Intelligent geo-marketing

Using subscriber, network and location insights to drive acquisition and retention

Introduction
Mobile network operators are under pressure. Although revenues are growing, proft margins are narrowing as a result of ever-increasing smartphone traffic, saturated markets and industry regulation. In this environment, the roles of the CMO and the sales and marketing team have never been more important but they are also changing. Marketing efforts are now focussed not just on subscriber aqusition but on retention - keeping existing customers happy, reducing churn and increasing customer life time value (CLV). However, this shift has uncovered significant gaps in the marketing teams visibility of how subscribers use and perceive the mobile services being offered to them. This guide highlights why marketing departments will only be effective by using subscriber, network and location intelligence to understand the true experience of their customers. It explores the subscriber marketing challenges and sets out six key areas of focus that will enable sales and marketing teams to reduce churn, increase acquisition and deliver improved return on marketing investment.

New customers, old systems

Research has shown that the majority of marketing departments still rely on traditional market centric data sources, with the results of an IBM study showing that 80% of CMOs rely on market research and competitive benchmarking.1 This presents a fundamental problem. Marketing departments are guessing customer behaviors and intentions and it is these assumptions that are underpinning marketing strategies. Customer Experience Management systems (or customer 360 systems) are attempting to bridge this gap. Investments are being made in huge data warehouse and analytics systems that try to combine every snippet of customer data with the goal of querying it for marketing and other insights. However, whilst these systems are potentially a big step forward, they lack crucial subscriber, location and network insight. By their very definition, mobile customers are mobile and naturally their distribution, activity and network experience varies by geographic location. For marketing strategies to be effective, location, subscriber and network intelligence are vital. Marketers need granular insight and analysis in order to answer business-critical questions: Where are my subscribers? What devices are they using? Where are they using them? What are they using them for? Is the network able to support them? Is this driving churn?

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Subscriber acquisition and retention: the six challenges

1. Sourcing geo-located customer experience data You lack concrete data on how people are using your network, where they are and what device they are using. For example, do you know where the majority of your 3G-enabled iPad users go when they finish work? This lack of insight means your marketing campaigns often rely on gut feel and anecdotes rather than sound evidence and risk being less effective. 2. Targeting dissatisfied customers who may churn Dissatisfied subscribers leave and almost all will go without giving you prior warning. Furthermore, some 40% of issues are driven by network and usage problems.2 So how do you identify these hidden susbcribers and the network or usage problems they are experiencing, so you can take pre-emptive action before they churn? For example, solutions like residential femtocells are emerging as a cost-effective strategy to address customer retention, but you need to know which customers are impacted by poor home coverage. 3. Tapping into VIP subscribers Given that a minority of high value subscribers are the real revenue generators, knowing how to target those on rival networks is vital. The ability to identify the network and service differentiators you own in order to prove that switching is a good idea is critical to lure these subscribers to your network. 4. Snaring fickle roamers Despite increasing regulation, roamers remain a lucrative customer segment, but the challenge is capturing and keeping them for the entire duration of their roaming. To do this you need to know where they are and when they will be most receptive to choosing your network. 5. Targeting advertising campaigns Marketing campaigns are expensive and time consuming. You cant afford to promote new services, handsets and capabilities in areas when subscribers arent receptive or the network is overloaded. But insufficient network and customer insight means you lack confidence that you are targeting receptive subscribers in the right places at the right time. 6. Managing reputation on social media Social media has made some people very influential very quickly. It also provides easy platforms to vent frustration. If someone with 10,000 valuable followers drops a call and tweets about it, do you know how to go about saving the situation?

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Six steps to unleashing the power of intelligent geo-marketing

Step 1. Obtain geo-located subscriber intelligence
Mobile networks generate huge volumes of subscriber intelligence every time a customer uses their mobile. Your network engineering teams are sitting on a gold mine of subscriber, location and network intelligence data that you can use. It may currently be hidden in the proprietary engineering systems used to optimize network configuration, but it can be made readily available to all. Customer experience analytics allows real-time, geo-located subscriber information, captured directly from the network, to be accessed and shared easily by multiple departments across the business including marketing. The detailed information can be segmented to suit your requirements, such as by customer group, handset type and location, providing the granular insight into network performance and customer behavior you need to design more effective marketing campaigns.

Step 2. Spot problems before your valued customers do

Find out whats going on where. Spot network problems early that may have a detrimental impact upon subscriber loyalty and take pre-emptive action. Use geo-located subscriber data to identify network blackspots and then correlate this with churn records, customer complaints and billing records to determine who might be affected and what course of action may be required. For example, you can contact affected subscribers and offer them small cells or perhaps an enhanced data plan as compensation. Speaking to subscribers at an early stage stops complaints and turns them into strong brand advocates. Knowing where, when and what issues are causing the most damage can be turned into a business advantage, enabling you to design and target the right campaigns in the right areas to the right people. You can promote services, devices and data plans where demand exists and where you know the network can support it.

