As a marketing channel, a Web site’s biggest advantage is that it can offer customized content. But a site’s biggest stumbling block can be its passivity, because the most advanced customization means nothing if the targets don’t see the offers.
Hilton HHonors Worldwide, Hilton Hotels Corp.’s loyalty program, aims to have it both ways by sending its members e-mail messages that feature the same level of personalization available online at Hilton.com.
The messages that pop up on the site are determined by such factors as when members log on and how long they stay; use of affiliates’ products; and the length of time a consumer has been enrolled in the program.
The Beverly Hills, CA-based chain has been collecting e-mail addresses from HHonors members for just over a year at Hilton.com. Senior director of database marketing Jim VonDerheide estimates that the company has appended e-mail addresses to 10% of its multimillion-name file.
But capture does not imply consent to use. The company has already solicited HHonors members for whom it has e-mail addresses to opt into themessaging program via a paper mailing. Those that agree to participate are given bonus HHonors points that are redeemable for vacation or merchandise rewards. Among those who have received solicitations, response rates are in the high teens.
In mid-March the company began using the addresses it had collected, targeting and customizing e-mailings based on customers’ purchases and other behavior. Previously, says VonDerheide, most outbound e-mail was tailored according to the HHonors affiliates a given traveler preferred. A member who’d traveled with Carnival Cruises, for example, would get a different message than one who’d flown on Lufthansa.
Hilton’s e-mail messages also reflect the contacts a customer has had with all of the chain’s touch points, from Web site to call centers. Adding to this system’s efficiency is a new network which allows Hilton’s central database to be updated in real time.
In time, VonDerheide plans to use the e-mail system – designed by Epsilon of Burlington, MA – not only for marketing but for operational purposes (such as tracking bonus point and reward levels) and service functions (alerting members when the credit card Hilton has on file has expired) as well.
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