

As many eBilling projects hit a plateau of customer adoption, the cost of turning-off each piece of paper increases and the project team hands the hot potato of paperless adoption to the marketing team to come up with ever more inventive and desperate incentives for customers to suppress paper.

The truth is that if you have 25% adoption for eBilling on your customer portal and you are already battling to sustain this paperless adoption rate, you are never going to reach 80% with your current model.

You need a new approach.

But don’t take our word for it – just follow our blog for the next six months as we run the 2012 Banking Challenge – and enter your prediction of the adoption rate for each model below.

Striata is engaged with 3 banking projects – each with a fundamentally different adoption model.

The results from each project will clearly show the value of each approach.

Bank A Profile:

High street UK bank with customer statements within Internet Banking. They wish to drive up to 1 million existing customers to go paperless by incentivising them to sign up to Internet Banking. This is no easy task as these customers have resisted all efforts and incentives to date. All efforts for this process will be 'opt-in' only (you can’t force someone to register for Internet Banking). Process will include email & SMS marketing, as well as call centre scripting. Once registered for Internet Banking, customers have to opt-in for eStatements and turn off the paper.

Bank B Profile:

High Street UK bank is launching Secure eStatements, with registration required on their webpage or through the call centre. Choosing eStatements will automatically turn off the paper. Customers will be informed of the eStatement option via email.

Bank C Profile:

African bank focused on credit card statements. The bank is implementing eStatements with the accelerated Striata eAdoption strategy. Customers with existing email addresses on file will be sent an eStatement, as well as a paper statement for 3 months – after which the paper statement will be turned off, unless the customer specifically asks to remain on paper. Customers without email addresses will be sent a text message (SMS) asking for their email address and then automatically included in the above process. Bounced emails will automatically be sent an SMS asking for an updated email address. Call centre scripting will be amended to ask for an email address as part of the authentication questions and update as required.

All these organisations are our clients and we would like to wish each of them success in their paper turn-off strategy! However, the respective model that is followed will clearly give them a different chance at success.

What do you think the results will be after 6 months for each of the above banks? Input your predictions below and we’ll publish a table of the closest predictions, once the projects have run their course.

Michael Wright
striata.com

Avoid the marketing void - go Transpromo!

Companies are increasingly offering their customers digital solutions to replace paper communications, as this happens, customers are no longer marketed to effectively and a marketing gap occurs.

So, where a statement was sent with a bill stuffer, an email pulling them to the company's portal is now delivered in text format, with no personalisation, tracking and certainly no relevant marketing.

This is where transpromo marketing should be transported from the off-line world to the online world. Transpromo is about adding marketing to transactional messages, which include invoices, statements and bills. These messages enjoy some of the highest open and response rates because they are expected by customers - a perfect platform to add relevant marketing.

There are many of these types of emails leaving organisations with little to no input from the marketing department, because they’re seen as operational and usually ‘managed by IT’. However, every customer touch point should have a consistent voice and brand, which is usually exclusively managed by the marketing department.

These transactional messages should form part of your customer lifecycle communication programme, designed with the customer in mind and created with the aim of increasing revenue or entrenching your brand further.

There are many examples of transpromo marketing on operational and transactional emails, such as dropped basket campaigns and holiday booking confirmations, where this tactic has been used well and the results are evident by the upturn in sales. When implemented well, this type of marketing can really out-perform other media.

It’s not just about increasing sales though, it’s also about getting the customer to take action and engage in this prime email real estate. Adding easy steps to set up a debit order (when the customer hasn’t done so), when sending out a customer’s bill, as an example, can get the customer to take action. But, if this copy remains as a standard in this email, customers will quickly become oblivious to these messages and stop reading them altogether.

A few tips to consider when implementing a transpromo strategy:

• Identify the 'forgotten' transactional emails that are leaving your organisation without any input from marketing
• Tackle one email at a time – it’s a mammoth task, so rather take time to get each one right
• Profile customers and start including messages that are relevant to the individual customer at the time the email reaches them
• Ensure these messages are relevant and that the messages change at regular intervals (don’t simply leave a direct debit message there indefinitely in the hope that the customer will one day act on it)
• Track everything and make changes to maximise your ROI on these emails

Transpromo marketing provides an ideal opportunity to engage your customers when an electronic relationship has already been established. By fully utilizing existing transactional email you can extend your brand, market your services and present offers to customers regularly and effectively.

This blog was originally published on the DMA UK’s infobox newsletter and site - view it here

Mia Papanicolaou 
striata.com

Adopting self-service strategies is no 'field of dreams'

Wow – Customer Self-Service is a really complex topic! I was doing research on how customers adopt self-service channels and found a study by Limebridge, an Australian provider of customer experience solutions. They asked 143 cross-industry participants “to assess their delivery and support of self service functions for customers”.

In the key findings, I found a great deal to validate what I’ve been hearing from my colleagues as part of my ongoing indoctrination into the world of push vs. pull delivery of digital documents. You can read the full report here (24 pages), or just check out my top takeaways, paraphrased-where-not-quoted for the time-crunched (who’s not?).

The majority of organizations have not:

• “removed the process barriers that make it hard for customers to use self service."
• embraced…every day customer interaction mechanisms to support and enhance self-service
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To succeed, not only in portal adoption, but also to simultaneously enhance customer experience, organizations:

• must make “customer adoption easy by reducing the effort for customers in registering for and adopting self-service mechanisms”
• design self service from the perspective of customer usability
• “turn on…SMS, email and click-to-chat to enable customers to interact in ways that they expect".

Overall, the study focuses on ease and convenience of use as the key drivers for successful self service initiatives. It recommends eliminating adoption “barriers such as passwords and registration” by leveraging inexpensive and ubiquitous SMS and email channels, which are, as many studies have shown, preferred by customers.

I think this explains why “portal projects” often fail to achieve adoption targets: processes are built to deliver required functionality, with an “if we build it, they will come” mentality that delivered great profits for the aptly named 1989 blockbuster, “Field of Dreams”, but has proved a path of great resistance for today’s über-busy customer.

Organizations should meet customers on their own ground (email inbox) and make the portal journey effortless by removing registration and password requirements. This creates a customer experience that is seamlessly woven into the fabric of customer daily habits. Using a multichannel strategy that maps to customer behavior can turbo charge any self service initiative.

Striata has case studies for various industries that show how secure document delivery via email compliments a portal self-service offering. We’re happy to share this knowledge with you.

Keira Holland
striata.com