For eight years, Progrexion has worked with digital media marketing firm WebMetro to refine, execute and measure the effectiveness of its digital marketing strategies. With over half of the U.S. population using smartphones, the duo recognized an opportunity and added mobile marketing to the traditional desktop mix. By deploying Google Mobile Ads, rethinking conversion metrics for each step of the funnel and using insights to cater to customer needs, mobile sales grew 221% year over year in Q1 2013. Learn how a strong commitment to mobile marketing helped Progrexion and WebMetro better target the multi-device world.
Goals
Take advantage of the rapidly growing mobile market
Adopt best practices for mobile marketing
Address the issues of device fragmentation and channel distribution
Leverage mobile user behaviors and cater to their needs
Approach
Deployed mobile ads across search, display and in-app
Challenged funnel conversion metrics based on true mobile ROI
Coordinated closely with call center and salespeople
Segmented calls from mobile and addressed needs differently in the call center to boost conversions
Scaled up mobile campaigns based on their cost-effectiveness
Results
Grew mobile sales 221% from Q1 2012 to Q1 2013
Boosted mobile sales to 15.2% of total sales, up from 6.3% for the same period in 2012
Established resources and plans to build out mobile-ready online experience
Metrics-driven marketing
Progrexion and its consumer brands, such as LexingtonLaw.com and CreditRepair.com, comprise the nation’s largest consumer advocacy network. Progrexion is a leading marketing and information services business serving the consumer credit information sector. Progrexion provides leads to credit repair services that, in turn, help consumers raise their credit scores. The company offers opportunities for growth and personal development for more than 1,500 employees and is one of the largest lead generation providers in the consumer credit category.
As a marketing firm itself, Progrexion embraces the most advanced methods of promoting its lead generation offerings. For eight years, the company has worked with WebMetro, an expert digital media marketing firm, to refine, execute and measure the effectiveness of its digital marketing strategies. Both companies are performance-focused and always seek to accurately attribute and maximize the value of every media campaign.
“At the end of the day, we manage all of our marketing programs based on cost per acquisition (CPA),” says Josh Aston, director of online marketing for Progrexion. “Our goal is to maximize the ROI from every dollar spent.”
Seizing the mobile opportunity
Over half of the U.S. population uses smartphones, and this percentage is still climbing.1 Over the past three years, Progrexion and WebMetro recognized an opportunity and added mobile marketing to the traditional desktop mix, using mobile search, display and in-app advertising. They also implemented click-to-call extensions (CTC).
Although promising, mobile marketing presented an attribution challenge. First, there was the issue of device fragmentation. For instance, how could mobile callers who eventually converted on the desktop or desktop users who converted on mobile be measured based on each channel’s contribution to the bottom line?
Second, Progrexion is heavily driven by the success of its call center. Every lead is routed and closed there, yet mobile callers were not converting as frequently as those who had learned about the network’s many varied offerings on the companies’ detailed, desktop-centric websites. Leads from mobile were 30% to 40% less likely to convert.
Initially, it looked as if mobile was not working out well from a CPA standpoint. However, WebMetro identified that mobile users were less informed and prepared to purchase. They did not have the benefit of visiting the detailed desktop site in advance and were on the go and in more of a hurry.
At the end of the day, we manage all of our marketing programs based on cost per acquisition (CPA). Our goal is to maximize the ROI from every dollar spent.
An integrated approach to mobile
Both companies began to rethink mobile direct response. “We examined not only conversions but also the cost per lead—which was lower on mobile than it was for desktop,” said Wendy Chou Le, account director at WebMetro. “Because we knew the consumers calling in via mobile ads needed more information before they would convert, we worked closely with Progrexion’s call centers to create an experience that was better aligned with consumer expectations.”
They tweaked mobile ad copy and routed calls from mobile straight to salespeople who are experts at educating potential customers on the complexities of credit repair and Progrexion’s various offerings.
Immediately, conversions from mobile started improving once this integrated approach was implemented. This early success prompted Progrexion to invest more heavily in mobile advertising. The mobile channel stayed cost-effective as the size and number of campaigns grew.
Mobile: a new go-to channel
The results, after considering the full value of mobile, were impressive. Overall, mobile sales grew 221% from Q1 2012 to Q1 2013. Mobile now constitutes 15.2% of total sales, up from 6.3% for the same period last year.
Mobile attribution, specifically the role mobile plays in the sales process, is now clearer and impressive. More than 33% of calls placed via mobile reached a sales agent, and more than 33% of those led to sales. The average order value (AOV) was on par with desktop leads. This means that for a hypothetical AOV of $100, click to call is worth $11.
With a strong commitment to mobile marketing and increasing investment, both Progrexion and WebMetro are looking forward to the additional opportunities available in the mobile channel and developments in Google AdWords that will help marketers target the multi-device world.
“Mobile has become a go-to channel for efficient, incremental conversions,” says Ashton. “If I had any advice to offer to other marketers, be open to challenging conversion metrics for each step of the funnel. If we hadn’t changed our mindset and metrics, we would have missed out on a good chunk of the mobile pie.”
