Voice revenues are declining. SMS revenues are shrinking. OTT messaging solutions are attracting increasing numbers of customers and threatening operator business models. At the same time, mobile data consumption is continuing to rocket. Every week, we are confronted with challenging news from the industry that grabs our attention and leads to much wringing of hands and introspective debate regarding the future role of the operator.However, the thing is, these are macro trends. They certainly attract attention, but what is happening at a global or regional scale may not be the whole picture. Local conditions may be markedly different but this can be obscured by the doom-laden headlines. The reality is that every operator is different and has different subscriber profiles, a different mix of devices, and different price packages – and different service consumption levels. This means that the macro news may not adequately reflect the micro situation in any given network. The challenge is to understand these differences and what individual operators can do about them.
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| Inna Ott Director of Marketing, Polystar Contact Inna |
As an
operator, you must know what actually affects your own network. Of course,
global trends are important and need to be considered when defining strategy,
but what really matters is what is happening at a micro level. What is
happening to SMS volumes in your own network? Which applications are users
consuming with their data packages? Which handsets are being used for which
applications or which attract the highest data consumption?
That’s why a
deep-level understanding of the behaviour of your subscribers is so important. If
things are changing, you need to know what these are, so that the significance
can be determined. You need to understand what services subscribers are
consuming, track usage patterns and predict new trends. You need to be able to collect
real-time data, filter and sort it so that relevant information can be exposed.
The collection and interpretation of such data is referred to as marketing
analytics.
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| Robert Eriksson Director CEM, Polystar Contact Robert |
Marketers
need access to detailed information regarding buying and consumption habits in
order to maximise conversion while minimising the marketing budget. For
decades, businesses have been collecting data about their customers and using
it to deliver enhanced products and to get more from their marketing efforts.
Today, mobile operators are beginning to apply the same techniques, thanks to
advances in deep packet inspection and software solutions that extract service
experience information that is sorted so that it can be analysed and
interpreted. With the right marketing analytics solution, operators gain rich
insights into who is doing what, when, where and how at the micro level that
really matters. This enables marketing activity that is perceived as relevant
to the chosen target group, thus maximising the conversion rate.
Marketing
analytics solutions gather data from many sources, including the network. They enable
operators to work in a structured way to continuously improve their offerings,
leading to a better customer experience and more loyal customers. In turn, this
leads to decreased churn and increased revenue. But it’s hard to filter and
make sense of the masses of data available from networks. Operators must be
able to select the data that matches their needs and which helps them define
the most suitable metrics for their success. What’s more, they need to be able
to correlate the data obtained with detailed segmentation of their customer
base: it’s one thing to understand how specific services are being consumed but
how does subscriber demographics impact these trends?
This has
traditionally been a job for experts in data analysis, but with modern,
easy-to-use Marketing Analytics tools, powerful service experience information
is available to a wider range of users within an operator’s organisation. Which services are popular and which are in
decline? Among which age groups are different services attracting the largest
audience? Which handset models are being used for which applications? Comparing
service consumption and activity levels with information about subscriber
groups, their devices and other variables such as gender and age, reveals rich
sets of data that provides powerful insights into product and strategy
evolution.
In addition
to reviewing individual services and their consumption, price models can be
examined to determine the impact of changes in trials, promotions and standard
pricing offers. Highly targeted campaigns can be launched which may help the
success of new services, by ensuring that they are offered to the most
receptive audience.
Polystar’s Jupiter
Marketing Analytics solution delivers deep insight to make sense of subscriber
data. It provides clear reporting of information collected from advanced
network probes that are equipped with Deep Packet Inspection engines. The data
can be filtered to provide a wide range of reports, which can be customised to suit
the needs of Product Management or Marketing departments.
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| Traffic Report Filter: Price Plan: 199, Age Group: 16-25, Applicant Category: Audio Video |
The
collected data can be correlated with subscriber profiles and information,
enabling segmentation to be applied to review performance. Previously
undiscovered relationships between subscription, customer characteristics,
device and application usage can be identified and understood – and acted upon.
This can
yield significant benefits for operators. They can take control of their
networks and deliver real engagement to their customers by a deeper
understanding of who they are, what they do and what they actually want.
Without marketing analytics information, collected anonymously, securely and
safely from all active users on their network, operators can only guess what’s
going on. They may be too influenced by external events and not by the facts
that are held within their network.
But with the
right information in hand, marketers can develop and launch offerings that
actually reflect real user behaviour. Such tailored offers can be more easily
differentiated, and it becomes simpler to maintain value to their consumers.
Equally, business and price models can be adapted much more quickly to changes
in customer behaviour, for example increased video consumption and download.
Subscribers
are a valuable asset. Operators have to understand them. That’s why operators
need micro data. They need solutions such as Polystar’s Jupiter Marketing
Analytics package to provide the deep and specific insight from their networks
that will help them ensure a better customer experience while efficiently
monetising their services. Every operator is different. Polystar helps each
operator make sense of their own unique network and obtain the intelligence
they need to deliver outstanding performance and a strategic orientation based
on facts.
Drop
by Polystar stand, E8c at AfricaCom to explore how your company can benefit
from a fast and efficient Customer Experience Management and get aggressive
return on investment in a short time period.
Book your meeting with the Polystar experts
Register for your free ticket to AfricaCom Here
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