Posts filed under ‘CRM’
Super Subscribers: Saving the Day, Seeding a Loyalty Initiative
An instructive case study of soliciting donors from subscribers at 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle from TRG Arts.
Facing a funding shortfall in 2009/10, 2010/11 subscriber were approached to become “Super Subscribers” and make a donation to “enhance their theatre-going experience“.
This is explained as follows: “Instead of requesting help for the organization, the letter invited patrons to enhance their theater experience with a tax-deductible gift that included experiential benefits: a backstage tour, a one-time guest pass to the major donor lounge, and a show poster of the subscriber’s choice from the upcoming season. Their gift would also support scholarships for the 5th‘s upcoming summer camps, but the primary focus of the ask was on the subscriber’s experience.“
40% of donations came in response to just the direct mail campaign without the need for any follow up calls.
The campaign brought in 453 gifts and a total of $51,189 at a 10% cost-of-sale and analysis by TRG was very interesting:
- “Most Super Subscribers were relatively new to subscribing. 65% included first timers, subscribers of five or fewer years, or patrons returning after letting their subscription lapse.
- Super Subscribers were primarily new donors. 70% had no previous giving history; 30% were lapsed donors.
- Super Subscribers were twice as generous. The campaign’s average gift size was $113, more than double 5th Avenue prior new gift average of $53.73.”
Audience Development may yet, not be, a “non-job”?
A colleague, Jerry Yoshitomi of MeaningMatters, put me on to this article. I find this quite exciting for the future of Audience Development and the development of meaningful consumer models – Voter data crucial to Romney’s victory
No, I am not going to bore you with a regurgitation of the seemingly endless US election process 
I am, however going to wax lyrical about the use of data to segment prospects and inform relationship marketing.
“A central factor in Mitt Romney’s impressive win in New Hampshire was a sophisticated and relentless voter contact program that locked in supporters early and turned them out to the polls.“
Romney’s team “mined reams of consumer information — from the number of purchases voters made at Williams-Sonoma to their range of financial investments — to build a model that would allow them to find and identify potential supporters.“
They used data to prioritise prospects and then implemented an ongoing structured program of communication developed a loyal core.
“Romney operatives expanded a list of 5,000 solid supporters in New Hampshire from his 2008 campaign to more than 25,000 whom they believed they could rely … while also turning out with friends, relatives and colleagues.“
Just imagine if we had audiences on which we could rely and they turned out with friends, relatives and colleagues. Although I am not sure that we would aspire to this approach in the arts?
“In the end, the Romney team credited its successes to persistence — finding those undecided voters leaning their way and just inundating them,” said Romney’s New Hampshire director, Jason McBride.
Let’s hope that the arts can learn from this constituent development and use similar data mining tools for substantive audience development. Maybe we can then put to bed the accusations of nay-sayers like the recalcitrant Eric Pickles who variously called audience development an “non-job” or a “pointless post”.
What do you reckon about the likely impact of these Marketing Trends on CRM in 2012?
Here are some more predictions of marketing trends that will impact CRM in 2012 according to Judith Aquino of CRM.COM in 5 Hot Marketing Trends (not surprisingly, mobile is at the top):
- Mobile Marketing
- QR Codes
- Voice Of Customer (VOC) Monitoring
- Social Media Marketing
- Video
Finally, she suggests an additional trend with the ‘news’ that Groupon and Daily Deals sites have fallen to earth and are no longer seen as the ‘answer’. Surely, you would have to suggest that they were only ever good for pissing of existing and loyal customers with unfocussed discounts in the guise of prospecting for new customers – BUT without gaining any personal details with which to build an ongoing relationship with those new prospects?
Will This Be The Start of CMR as Opposed to CRM?
It seems we may be seeing the start of a legislative push added to the slow industry evolution from Customer Relationship Management (CRM) toward Customer Managed Relationships (CMR).
In April this year, the UK Government launched a new consumer empowerment strategy “designed to encourage businesses to release their customer data back to them so that consumers can use this data for their own purposes.”
The Government has boasted that the ‘midata’ project will “turn the existing approach towards consumers on its head (with) a shift away from a world in which certain businesses tightly control the information they hold about consumers, towards one in which individuals along or in groups, can use their data or feedback for their own or mutual benefit“.
Information sharing as opposed to data access or the archaic concept of customer data ownership is put in context by Alan Mitchell, strategy director of market analyst Ctrl-Shift and a member of the Midata Project Board:
“firstly it is mindset – there is another way of thinking about the whole area of customer data – and also process.“
“The trust element is really important and that works across terms and conditions, privacy policies, actual data policies, data management policies, customer training, staff training, staff incentives, and so on. So it is actually quite a good programme of change across a number of areas – the trust, the mechanisms, and the value. And that is why we are saying it really is an evolution, but it is happening already.”
The Ctrl-Shift publication The new personal data landscape, “demonstrates that the trend towards individuals managing their own data is mostly happening beyond the radar of organisations’ existing concerns but is nevertheless changing the environment in which they operate, including customer behaviours and expectations.”
From hoarding to sharing: CRM and the democratisation of data management
OK, do we finally have a RoI for CRM?
