Full Marketing Strategy for an American Online Personal Finance Company

An American online personal finance company sought to boost its home loan products, particularly focusing on Home Equity Loans, amidst a competitive market landscape. The company partnered with SIS International to develop and execute a full marketing strategy to generate demand, acquire new customers, and ensure ongoing engagement and retention.

Key Results

Increased Brand Awareness:
- The targeted social media advertising campaigns and effective public relations activities led to a 35% increase in brand awareness within the home loans sector.
- Content marketing efforts, including high-quality blog posts and video content, attracted substantial organic traffic to the company’s website.
Higher Lead Generation:
- Paid advertising and lead-generation campaigns significantly boosted the number of new leads, resulting in a 40% increase in lead-to-customer conversion rates.
- The implementation of referral programs saw a 25% rise in customer referrals.
Enhanced Customer Activation and Onboarding:
- In-app notifications and personalized support initiatives ensured a smooth onboarding process, with a 30% improvement in the activation rate of new customers.
- Automated email workflows and interactive onboarding guides contributed to a higher onboarding completion rate.
Improved Customer Engagement and Retention:
- Personalized recommendations and engaging content updates maintained ongoing customer engagement, resulting in a 20% increase in customer interaction rates.
- Proactive support and exclusive content access enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty, reducing churn rates by 15%.
Successful Cross-Sell Opportunities:
- Data-driven insights allowed for effective cross-selling of additional products, with a 22% increase in cross-sell conversion rates.
Effective Churn Prevention and Winback:
- Winback campaigns and flexible loan terms successfully brought back 18% of former customers, while churn analysis helped identify and address key risk factors.

Objectives

Research Objectives

The primary objectives of the lifecycle marketing strategy for the company’s home loan products were:

Acquire New Customers: Develop and implement strategies to attract new customers to the home loan offerings, particularly focusing on the Home Equity Loans vertical.
Generate Demand: Create effective demand-generation campaigns to drive interest and awareness of home loan products.
Ensure Ongoing Engagement and Retention: Maintain continuous engagement with existing customers to foster long-term loyalty and minimize churn.

Strategic Objectives and Goals for Lifecycle Marketing

Activation and Onboarding:
- Ensure Effective Activation: Implement strategies to activate new customers, providing them with the necessary information and support to use home loan products.
- Seamless Onboarding Experience: Create a seamless onboarding process that builds trust and satisfaction from the outset.
Engagement and Retention:
- Ongoing Engagement: Develop strategies to keep customers informed and involved with the company’s home loan offerings.
- Retention Programs: Implement retention programs to minimize churn and encourage long-term loyalty.
Cross-Sell Opportunities:
- Identify Cross-Sell Opportunities: Use data-driven insights to identify and personalize cross-sell offers, enhancing overall customer value.
- Increase Cross-Sell Acceptance: Develop targeted campaigns to increase the likelihood of customers accepting cross-sell offers.

Strategy Development

Demand Generation and Acquisition

To generate demand for the company’s home loan products, particularly Home Equity Loans, and to acquire new customers, the following strategies were developed and implemented:

Demand Generation:
- Targeted Advertising: Implement social media advertising on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to highlight the unique benefits of the home loan products and direct users to the company’s website or landing pages.
- Content Marketing: Create high-quality blog posts, articles, and videos addressing common questions and pain points related to home loans. Topics included the benefits of refinancing, applying for a home equity loan, and tips for first-time homebuyers.
- SEO and SEM: Optimize the company’s online presence through search engine optimization and marketing, focusing on keywords related to home loans, refinancing, and home equity products to drive organic and paid search traffic.
Customer Acquisition:
- Paid Advertising: Run pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns on Google Ads and social media platforms to drive traffic to dedicated landing pages for home loans. Utilize retargeting ads to re-engage users who previously visited the site but did not convert.
- Referral Programs: Offer incentives such as cash bonuses or discounted rates to encourage existing customers to refer friends and family.
- Lead Generation Campaigns: Implement gated content, webinars, and online calculators that capture user information in exchange for valuable resources. For example, an online home loan calculator provides personalized rate estimates.
- Email Marketing: Use targeted email campaigns to nurture leads, explaining the benefits of home loans, sharing customer testimonials, and providing step-by-step guides on the application process.

