Case study: Lead Generation
Company: First Response Finance
Project length: 6 months
Delivery method: In-house
Proving the value of B2C marketing
Problem
The business had two sets of customers: dealerships and consumers. The consumer has two ways to become a customer of First Response, and the dealerships are crucial to both arrangements. The consumer will either get their finance first or find their vehicle first. If they get the finance first, First Response would introduce them to approved dealerships within their area, or allow them to source a vehicle elsewhere. If, however, the consumer found the vehicle first, then First Response are reliant on the dealership to introduce them as a way to finance the vehicle.
Whilst the brand had a strong relationship with most dealerships there was a risk of losing customers if the consumer finds the vehicle first, or sources a vehicle from a dealership without a relationship with them. Dealerships without a relationship were likely to find alternative finance providers and First Response would lose the customer.
Two problems were identified:
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Most consumers are introduced to them via dealerships or have used the business previously.
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Dealerships without relationship with the brand will typically try and rearrange a consumer’s finance so they benefit from commission.
Solution
A marketing proposal was set out to introduce a short term multi-channel campaign that would:
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Prove the value of marketing.
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Increase overall applications from consumers.
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Decrease consumer loss from dealerships.
The initial step was to understand how it would be measured - the business had relationships nationally across the UK with specific hotspots of activity where dealerships were. It was agreed to choose a single location to trial the approach with a similarly sized location (in terms of population and audience size) acting as a control/baseline. Market analysis was conducted to understand which area would offer potential and had been relatively static over the previous 12 months. The audience needed to meet the target criteria of the brand in addition to offering large reach through chosen channels, which included radio and bus advertising.
At the same time value proposition activity was underway to ensure there was a strong message to highlight the brand benefit. This message was to flow through all proposed channels: digital and offline. Proposed channels were:
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Facebook Ads.
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Google Ads.
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Email.
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Local radio.
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Local bus networks.
Once messaging was complete, radio advertising was launched, followed by digital. Audiences were targeted based on existing location plus geo-targeting. Specific content pieces were created and written to engage users across digital channels plus, pieces were referenced in offline ads as a way to direct the consumer to the most relevant information.
Results
The campaign took 2 months to plan and implement and was live for 4 months across all channels. During this time period, the selected area outperformed the baseline by:
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60% increased web traffic.
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50% increased consumer applications.
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20% increased revenue.
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~ customer loss through dealerships.
The overall campaign was deemed a success for a small trial, with the business seeking to expand it further. The loss of customers through dealerships was not impacted with the assumption being made that the messaging was consumer-focused and therefore not relevant to this audience. Whilst consumers were increasing within the area, the dealerships without existing relationships with the brand were not seeing any potential benefit as pre-approved customers were recommended dealerships with existing relationships. This was the biggest learning from the campaign and showcased the need for a tailored B2B and B2C approach.
Disclaimers:
This case study is based on experiences as part of a previous in-house role.
Total project time: 6 months.