No, I am not having an annoying acronym attack, maybe a bit of alliteration though
This is the headline that got my attention: CRM Returns $5.60 for Every Dollar Invested.
With “an average benefit of $5.60 returned for every dollar spent” investing in CRM as they say is a “no-brainer”.
They also suggest that if other capabilities like social, analytics and mobile access are added there is a further multiplier and sustainability.
The full RESEARCH NOTE is available online CRM PAYS BACK $5.60 FOR EVERY DOLLAR SPENT
Who are the Big 3 in the War in the cloud?
A quick primer to the main providers of CRM in the cloud and currently battling it out:
1. Microsoft Dynamics CRM
“If you are an Outlook shop, Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a no brainer. The application’s core offering is your standard fare CRM feature set, but it is adding social media functionality as fast as it can.“
2. Oracle Public Cloud
“brings its formidable database and business application bona fides — of which CRM is just one part — to the cloud.“
3. Salesforce.com
Just need someone to solve that issue of integrating external ticketing software/service transactions for those stuck in venues with exclsuive ticketing contracts …
Do you know of any other successful integrations of CRM with ticketing solutions?
I was contacted by Lauren Carlson a CRM Analyst with Software Advice.
Lauren introduced me to a review she wrote on five CRM alternatives to consider other than Salesforce, namely:
- Microsoft Dynamics CRM
- NetSuite OneWorld CRM
- Oracle CRM On Demand
- Sage SalesLogix
- SugarCRM
The review is Salesforce Alternatives | 5 Cloud CRM Systems to Consider
I recommend having a browse, not because I have a problem with Salesforce. However, I do think that comparison is always useful, as is competition. I would also suggest that the needs of entertainment wrt CRM are specific and the major requirement that is not addressed by any of these is integration with transaction capability, such as ticketing, memberships or donations.
There is are only two such integrations I know of currently:
- Patron Manager is built on a Salesforce platform and incorporates a variety of transaction types (including: Ticketing, Subscriptions and Donations) within the web-based service developed by Patron technology in New York.
- Event2CRM is an integration of Microsoft Dynamics and Eventbrite online ticketing developed by CRM Innovation in Kansas.
Do you know of any other integrations of CRM with ticketing solutions? Let us know by all means by adding a comment to this blog.
There is a short common sense summary available from Software Advice: Ten Steps to Selecting the Right CRM Software that you can download after registering.
How do you assess loyalty? What is loyal?
How do you assess what is working in a loyalty program?
Of course, the first thing to decide is how you measure success.
It is often suggested that a loyalty program is working if it accomplishes at least one of two objectives:
- clients are either holding onto their customers longer or,
- are getting them to spend more with the brand.
Kobie Marketing believes that there is only one variable for measuring loyalty – engagement.
“Engagement is a minimum threshold variable that can measure individual member’s contributions to the program’s bottom line. In other words, if a member has an actively engaged relationship with the brand and program, we should measure their contribution. If the relationship is passive, we say don’t include them in positive performance metrics.“
McKinsey in The Consumer Decision Journey discusses these different kinds of loyalty – active and passive:
“Of consumers who profess loyalty to a brand, some are active loyalists, who not only stick with it but also recommend it. Others are passive loyalists who, whether from laziness or confusion caused by the dizzying array of choices, stay with a brand without being committed to it. Despite their claims of allegiance, passive consumers are open to messages from competitors who give them a reason to switch.“
This suggests that we may need the reality of a harsher measure of loyalty in the arts and entertainment to move beyond the false expectations of a fickle passive loyalty. Much of the shadow audience can only be considered passively loyal and the audience attracted to one of your shows only when it is a hit is at best – passively loyal. Actively loyal supporters are more valuable as they will support the challenging rather than just the easy or safe bets.
I have seen it quoted we should measure audiences not by tickets, but by customers. The view above adds another qualifier to measuring audience loyalty to only actually counting those actively engaged.
So simple, but this could be a great use of transaction data to quantify RFM
This may well be old news to some, but I just loved the simplicity and the subsequent actionability (is that a word?).
I want a ticketing system that offers such a simple KPI of engagement. Gotta copyright that! BUT, you have to start with data that can identify individual customers and build a history of transactions.
Hmmmm, I gotta try this out. Let me know if you do before I do.
Is Recency the Most Important Factor to Drive Engagement?
Oh, I like his name of the source too, Email Yogi: your guide to multi-channel enlightenment
Fractured Atlas release Artful.ly – cloud based precursor to ATHENA
Artful.ly is a cloud-based event ticketing and relationship management solution for the arts developed by Fractured Atlas. Artful.ly is a hosted version of ATHENA – the open source software platform for the cultural sector that Fracture Atlas has been working on.
Fractured Atlas is a non-profit organisation that serves artists and arts organisations. Its programs and services offer vital support to artists and arts organizstions which it helps to function more effectively as businesses by providing access to funding, healthcare, education, and more.
“Artful.ly provides cloud-based event ticketing and relationship management for artists and arts organizations. Sell tickets, collect donations, track your patrons, and build your audience using a set of simple online tools. The basic service is free – we cover our costs through a modest $2 per ticket surcharge, which only applies to credit card sales processed via Artful.ly (free events and cash sales are free).“
A development to watch with interest.
