In the latest in a series of articles, designed to provide advice on data-driven marketing strategies in these turbulent times and beyond, we look into the home-movers market.
The Decision Marketing Data Clinic, in association with REaD Group, is open to all companies and organisations big and small. If you have a burning issue which you would like advice on please email us on info@decisionmarketing.co.uk
Over the next 12 months, as many as 5.2 million households could move house, based on figures from Statista, and on average they will spend more than £5,000 on products and services during the moving cycle. But how do banks, building societies, insurers, utilities and telecom providers ensure that some of this money is spent with their brand?
Tracking customers and prospects through the stages of moving house has been proven as a trigger for successful campaigns and activation marketing. Sounds great, but how do I do it?
REaD Group offers “home mover” data, which can be applied to track the various stages of the home move process, both for sale and rental moves. Captured from estate agents and solicitors, the data starts at address level only (i.e. non-personal) and is fully GDPR compliant.
Moving home is a significant life event that naturally forces people to review their spending habits, their consumption of products and services and who’s supplying them with these. Home mover data can be used in conjunction with a company’s own customer data to support existing customer retention activity.
It can also be combined with REaD Prospect, one of the most comprehensive, clean, accurate and responsive consumer prospect data file available in the UK, with over 50 million records across multiple channels, sourced from lifestyle, digital and transactional data as well as open source information available at postcode level. Because it is highly customisable, companies can tailor their prospect database to their specific campaign objectives.
Some 65% of new movers switch suppliers or change product brands at the time of moving home. What kinds of campaigns should I be thinking about so that our brand doesn’t lose out?
With switching providers much more prevalent when moving home, this is a key moment for brands to communicate to their existing customers to reduce the threat of competition. Throughout the duration of the move cycle, different products and services are generally considered at different times and marketing at this time is seen as highly relevant – as long as the timing, messaging and permissioning are right.
Home mover data can be applied to both retention and acquisition campaigns. For example, retention campaigns will enable you to identify existing customers who are in the move cycle and warm them up. Acquisition pre-move activities identifies prospects and targets them to consider your brand when they move.
In addition, you can use “Dear New Home Owner” letters to a new owner in a property. Data can be used to support cross-selling to existing customers who are moving, but equally to prospects who are moving: research shows 1 in 4 people change suppliers when they move home.
There’s also the acquisition anniversary, where you can apply the confirmed move date data to target people or households on the 12, 24 and 36 month anniversary of their move: very handy for home and contents insurance providers. You can also reactivate lapsed/previous customers and, finally, increase spend and LTV through repeat purchases.
Some 95% of homeowners spend on utilities or telco accounts within 7 days of moving house. How do I identify those customers who like to switch providers?
Ah yes, we know those. And we can help you to identify home movers with a high propensity to switch providers with our Switcher Model. Our data provides granular details at household and individual level to support acquisition and retention, including propensity to switch; loyalty indicators; energy usage – gas and electricity; household variables including house type and number of bedroom; household composition including presence of children; demographics and lifestyle variables; and affluence markers.
Ideal for utilities and telecoms companies, the Switcher model offers a unique solution for both acquisition and retention, and also includes selection for channel preference to further improve campaign performance. In addition, we can conduct bespoke model refinement utilising customer data to enhance model performance.
Armed with the right data models, when a customer moves house, they’ll also be moving your brand with them.
Phil Ward is account director at REaD Group
