How marketing automation, CRM upgrade is paying engagement dividends for ResMed

Australian sleep therapy products company shares how marketing automation and CRM are driving a new personalised approach to customer interactions

The decision to deploy a new marketing automation platform while undertaking a CRM upgrade project has significantly lifted customer engagement and staff productivity at Australian sleep therapy company, ResMed.

The Australian and New Zealand marketing team embarked on a project last year to upgrade ResMed’s 10-year old CRM platform to Salesforce. Simultaneously, its IT partner also recommended integrating a new marketing automation platform to improve the group’s ability to tailor messages and interactions with its customer base.

Previously, ResMed was using Campaign Monitor for its email communications with both B2C and B2B customers, and found the process laborious and limited. Templates needed to be created afresh each time, and staff would have to produce an email concept which was then translated into HTML format. It then had to sort and import the right data for each campaign.

“We had virtually no visibility or control with what we were doing in the CRM, or on who was engaged with what we were sending out,” ResMed associate product manager, Danielle Nicklin, told CMO. In addition, B2B communication was largely based on general updates to ResMed’s product porftolio.

In recent years, ResMed has been rapidly building out its customer database through its digital customer portal and membership program, Sleepvantage, and found the existing CRM platform wasn’t providing enough capability around collecting or utilising member data.

“We were also updating the website and wanted better integration between our member program and customer portal, Sleepvantage, and our CRM,” Nicklin said. The company has 90,000 members and about 5000 B2B customers in its database.

ResMed rolled out Silverpop’s marketing platform (Now owned by IBM) after the upgrade to Salesforce. Nicklin said both projects were led by the marketing team, with IT staff working hand-in-hand with the digital team.

The first step once Silverpop was in place was making sure ResMed had templated emails and make the process of emailing customers a straightforward, responsive activity. “Email marketing shouldn’t be something that takes weeks, but something we can use to respond to trends that day,” Nicklin commented.

“From there, we’ve looked at personalisation – we have integrated a product asset from our CRM that shows all B2C customers and their purchasing data. We can now put that into emails to see their device and when they purchased it, and personalise the message accordingly.”

As an example, Nicklin said the team was able to create a single email for a recent product launch but adjust content to highlight features orientated to female or male customers around one of the new devices and masks.

“Instead of pulling all names to send out, we can also take out those that have purchased in the last six months, as they don’t want to be told they’re out of date,” Nicklin continued. “Or we’ll talk more about technology advancement, more as a reference point for those customers.

“We want to make everyone aware of the new product range, but also that we had new masks, so we told those who recently purchased new devices about these, rather than hounding them with new device information.”

Nicklin explained ResMed customers usually trial a device for four weeks before they purchase. “We can grab that detail and help them along the way with advice and tips, such as fitting a mask,” she said.

“That capability comes down to the fact that CRM data is connected to the email system.”

As a result of the CRM and Silverpop upgrade, ResMed has seen B2C email engagement rates leap from 1 per cent to 12 per cent. Opt-outs have also fallen.

Related: How imagination and automation helped Navitas’ digital transformation agenda
Network Ten taps marketing automation for digital transformation What marketing automation can do for smaller businesses

While the focus has been more on B2C to date, Nicklin is looking at how to get information out to its B2B partners more quickly, and has created email templates for these customers to send to their own databases.

Read more: 5 great examples of augmented reality in marketing

“We can see if people are interested, and give those leads to B2B customers, as well as track if they’ve been successful or not,” Nicklin said, improving overall conversation rates.

The next step for Nicklin is looking at product lifecycle management and a series of tailored communications talking to its database about upgrading, cleaning and general advice. She plans to set up specific programs depending on when a customer has purchased, as well as tailoring engagement programs for those browsing certain parts of the website for information. She’s also looking at tailoring content based on location as a way of further engaging customers.

In terms of technology investment, Nicklin is hoping to roll out SMS messaging capabilities in 2015.

“SMS presents a great opportunity for us to help people in trials of our products,” she explained. “For instance, we could send a text message in the morning to ask them how they slept, and if it wasn’t OK, send tips and tricks on how to get through those issues. Text is quick and more personalised, rather than an email, which is more promotional. If someone replies rating their sleep one out of five, we could then have someone call them, enhancing customer support.”

On the B2B side, Nicklin plans to introduce website forms to better collect leads through its Silverpop and CRM platforms, and will build these forms as new products are launched.

One of the biggest benefits of having CRM and campaign management fully integrated is that details of the assets and campaigns sent to each customer through the marketing platform are all recorded, she added.

Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO Australia conversation on LinkedIn: CMO Australia, join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia, or check us out on Google+: google.com/+CmoAu

Signup to CMO’s email newsletter to receive your weekly dose of targeted content for the modern marketing chief.

Join the newsletter!

Or

Sign up to gain exclusive access to email subscriptions, event invitations, competitions, giveaways, and much more.

Membership is free, and your security and privacy remain protected. View our privacy policy before signing up.

Error: Please check your email address.
Show Comments

Latest Videos

More Videos

More Brand Posts

What are Chris Riddell's qualifications to talk about technology? What are the awards that Chris Riddell has won? I cannot seem to find ...

Tareq

Digital disruption isn’t disruption anymore: Why it’s time to refocus your business

Read more

Enterprisetalk

Mark

CMO's top 10 martech stories for the week - 9 June

Read more

Great e-commerce article!

Vadim Frost

CMO’s State of CX Leadership 2022 report finds the CX striving to align to business outcomes

Read more

Are you searching something related to Lottery and Lottery App then Agnito Technologies can be a help for you Agnito comes out as a true ...

jackson13

The Lottery Office CEO details journey into next-gen cross-channel campaign orchestration

Read more

Thorough testing and quality assurance are required for a bug-free Lottery Platform. I'm looking forward to dependability.

Ella Hall

The Lottery Office CEO details journey into next-gen cross-channel campaign orchestration

Read more

Blog Posts

Marketing prowess versus the enigma of the metaverse

Flash back to the classic film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Television-obsessed Mike insists on becoming the first person to be ‘sent by Wonkavision’, dematerialising on one end, pixel by pixel, and materialising in another space. His cinematic dreams are realised thanks to rash decisions as he is shrunken down to fit the digital universe, followed by a trip to the taffy puller to return to normal size.

Liz Miller

VP, Constellation Research

Why Excellent Leadership Begins with Vertical Growth

Why is it there is no shortage of leadership development materials, yet outstanding leadership is so rare? Despite having access to so many leadership principles, tools, systems and processes, why is it so hard to develop and improve as a leader?

Michael Bunting

Author, leadership expert

More than money talks in sports sponsorship

As a nation united by sport, brands are beginning to learn money alone won’t talk without aligned values and action. If recent events with major leagues and their players have shown us anything, it’s the next generation of athletes are standing by what they believe in – and they won’t let their values be superseded by money.

Simone Waugh

Managing Director, Publicis Queensland

Sign in