mark.beckwith@ft.com@thisisbeaker

Leveraging the Data Science Tool-kit to Drive Customer Acquisition, Engagement & Retention

Mark BeckwithHead of Campaign Management

Some context….

About the FT

– One of the world’s leading business news organisations, is recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy

– Combined digital and print circulation of 665k

– Mobile drives almost 50% of traffic, 20% of digital subscriptions

– FT education products now serve 37 of the world’s top 50 business schools

About my team

– Sit within a Customer Analytics & Research team of 25

– Six Campaign Analysts, spread across the globe

– Stakeholders include, Marketing (B2C, B2B), Product, Customer Services, Data Technology, Communications, Financial Publishing

– Responsible for the full campaign cycle from a data perspective – from ideas gathering and briefing right through to evaluation and optimisation

About me

– 2.5 years at FT

– 14 years experience in Database Marketing and Analytical roles

A bit more context…..FT data

Our data

– Metered access subscription model

– Every user interaction captured = incredibly rich data

– Allows precision targeting of communications with users and subscribers

• Email

• On-site

• Social

• Outbound

• Direct Mail

How the team is successful….

The benefits of being ‘Data Bilingual’

The benefits of being ‘Data Bilingual’

Building capability/gaining buy-in…..it’s a journey

From here……

…..to here

The end result

“Having worked alongside with many database teams in the past, working with the team at the Financial Times was an absolute dream. Here was a team who understood exactly what I was trying to achieve and was very motivated to make it happen”

Finding the right tools for the job

RFV + + ….driving acquisition with propensity modelling

…..the outcome (plus the benefits of collaboration)

Methods of driving engagement….segmentation

Using segmentation in a traditional way…..

….and a new approach

Behaviour comes in all shapes and sizes…

The components

There are two key components

– Seasonal component

– Trend component

Identifying changing behaviour….

Constant trend

Change in trend

‘Break point’ identified

…and what is their subsequent behaviour

Let the data drive the comms strategy

Engagement activities…..onboarding

…and some results….

Who will stay and who will go?

Model scores drive help determine

– Frequency

– Content

– Send time

Looking to the future

Do more stuff like this, but quicker…

Thank you

Mark BeckwithHead of Campaign Management

mark.beckwith@ft.com@thisisbeaker