When Specsavers first launched in 2008, mail was its only communication channel. Over the years, the eyewear supplier has developed a carefully targeted multi-channel marketing strategy, incorporating mail, email and SMS. Head of CRM, eCommerce and Strategic Partnerships Dario Garma confirms mail is still extremely effective – especially for clinical communications.
“As you get older, your eyes naturally start to deteriorate – so age is a big component. There’s a greater need once people hit that 40 to 45 age mark.” He then targets higher-spend mail campaigns to those who were in a store recently. “The longer it’s been, the harder it is to get someone back – so if someone has lapsed four years or more, mail may not be as cost-effective.” The third part of Dario’s ‘formula’ is frequency, and that is determined by Specsavers’ optometrists.
“Most customers will get a reminder every two years and around 20% of customers – depending on their age and other health factors will get a reminder every year.” The most important thing Dario has learned is to follow up. “You can’t just rely on one communication. Repetition is really important. You need to assess that and test over time,” he says.
“Mail not only helps with retention, it’s also an acquisition play with the same piece of communication,” says Dario. “We measure how many people come in from the same household, because they were influenced by that main decision maker we mailed.” He notes that people tend to keep eye test reminders on the kitchen bench or in the home office because they know they’ve got to get it done. “Whereas, with an email or SMS, if you don’t act on it straight away it’s forgotten.
Specsavers has contact addresses for around 95% of its customers, so it can personalise every piece of mail – including the preferred Specsavers store. “Whereas we’ve only got email addresses for about 60%,” says Dario. “So if we only used email, we’d miss out on 35% of our customers.”
Source: auspost.com.au