Finding the right prospects online A Sallie Mae case study

Rick ErwinPresident, Targeting,Experian Marketing Services

Joyce D’AddioDigital Marketing DirectorSallie Mae, Upromise

Jennifer AstleSr. Director, Channel MktgSallie Mae, Upromise

Your presenters

Bob BaerDirector of Online AcquisitionSallie Mae, Upromise

Agenda• What’s old is new• Who is Upromise?• Upromise’s business challenges• Why Experian?• Modeling and optimization• Display campaigns• Campaign KPIs• Results

Then Now

List Audience

Service Bureau DMP/Onboarding Partner

Printing & Letter shop DSP

Direct mail Digital Media Impressions

What’s old is new

Marketers: People:Delivering • the right offers• at the right time• to the right

person

Searching • what they want• when they want it• where ever it may

be

Direct Marketing

Digital Marketing

Who is Upromise by Sallie Mae?

Upromise by Sallie Mae• Upromise is a simple, yet powerful cash back rewards

program where members can turn everyday spending into money for college.

• 15MM+ members; $700MM+ in member savings to date• Mission: “To help people save, plan and pay for college”• Member composition:

• Parents of high school students• Parents of young children• Students

• Free to join

How members can save• Earn 5% cash back on online purchases with 900+ retailers & travel

agencies• Earn cash back when dining, getting groceries, or filling up your tank at

specified retailers• Earn 1% on every purchase using a Upromise credit card

What members can do with their earnings• Keep in Upromise account• Transfer Upromise savings into a 529 plan• Use Upromise savings to pay down a

Sallie Mae student loan• Transfer Upromise savings into Sallie Mae high-yield savings account

Upromise Products

Upromise Business ModelHow does Upromise make money?• When a member transacts with a Upromise partner, the

partner funds the member’s savings and Upromise revenue

Who is Upromise’s ideal customer?• Joins and stays engaged with the rewards program • Adopts 1 or more financial products

Business Challenges

GoalCurrent statusFind the right customers @ the

right time who will transact consistently and engage with 1 or

more Financial Products

Many people signing upfor free service, but not

transacting regularly

$M $M $M $M $M $M

Revenue increased by

150%Year over year

Key Challenge

From casting a wide net… To honing in on the ideal target

Low Engaged Members

Grocery

AffiliatesProspect

Email

Key Question• How do we find our ideal target and increase the odds that the prospect will

become an engaged member?

• “Ideal” Upromise member- Transacts frequently with our partners- Eligible for financial products - Skews toward higher credit quality with above average levels of

disposable income

Database MarketingConcepts

• Apply database marketing concepts and strategies to online display

• Powerful targeting capabilities available by combining traditional marketing strategies and new technology

• Advertise to your ideal prospect where they are, not where you think they might be

Traditional Offline Marketing Goes Digital

New, active Customers

Join Upromise

DeliverDisplay Ads

CookieTargetingModel

Bestcustomer

SummaryKey question: How does Upromise find customers who will engage in the Upromise service?

Why Experian?

• Confidence in data quality and analytical capabilities

• Breadth of data sources

• Reach of ad network

• Similar privacy and compliance standard

Modeling

Define High Value Customer within Sallie Mae CRM1

Apply to ConsumerView and identify 200-300 variables that best define audience2

Create model with these variables.Rank entire US population3

Target top deciles online4

Display Modeling Process with Experian

Bestcustomer

Find moreof them

Identify andprofile your

best customer

Getting Started• Use key criteria for defining

“best customer”

• Create model usingUpromise’s existingcustomer base

• Build lookalike models to find other people wholook like Upromise’s best customers

Model ObjectivesTarget individuals with the following attributes:

• Prospects with a high potential to be active Online Mall purchasers

• Prospects with a high potential to develop into Financial Product consumers

• Customers who have been enrolled since 2010 and have had online mall purchase since 2011

Max(score 1,score 2)

Sallie Mae loan holder look-alike

model score

Credit Cardlook-alike

model score

Online look-alike

model

Online Mall Purchasers – Model

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Perc

en

t o

f O

LM

Cu

sto

mers

Percent of Prospects

Model Lift: Online Mall customers vs ConsumerView

Baseline Online Mall Customer model

38%

34%

72% of likely best customers are found in top 30% of ranked data

Display Advertising

Define best customer, create models, define

audiences

1

Campaign Execution and optimization

4Set Segment Objectives:What does success

look like?

2

Campaign design: creative, test plans,

media plans

3

Display Campaign Process

Define best customer, create models, define

audiences

1

Defining Your Universe1. Define your best customers

– Revenue

– Secondary product adoption

– Method and timing of acquisition

2. Create the Model

– What attributes separate your best customers from the rest?

– What behaviors should the model predict?

3. Define your Audiences

– Life stage

– Product adoption

– Self-selected (how they use your product or service)

Set Segment Objectives:What does success

look like?

2

Segmentation and Defining Objectives1. Segment definitions should be aligned with

goals & products

2. Segment definitions need to consider size – the larger the segment, the better yield optimization opportunities

3. Multiple segment campaigns generally outperform single segment campaigns

4. CPA & CPC objectives are preferred over CTR and eCPM

Campaign design: creative, test plans,

media plans

3

Campaign Design1. Creative

– Align creative with segments

– Reinforce messaging and creative in organic channels

2. Select Ad Networks

– Consider reach and traffic volume

– NAI/DAA standards

3. Impression Frequency and Lookback Windows

– Test # of repetitions required for conversion

– Determine appropriate look back window for counting clicks and view-thrus

Home Value

Online ShopperActive Credit Cards Presence of Children

Geo-locationAge & Income

Data Selects

Data Models

Execution and OptimizationNow that we know who else in ConsumerView would be a good Upromise member, we use Experian’s display capabilities to find them

Campaign Execution and optimization

4

Results

New, active Customers

Join Upromise

DeliverDisplay Ads

CookieTargetingModel

Bestcustomer

SummaryKey question: How does Upromise find customers who will engage in the Upromise service?

MES = Median Credit Score

For acquired members not exposed to Experian campaign: Lower credit scores

For acquired members exposed to Experian campaign: Higher credit scores

Results

01 02 03$0

$100

$200

$300

$400

$500

$600

20122013

Results2013:Shifted to quality over quantitySpend per Shopper is up 55% vs. 2012!

Next Steps

1. Engage our customers through the channel(s)

they prefer and/or transact on

2. Implement a mobile strategy

3. Drive for cross-channel optimization

?Thank you…