Strategic Objectives for Lifecycle Marketing

Activation and Onboarding:
- In-App Notifications: Use in-app notifications and messages to remind new customers of important milestones and actions they need to take, such as submitting additional documentation or scheduling a home appraisal.
- Personalized Support: Offer personalized support through dedicated account managers or customer service representatives to assist new customers with questions or issues.
- Welcome Emails: Send welcome emails introducing new customers to home loan products, highlighting key features, and providing essential information about their loans.
- Onboarding Guides: Develop comprehensive onboarding guides and FAQs, including videos and step-by-step instructions, to help customers navigate the initial stages of their home loan journey.
Engagement and Retention:
- Personalized Recommendations: Use data analytics to provide personalized product recommendations and offers based on customer behavior and preferences. For example, suggest refinancing options when rates drop or offer home equity loan opportunities based on property values.
- Events and Webinars: Host virtual events and webinars on homeownership, mortgage management, and financial planning, inviting industry experts to provide insights and answer customer questions.
- Content Updates: Regularly update customers with valuable content, such as market trends, tips for homeowners, and advice on managing mortgages through newsletters, blog posts, and in-app content.
- Interactive Features: Implement interactive features within the app, such as mortgage calculators, home valuation tools, and budget planners, to keep customers engaged and informed.
Retention Programs:
- Proactive Support: Offer proactive customer support to resolve issues quickly and effectively, ensuring a positive experience that encourages retention.
- Exclusive Content: Provide access to exclusive content and resources, such as personalized financial advice, to help customers manage their home loans and overall financial health.
- Loyalty Programs: Develop loyalty programs that reward customers for staying with the company, such as offering discounted rates on additional loans or providing exclusive benefits for long-term customers.
- Regular Check-Ins: Schedule regular check-ins with customers to review their mortgage terms, discuss potential refinancing options, and address any concerns they may have.
Churn Prevention and Winback:
- Winback Campaigns: Implement winback campaigns targeting former customers with personalized offers and incentives to return, highlighting any improvements or new features that address their previous concerns.
- Flexible Terms: Offer flexible loan terms and refinancing options to meet customers’ changing needs and encourage them to stay with the company.
- Churn Analysis: Use data analytics to identify patterns and risk factors associated with customer churn, developing targeted interventions to address these issues before customers decide to leave.
- Exit Surveys: Conduct surveys to understand why customers leave and gather insights on improving services.
Cross-Sell Opportunities:
- Identify Cross-Sell Opportunities: Use data-driven insights to identify opportunities to cross-sell additional products and services to home loan customers, enhancing overall customer value.
- Personalize Cross-Sell Offers: Develop targeted campaigns using personalized messaging and offers based on customer data to increase the likelihood of customers accepting cross-sell offers.

Implementation

Channels Used

Outbound Channels:
- Email Marketing: Deliver personalized content, updates, and offers directly to customers’ inboxes. Types of emails included welcome series, promotional campaigns, and educational content.
- Push Notifications: Send timely and relevant messages to customers’ mobile devices, keeping them informed and engaged. Examples included rate alerts, milestone updates, and promotional offers.
- SMS: Deliver concise and immediate messages for high-priority communications, such as appointment reminders, security alerts, and quick tips.
- Influencer Marketing: Partner with influencers to create sponsored posts, videos, or stories highlighting home loan features and benefits. Run giveaways and contests to generate excitement and engagement. Host live Q&A sessions or webinars with financial experts and real estate influencers.
In-App Channels:
- In-App Messages: Suggest relevant home loan products based on customer behavior and preferences. Provide progress updates on loan applications and engagement prompts to explore additional features and services.
- Inline Product Ads: Integrate promotional messages and product ads within the app experience without intruding, highlighting cross-sell opportunities, upgrade offers, and retention incentives.
- Content Cards: Provide visually engaging content and offers within the app interface, featuring educational articles, interactive tools, and promotional highlights.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

To evaluate the success and effectiveness of the lifecycle marketing strategies for the company’s home loan products, the following KPIs were tracked and analyzed:

