How about a case study to simplify theory?

A customer (hotel chain) wished to simplify the communication with his customers, while at the same time increase the business’s revenue by further promoting the extra features and services that the hotels were offering. The customer asked for the whole procedure to be simple, fully automated and involve the human factor as little as possible. The specific customer preferred the use of email campaigns, so we moved towards that direction.

The answer

Initially, what we did was to link the customer’s booking engine and CRM with Routee’s email API. Second step was to create, alongside with our client, the workflows and emails that responded to each step of the customer’s booking and stay in the hotel (booking confirmation, check-in procedure, restaurant special evening, spa offer, car rental etc). In addition to all different workflows, we also suggested a series of reward messages (with coupons and special discounts) for those guests who booked two or more of the extra services.

The results

1. We managed to increase the revenue of parallel activities by 21% compared to the previous year.
2. By automating the email sending procedure, we decreased the workload of a group of employees who were absorbed in other positions, more beneficial for the hotels’ operations.
3. We achieved an astonishing 87% open rate for emails sent during the guests stay in the hotels.

It becomes clear to see that such a communication logic is not only quick and simple, but it provides business with the opportunity to welcome their guests and “pamper” them while benefiting from it, with a minimum cost. Wanna give it a try? Visit Routee and learn more about our product portfolio.

The increase in mobile usage has changed the way people interact with brands. Thus, you need to stay in touch with customers through their favorite device: their mobile phone. And here it comes… Number Validation with which you can ensure that the phone numbers you collect are accurate. It will show you if a phone number either does exist or is indeed valid.

Furthermore, it can provide you with information such as the owner of the number, the network provider and its location. It will also give you details about the line type (landline or mobile) and whether it is reachable or fake. Number Validation can guarantee you have captured a real number alongside many more details about that number.

More specifically, via Number Validation you can:

• Perform an initial screening to your phone number databases. You can identify all invalid phone numbers and eliminate them from your database, avoiding unnecessary costs.
• You can learn the exact type of the number you have in hand (Line Type), eliminating fake accounts created using a virtual number, a common practice for cybercriminals to steal the identity of real users – your customers’, in specific – to take over their accounts. Note that it’s not only the time and money that your company loses but also its credibility.
•How about finding out which country the number you have is registered in, regardless of its country code, hence getting real information about who you are actually targeting, saving money and time and making sure you serve them the right content.

Want more?

•With Number Validation you have the opportunity to take advantage of portability detection by checking if a mobile number is ported and if yes, to which network, including the “final” mobile country code (MCC) and mobile network code (MNC). Thus, you can achieve more effective routing and more accurate billing.
•Last, you can identify all database entries that are not in accordance with number structure standards and retrieve both international and local formats with no trouble at all (Number Format), so as to form your contact databases accordingly.

In a few words, the process of Number Validation is not only going to ensure that you don’t waste money or time, but also it will secure your app, reduce workload since it is a fully automated process, it will increase your business performance and, last but not least, it will make sure that you reach actual people!

If you have come this far, we are sure that we’ve captured your interest! Want to learn more? Check out Routee’s full-service portfolio to satisfy your business communication needs.

Do you have a large database but you don’t know how to organize and contact them? Marketing automation can help!

Marketing automation is the use of software to manage and automate marketing tasks and processes such as customer segmentation, customer data integration, and campaign management. In fact, it replaces a process that would have been manual with a much more efficient one. What it does, in plain words, is automatically engaging with your contacts.

As your company grows, it gets more and more difficult to maintain a relationship with all your customers; that’s where marketing automation comes in. Actually, marketing automation constitutes a way via which you can improve the efficiency of marketing and stay ahead of the competition. Also, it connects marketing channels including social media, email marketing, and content marketing. It’s tailored around personalized user experiences. With highly personalized, useful content such as welcome emails, birthday emails, trigger campaigns from actions, sales follow-ups and more, you can turn customers into happy customers. In other words, marketing automation makes communication stronger.

In a nutshell, automated marketing:

1. Adds dynamic content based on an individual’s specific user profile
2. Categorizes customers in segments
3. Develops optimal marketing patterns
4. Integrates marketing channels to deliver a comprehensive, cross-platform user experience.

And as for its main benefits it:

•helps you collect valuable data
•saves you time
•is highly efficient
•generates more (and more) leads
•qualifies and prioritizes your leads
•nurtures those leads to a sales-ready state
•manages all of your email marketing campaigns
•provides reports on the success of your campaigns
•“closes” more deals
•is a great means to measure and evaluate marketing success
•generates significant new revenue for companies
•provides an excellent ROI
•can be integrated into your CRM
•provides multi-channel management
•is consistent
•enhances the notion of addressing your clients on a more personal level, hence making them feel of value.

The theory is great. Let’s have a look at an example putting that theory to practice.

You use a web platform to communicate with your customers. Great. What would be even greater is to build up a series of workflows to automate and further enhance your communication. For example, imagine a prospective customer logging in your women shoe e-shop. While wandering around, he moves from the “sales” section to the “new arrivals” section, checks out your “stock” section and moves back to “new arrivals” only to stay there for another 3 minutes and then leave without making a purchase.

