Everyone online is focused on customer acquisition. It pays to focus on retention, said John Rothwell, senior vice president of operations and planning for E-Rewards Inc., a Web company that invites travelers to sign up online for offers from sponsors and advertisers and believes it has a strategy to keep them.
The sponsors for the year-old company are United Airlines, Delta Airlines, Hertz Rent A Car, Blockbuster Entertainment, Vail Resorts and Compaq Computer Corp. Consumers who sign up receive offers from the sponsors and a host of advertisers.
E-Rewards tracks the consumers’ response to these offers so that it can send a better-targeted offer next time. “An e-mail only works if they can talk back to you,” said Rothwell at a presentation during DMDNY’s annual conference and exhibition at the New York Hilton, yesterday. “Understanding what they feel about the offer on an individual level is key.” Over time, the company adds to each consumer’s profile, as it learns dozens of things about the consumer’s interests and behavior.
This not only saves the consumer time because she is opening e-mails most relevant to her interests, but saves the advertiser or sponsor money. Frequent flyer programs have traditionally mailed 2 million statements a month. “This is not the best use of resources,” said Richard Metzner, president of Brierley & Partners. “If someone travels only twice a year, you need to reach them just before they travel.” E-rewards campaigns are structured to do just that.
Some 60,000 people have signed up for E-rewards since the Web site launched in March.
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