Case study RWE (consulting project)
Double-digit conversion rate thanks to multistep email campaign
Consulting customer
RWE Vertrieb AG bundles the distribution activities of
the RWE Group while focusing on regional identity,
a proximity to customers and exceptional customer
service.
www.rwe.de
Facts:
“
Products or services that require detailed explanations can be effectively communicated via the email
channel. As such offers demand a dose of “brainwork” from the recipients, a multistep approach is
often the best choice. The successful RWE Vertrieb
AG conversion campaign is an impressive example
of how this works. The campaign was conceived and
executed by the optivo consulting team.
An offer that requires explanation
Multistep conversion campaign
Subject line test as a key campaign component
Renewed dispatch for non-openers
Reminders to email openers not registering
An incentive as a special inducement to register
11% conversion rate
Jennifer Tamblyn,
Sales Channel Manager
at RWE Vertrieb AG
Email invitation to register for the “Online Customer Account”
RWE Vertrieb AG is a part of Germany’s second largest energy supplier RWE. The company gives its private customers
the opportunity to register for its “Online Customer Account”
free of charge. The online account allows customers to make
changes to their personal information, to enter their meter
“We faced the challenge of having to communicate an
offer that required explanation to our recipients. Upon
recommendation from the optivo consulting team, we
decided to implement a multistep approach. Paired
with a high value incentive, the conversion campaign
considerably exceeded our expectations.”
A company of
Deutsche Post DHL
Case study RWE (consulting project)
values and make consumption projections as well as enabling
the management of payment instalments. To encourage more
customers to use the “Online Customer Account”, RWE
conducted a targeted conversion campaign. All customers
not already registered were to be informed via email about the
advantages of registration. RWE commissioned the optivo
consulting team to design the campaign concept.
Conceptional considerations
For the purpose of the campaign’s development, it was considered that a high conversion rate could not be attained from
just a single email. On the one hand, opening rates of 40% or
more are seldom achieved with private consumers, and on the
other, high conversion rates arising from an initial contact for a
service requiring explanation are simply difficult to attain.
To obtain the highest possible opening rate, a preliminary
split-test for the subject line was developed. In addition, each
recipient not opening the email was to receive a subsequent
email with a new subject line.
An incentive was also offered to ensure a maximum conversion
rate. Each registering recipient was to receive a SmartHome
pack, which allows the control of household electrical devices.
Recipients clicking on the offer but not successfully registering
were to be sent a special reminder email prompting them to
complete the process.
The goal of the conversion campaign was that a total of 3% of
all recipients register for the “Online Customer Account”.
4-phase implementation
The RWE campaign was executed in conjunction with optivo
consulting. The dispatch was conducted in a full service mode
by optivo customer service.
Phase 1: Split-test of the subject lines
To achieve maximum results in the main mailing, a split-test of
the subject line was conducted prior to sending to the entire
distribution list. For each of the two different subject lines,
3,000 recipients were selected from the main distribution list
to be sent the first campaign email:
Subject line A “Complete control of costs with your Online
“Customer Account”
Subject line B “RWE SmartHome – test the future for free”
While subject line “A” placed the spotlight on the key benefits
of the “Online Customer Account” and thereby aimed squarely
at the cost awareness of recipients, the focus of subject line
“B” was on the incentive as the campaign “door opener”.
The split-test results were evaluated after 24 hours. The
analysis showed that subject line “A” possessed a 21% higher
opening rate compared to subject line “B” and also received
36% more clicks.
Phase 2: Main dispatch in 3 steps
All remaining recipients, i.e. those not addressed during the
split-test, were sent the first mailing on the following day with
subject line A. The response was well above the expectations,
with an opening rate of 49% and a click rate of 17%. However,
a conversion rate of only 1% could be achieved at this stage
of the campaign.
To help increase the conversion rate further, all non-opening
recipients were sent another campaign email 4 days later.
The content was identical but the subject line was new. The
changed subject line was intended to create interest and curiosity among recipients:
Subject line C “Do you want to save electricity, time and
hard cash?”
With this second main dispatch, the campaign opening rate
could be increased to 60%.
Recipients also failing to open this second email received
a third email 4 days later. The subject line was altered once
again while the content remained unchanged. With a strong
call-to-action, the new subject line created pressure to take
action:
Subject line D “The Online Customer Account: Secure your
“welcome gift now!”
Phase 3: First reminder in 3 steps
The third campaign phase involved sending a new email to
those who, while opening an email in the main dispatch, did
not register for the “Online Customer Account”. The corresponding campaign email was sent 4 days after the opened
email from the main dispatch.
The contents of the reminder corresponded with those in the
main email, yet were presented in another order. Here, the advantages of the “Online Customer Account” were made more
pronounced while the incentive was given secondary importance. The reasoning behind this was that if the SmartHome
A company of
Deutsche Post DHL
Case study RWE (consulting project)
package was an insufficient incentive, only a more detailed
communication of the benefits could lead to a registration.
The subject line of the reminder email was:
Subject line E “Do you want to avoid a back payment?
“Register now for the Online Customer
“Account!”
off until the campaign process was in full swing. The RWE
campaign shows that multistep measures ensure considerably
better results for products or services that require detailed
explanations. This not least holds true for campaign goals that
involve some kind effort on the part of the recipient, such as in
the case at RWE where a registration form needed to be completed. This is so because multiple impulses compel recipients
to look at the offers in question more intensively.
placing the focus squarely on the financial aspect, which had
already shown the best results in the split-test for the first main
dispatch.
Depending on which of the three main dispatches the recipient opened, these mailings were also sent in three steps.
After completion of all three steps of the reminder mailing, the
conversion rate was 7%.
Phase 4: Second reminder
All recipients that did not open the reminder email were sent a
further reminder 7 days later. This included the same contents
as in the first reminder. The subject line was, however, once
again fine-tuned in order to increase the pressure to act:
Subject line F “You still have the chance to register for the
“Online Customer Account for free!”
The campaign concluded with the dispatch of the second
reminder. In total, the RWE campaign achieved an impressive
overall conversion rate of 11%.
Positive result
More than every tenth recipient registered for the RWE
“Online Customer Account”. As such, the originally envisaged
3% conversion rate was significantly surpassed. After its
conclusion, the campaign had achieved almost four times this
amount.
While the opening and click rates were already very high
following the initial email, the conversions didn’t really take
Reminder for email openers that did not register
You want to expand and professionalise your email marketing? Our experts are happy to
support you in finding the perfect measures to reach your goals. Contact us via
[email protected].
optivo GmbH
Wallstrasse 16
10179 Berlin
Tel.: +49(0)30-76 80 78 0
Fax: +49(0)30-76 80 78 499
www.optivo.com
[email protected]
A company of
Deutsche Post DHL