Did you lose the customer? Not necessarily, since within the next 15 minutes, that specific customer receives a fully automated, personalized email, offering a 20% discount on all “new arrival” products, valid for the next 10 days. 5 days later and still no purchase? A Viber message can appear on your beloved consumer’s mobile phone reminding him/her that “Don’t miss out on your 20% discount on our new arrivals! Valid for just 5 more days!”. Get the logic? Group, automate, communicate, benefit!

Learn more about Routee services and feel free to contact us for any clarifications. We’d be more than glad to be of service.

Let’s face it. Nowadays, people tend to be multi-dimensional when it comes to how many different channels and devices they use; this is their way to stay empowered, connected and informed. Customers are the drivers in a truly complex “journey” and marketers need to play by their rules if they wish to retain their interest. On the other hand, although a plethora of channels and devices are great, customers demand a seamless experience while switching from channel to channel, moving from device to device. Thus, instead of thinking of traditional window-shopping, in-store shopping experience, a desktop experience, a mobile experience or a tablet experience, companies need to adapt and promote a more holistic approach, the omnichannel approach.

“Omni” comes from the word “omnis”, which means “all” or “in all places.”

Omni-channel is a multi-channel approach, an adoption of strategies and varieties of engagement tools, that provides the customer with an integrated experience through a series of accessible channels and devices.

How about an example? Say that you are on Facebook, you just found a product that you really like, visit the eshop and you add it to your shopping cart. Right there and then, something distracts your attention and you leave the web page. After some time, you discover the product you selected earlier and surprisingly it is still in your shopping cart. Just as you are ready to checkout, your phone battery dies. You quickly shift to your laptop, visit the website and complete your purchase. This is how omni-channel works and how today’s customers expect to consume – with the convenience of using several synchronized devices that ensure that the experience remains seamless and consistent from start to finish.

Brands must allow customers to pick up from where they left off, no matter where they are in the purchase process.

Omni-channel marketing provides the following benefits

• Integrated Communication and Analytics
• Meets Customers Where They Are
• Obtains Data from Every Transaction
• Offers Better Customer Insights
• Targets Specific Audiences
• Integrates Your Business
• Offers Experience and Service-Focused Shopping
• Guarantees Improvement in Consumers’ Perception & Satisfaction
• Increases ROI, Improves Sales and Boosts Revenue
• Meets Growing Consumer Demand
• Offers Better Data Collection
• Enhances Productivity
• Provides More Exposure for your Brand

What would we recommend?

• Break down your audience into segments
• Interact with customers on their preferred channels
• Personalize the experience you offer
• Review the process and adjust
• Content and messaging is key, helps drive much higher engagement, loyalty, and purchases
• Measure everything and collect as much info about your customers as possible
• Use the data in other departments, don’t limit use cases to Marketing

Modern purchasing behavior is driven by personalized engagement, and that explains why, omni-channel marketing automation is so essential. Omni-channel marketing is a powerful strategy for companies to improve their customer experience, sales and business performance.

Why are so many companies using SMS campaigns or voice messages these days? Stop asking yourself why! The answer is simple: they both land on an “accessory” that is very popular regardless of age, location or income; text & voice messaging are phone-based communications. Remember the last day you didn’t use your phone, that being either a mobile phone or a land-line one. You can’t, right? That’s the point.

Communication continues to evolve as technology evolves, offering more options than ever before. Thus, more and more managers are becoming interested in how the new communication tools could benefit their companies.

Text messaging has several powerful advantages.

Text messages get read (check the statistics!)
It is immediate and personal
Can be delivered everywhere (as long as your provider can guarantee so)
Doesn’t require an Internet connection
Allows you to communicate when face-to-face or phone conversation is not possible
SMS is a store-and-forward service
Texting integrates with CRM

Additionally, the benefits of Voice messaging are also hard to ignore.

Personalized messages
Friendly character
Consistency
Flexibility
Potential for interactivity
Wide application
Deep penetration in an elder audience, not so mobile-driven
Excellent geo-location targeting options, ideal for local events, offers, etc.

But why use each tool separate? It’s almost impossible to select one communication medium that can support all your business needs. So instead of choosing between the two, why not combine them? The two technologies are not mutually exclusive. You can’t build a house with just one tool so what makes you think that you can have your business thrive with just one form of communication?

There’s no reason why text and voice messaging can’t work together. Texting provides more reliability whereas voicing provides a more human interaction. Text messaging is ideal for short messages while voice messaging can “narrate” a longer story. They both offer limitless market potentials. The combination of texting and voicing conversation leaves room for exceptions, customizations, follow up questions etc. Both media can perfectly integrate into any marketing campaign. Before customers decide whether to delete or keep an SMS or listen to a voice message, they’ve already consumed its content! The personal nature of mobile phones makes them extremely powerful marketing tools.

When you’re operating a business, you need the flexibility to choose the most effective way for your communication strategy. Businesses need a reliable, secure, direct and quick way to communicate with their customers. If you need truly valuable items to add in your communications toolbox, check out and learn more about Routee’s services and products.