Step 3. Look after the VIPs and demonstrate your strengths

With accurate insights into network performance and the quality of experience delivered to VIP customers and the locations they frequent you can produce strong evidence around the strength of your network. As a result you can approach corporate prospects with confidence, such as at business parks or large corporate headquarters and have greater success persuading them of your superior network coverage. Evidence of this kind can also be used to combat possible scepticism, demonstrating to corporate prospects and existing customers whether concerns around network performance are actually valid. Using customer experience analytics you can track network coverage and performance both indoors and outdoors at corporate campuses and build reports to show prospects and help sales teams.

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Step 4. Target roamers but not in the obvious places

In the case of international roamers, a lost roamer is instant churn. Building an accurate picture of where they are, where they are from, the devices they use and their network activity will ensure you can deliver targeted messages and compelling data plans. With roamers being notoriously fickle, giving them incentives to join your network and stay is critical. Capturing their attention at the point when they are most receptive to these messages is vital. Look beyond the obvious points of entry, such as airports, to identify other areas where they are congregating. For example, whilst roamers do congregate in airports, it may be unlikely they will be thinking about data charges while rushing to the luggage belt. However, positioning an ad for a discounted roaming plan in a hotel lobby that is playing host to an international conference may well provide the incentive to connect to your network and use it throughout the duration of a trip.

Step 5. Know where youre strong and make the most of it

Having granular insights into network quality is like holding a royal flush for the marketing team, ensuring you know exactly where your network is performing at its best and enabling you to leverage your competitive advantage. Find those sweet spots and make sure you tell mobile phone users about the reliability and strength of your network. Bespoke campaigns and data plans targeting subscribers in these areas can not only attract new subscribers and help generate churn among your competitors, but create greater loyalty with existing customers, reassured they are getting the best service. For example, if you know your network has superior coverage in a specific shopping centre, then advertising campaigns can be run asking mobile users how this compares to coverage provided by their network providers.

Step 6. Turn social media into an ally

The social media arena is already littered with horror stories of ill-advised or naive companies who have misjudged its potential usage and mishandled a negative situation. Companies are rightly wary of how best to utilize this increasingly crucial tool in subscriber relations. However, by engaging with users on social media brands can quickly pick up strong advocates. By measuring the experience of influential customers, operators can be alerted when they drop calls or data sessions, diagnose the underlying causes of dissatisfaction and listen for complaints. Utilising this priceless information and addressing issues appropriately can nip a negative situation in the bud and create a positive one influential social media users will share positive brand experiences too. Ensuring vocal brand advocates get the quality of experience needed to keep them onside can be the difference between social media being a misunderstood, burdening challenge, and one of the strongest assets available to your business.

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Conclusion
Traditionally, network data has been the domain of network engineers. It enables them to check that the network is running properly and to make changes to deliver the best possible customer experience. To date this store of valuable information has not been visible to the rest of the company. Now however this intelligence can be accessed and understood across the whole business to influence marketing, retention, sales and social media programmes. Through the right customer experience analytics this data can put operators ahead of the competition, reduce churn, build brand advocates and attract new VIP subscribers.

About Actix
Actix is the recognized global leader in mobile RAN analytics and optimization, providing the worlds operators and vendors with actionable subscriber, network and competitive intelligence to realise the full potential of their networks. Founded in 1991, Actix has built an unrivalled customer base of over 400 operators and equipment vendors who use its award winning solutions to rollout LTE on time, improve customer experience in the RAN and optimize their multi-vendor 2G, 3G and 4G networks. Actix has been a driving force in transforming the worlds mobile networks, delivering cutting-edge, carrierproven solutions that are the de facto standard. With offices across Europe, North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, China and Japan, Actix can offer the scale and global perspective that are critical in todays dynamic mobile landscape.

Geo-located Customer Experience Analytics

Actixs Geo-located Customer Experience Analytics solution captures session-by-session customer experience information directly from the Radio Access Network (RAN) The data is automatically geo-located, segmented by handset type, customer group, whether its indoor vs outdoor, roaming vs home and whether its voice or data. The solution also correlates this information with key business intelligence such as churn records, customer complaints and account information enabling operators to determine where poor network performance is driving dissatisfaction and churn.

Easy access
An open web interface and easy to understand dashboards allow the data to be easily shared across the organization from engineering, to marketing, sales and managed services. 6|Page Copyright 2012 Actix Limited

Customer experience maps

Automatic generation of accurate traffic and quality of experience maps enable the identification of congestion hotspots, customer impacting quality issues and network problems.

Churn and customer complaint analysis

Correlation with business data shows where network performance impacts both customers and the business, facilitating effective triage and resolution

VIP & corporate customer performance

VIP tracking and geo-located network performance establishes the network quality delivered to key locations (such as corporate offices) and to individual customers.

Handset impact analysis

Handset impact reports build a detailed picture of the performance of individual devices.

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Want to know more?

For further information about Actix Customer Experience Analytics solution, please contact us. Email: info@actix.com Tel: 0208 735 6300 Web: www.actix.com

Sources: 1 2 From Stretched to Strengthened, IBM CMO Study 2011 J.D. Powers Wireless Customer Satisfaction Survey 2012

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