Blueberry Generates 5x Return on Investment for a Public Transport Firm

OUR CLIENT IS A MULTI-NATIONAL TRANSPORT GROUP LISTED ON THE FTSE 250 INDEX WITH A GLOBAL TURNOVER OF MORE THAN £6 BILLION. THEY RUN MORE THAN 20% OF LOCAL BUS SERVICES ACROSS BRITAIN WITH A FLEET OF 9,000 BUSES AND 2.9 MILLION PASSENGERS A DAY.

WHAT THEY NEEDED

Our client introduced a new employee benefits scheme to provide staff with discounted travel in the region. The scheme, which was free for businesses to sign up for, was later rolled out more widely across the UK. However, some regions had less uptake than others and within one region in particular, only a handful of businesses had signed up for the scheme.

Our client wanted to focus on increasing the number of businesses aware of the new employee benefits scheme, converting expressions of interest into full registrations and see employees utilising discounted travel in the region.

WHAT WE DID

We profiled and purchased a focused dataset of businesses for our client to utilise throughout the campaign. This was based upon key indicators which we considered demonstrated a higher propensity to convert into a registration.

We acquired data based upon the profile of their current scheme members as well as key company information such as business sector, company size and the number of people they employed. We also targeted data by location, taking into consideration key commuter routes and the level of transport provision locally, for example, if there were any nearby Park & Rides.

To ensure that every aspect of lead generation was effective and aligned, we did an initial strategic review with our client to understand their current target market and who their target audience was. We used this information to formulate a series of buyer personas, which gave us a credible idea of the most opportune targets.

We then developed an integrated multi-channel approach for engagement with businesses in the region, using both email marketing and telemarketing. Based on strategies we constructed in the mobilisation and onboarding phase, we started by rolling out a hyper-personalised email marketing campaign based on triggers throughout each customer’s journey.

We sent an initial email to all contacts and scored prospects based on their interaction with the mailer. This helped focus our telemarketing strategy, by contacting those who were known to have seen and engaged with the initial content circulated. To maximise uptake, we scheduled follow-up calls at the most optimum times, constructing a targeted series of interactions to chase leads and ensure that no opportunities were missed.

To ensure all expressions of interest led to full registration, we implemented a wraparound engagement process, reconnecting with businesses who had registered their interest. We reminded them to fill in the full registration forms and found out if they were having any issues completing the process. This acted as an additional touchpoint to reduce drop-outs and act as a customer service to assist with any of their problems.

WHAT WE ACHIEVED

From a small initial pilot, we tripled the number of businesses currently registered for the scheme. With our support, they generated five times their initial investment in new revenue within a month. We also gathered valuable feedback and insights into what people thought about the scheme, which our client could integrate into wider operations moving forward, supporting their future marketing plan.

Following the success of the campaign, we rolled out the same process across two more regions in the UK. We continue to drive engagement with the scheme, playing a fundamental role in raising awareness and securing business registrations for their new project.