Säästöpankki is a finnish savings bank group which have a history going back over 190 years. The Savings Banks Group's central business segments are banking, asset management and life insurance. The company’s aim is to work for customers’ savings and economic well-being. The main principals of the company are being customer-oriented and local.
Säästöpankki launched a project to digitalize their customer magazine that previously existed merely in printed form. LianaMailer newsletter tool was chosen as the platform, with which the group started creating both newsletters and landing sites for their customers. The received feedback on the bank's newsletters has been positive. Customers have been contacting the company with delighted attitude. The results of the letters are significant also statistically. Open-rate and Click-through-rate have been higher than average compared to the results that finance industry usually have in B2C- environment. In the following case, we present some of the factors which led to the success of the Savings Bank Group.
What made it successful?
Systematic planning and effort
One of the most typical mistakes in email marketing is to confront the situation without being adequately prepared. It's important to remember that successful email marketing requires also meaningful content along with planning and appropriate tools. In the case of Säästöpankki, expectations were high towards email marketing and the channel. However, the company was also prepared to invest in it. Time and effort has been put into the planning and execution. On top of this, results are being systematically measured and constantly developed.
Increasing the amount of subscribers
Already before the first newsletters went out, the focus had been on increasing the amount of subscribers. The process of gathering new subscribers involved in the personnel of the bank, who asked permissions to send newsletters in customer meetings and through telephone conversations. Opt in-subscribers have been collected through different ways, for example, using competitions and campaigns. The subscriber base has been increased through multiple channels by using social media along with other web services.
Embracing mobile-friendliness
Along with newsletter's subscription page and layout, landing sites were made for the company using LianaMailer tool. Landing sites are sites that readers are moved onto via newsletter's links. The subscription page, newsletter's layout and landing sites have been designed responsive. Hence mobile friendliness is taken into account in each phase all the way to landing sites. By doing so companies can ensure that opening the newsletter with a mobile device won't frustrate the receiver to bounce off due to poor browsing experience.
Personalization
With the help of personalization, the feel of personality can be brought into email marketing. It also helps to give more relevant information to the customer. In the case of Säästöpankki some of the bank's front offices personalized the newsletter’s sender details, contact information and the way of contact. The results were superior. The letter worked even better when customers received the letter from their local front office.
Optimization and testing
In terms of deliveries, the company has been invested in optimization and testing. For example, in email marketing the headline has a significant role considering the success of the delivery. If the headline doesn't encourage customer to open the letter, meaningful content may get wasted. Consequently, when deciding a headline, different options should be considered, for example, with the help of A/B testing. Using this approach the most suitable headline option will be found.
Along with the headline, the company has taken the newsletter's preheader and delivery time into consideration. Automatic preheader is one of the three first things (sender, headline and preheader) the letter's receiver sees. Eventhough the preheader can't be seen in all email programs, it might uplift the letter among the other emails, for example, in Gmail and Apple Mail.
There is no right answer for optimal delivery time for newsletters. Preferences vary a lot case-by-case and based on the target group. The company's first newsletter, composed with LianaMailer, was sent the day before midsummer, which is quite an unusual delivery time for work related emails. Nevertheless, the results were outstanding since almost half of the receivers opened the newsletter.
The main thing to do, when searching the optimal delivery time, is to test different options. For example, the opening time depends on whether the email is personal or work related. On the other hand, more and more people are using the same email for both personal and work emails. Occasionally, unusual delivery times may work particularly well due to quiet email traffic as far as other emails are concerned.
Content and engagement
The content has played a huge role in Säästöpankki’s newsletter success. The content, praised by the readers, has been at the same time practical and light enough. The readers have also been engaged by actively asking their opinions concerning the letter and its content.
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