Website Traffic:
- Metrics: Number of visitors to the home loans landing pages, unique visitors, page views, bounce rate.
- Importance: Indicates the effectiveness of awareness and acquisition campaigns in driving potential customers to the website.
Lead Generation:
- Metrics: Number of new leads captured through marketing efforts, cost per lead (CPL), lead-to-customer conversion rate.
- Importance: Measures the success of lead generation campaigns and the efficiency of converting leads into paying customers.
Conversion Rate:
- Metrics: Percentage of leads that convert into paying customers, conversion rate by channel, overall conversion rate.
- Importance: Reflects the effectiveness of acquisition strategies and the ability to turn interest into action.
Activation Rate:
- Metrics: Percentage of new customers who complete the initial steps of the onboarding process, time to activation.
- Importance: Indicates how well the activation strategies are working to get new customers started with their home loans.
Onboarding Completion Rate:
- Metrics: Percentage of new customers who complete the full onboarding process, dropout rate during onboarding.
- Importance: Measures the effectiveness of the onboarding process in retaining new customers through the critical early stages.
Engagement Rate:
- Metrics: Customers’ interaction with communications and services, email open and click-through rates, push notification engagement, in-app message interactions.
- Importance: Reflects ongoing customer engagement and the effectiveness of engagement strategies.
Usage Frequency:
- Metrics: Frequency of service usage, number of logins, usage of specific features.
- Importance: Indicates how often customers use the home loan services, reflecting overall engagement and satisfaction.
Customer Retention Rate:
- Metrics: Percentage of customers who continue to use home loan services over a specified period, monthly/quarterly retention rate, churn rate.
- Importance: Measures the effectiveness of retention strategies and customer loyalty.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV):
- Metrics: Total revenue generated by customers over their entire relationship with the company, average revenue per user (ARPU), CLTV.
- Importance: Reflects customers’ long-term value and strategies’ success in maximizing customer value.
Cross-Sell Rate:
- Metrics: Percentage of existing customers who purchase additional products, cross-sell conversion rate, revenue from cross-sell opportunities.
- Importance: Indicates the success of cross-selling strategies in increasing overall customer value.
Net Promoter Score (NPS):
- Metrics: Customer satisfaction and willingness to recommend the company’s services, NPS, customer satisfaction surveys.
- Importance: Measures overall customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing insights into the customer experience.

Lessons Learned

Successes

Integrated Marketing Approach: The comprehensive and integrated marketing strategy leveraging multiple channels (email, social media, in-app notifications, etc.) proved highly effective in reaching and engaging a wide audience.
Personalization: Tailoring marketing messages and offers based on customer data significantly increased engagement and conversion rates. Personalized support and recommendations were critical in enhancing the customer experience.
Content Marketing: High-quality content that addressed customer pain points and questions helped to build trust and authority, driving significant organic traffic and improving SEO performance.
Referral Programs: Incentivizing existing customers to refer friends and family effectively generated new leads, demonstrating the power of word-of-mouth marketing.
Retention Strategies: Proactive support, exclusive content, and loyalty programs were crucial in reducing churn and building long-term customer loyalty.

Challenges

Data Integration: Integrating data from various marketing channels to create a unified customer profile was complex and required significant technical investment. This was essential for effective personalization and cross-channel consistency.
Churn Prevention: Despite proactive strategies, preventing customer churn remained challenging, highlighting the need for continuous monitoring and improvement of customer retention efforts.
Winback Campaigns: Although winback campaigns were successful, they required careful targeting and personalization to address why customers had left.
Onboarding Process: Ensuring a seamless and smooth onboarding experience was critical, and any hiccups in this phase could lead to early drop-offs. Continuous feedback collection and process refinement were necessary.

Conclusion

Implementing a full marketing strategy for the American online personal finance company’s home loan products demonstrated significant successes in boosting brand awareness, acquiring new customers, enhancing engagement, and retaining customers. Key elements of this success included personalized marketing tactics, high-quality content, and comprehensive lifecycle strategies.

Key Achievements:

A 35% increase in brand awareness through targeted advertising and PR activities.
A 40% rise in lead-to-customer conversion rates due to effective lead-generation campaigns.
A 30% improvement in activation rates and higher onboarding completion rates, facilitated by personalized support and automated workflows.
A 20% increase in customer interaction rates and a 15% reduction in churn, driven by proactive engagement and retention strategies.
A 22% increase in cross-sell conversion rates, leveraging data-driven insights and personalized offers.
Successful winback campaigns that brought back 18% of former customers.

About SIS International

SIS International offers Quantitative, Qualitative, and Strategy Research. We provide data, tools, strategies, reports, and insights for decision-making. We also conduct interviews, surveys, focus groups, and other Market Research methods and approaches. Contact us for your next Market Research project.