Event Driven Marketing (EDM) offers customers a product or service at precisely the moment they most need one as certain events require timely and appropriate responses.
The EDM concept rests on two key pillars:
- indication of an opportunity (potential customers at an appropriate moment), and
- response to it
Consider this scenariofrom the insurance industry: A young man in his twenties takes out a life insurance policy. At the age of thirty he changes his address and raises the sum insured indicating that the client is settling down, getting married, or starting a family. Using EDM to respond to the event the insurer can offer the client house, life and accident insurance at the most appropriate, time.
Events and processes driven by events can be optimized to achieve greater success in the course of a campaign according to customers’ reactions as campaigns are always configured to correspond to the client’s commercial demands and capacities. In practice, EDM runs in parallel with and complements classic communication channels. It is essential to detect events quickly and to respond to them as quickly as possible in order to offer clients and customers new products or other activities. Once recognized, pre-defined processes are triggered immediately, a response is sent off within one or two days, ideally on-line.
Key components of EDM are:
- process analysis
- data analysis
- pilot operation
- assessment
- automation
When this comprehensive approach is set up, ideally in conjunction with the campaign management system, the entire library of events is implemented in the IT infrastructure and processes.
Due to the fact that EDM campaigns are on a smaller scale and better targeted, these campaigns are typically five times more successful than general ones. Customers will welcome the day when someone else will sort out their actual situation or problem promptly and effortlessly resulting in improved customer service. EDM produces a much higher response rate as customers are not burdened with superfluous communication, reduces communication costs, and last but not least, customer loyalty is increased.
Ascertaining events is by no means limited to sales and marketing opportunities. This knowledge may provide valuable insight for other departments such as risk. EDM is a benefit for any company that is running or would like to run marketing or customer care campaigns such as banks, telecommunications operators, credit and investment companies, insurance companies, amongst others.
