Introduction
DUCA Credit Union faced the classic dilemma of digitally transforming its marketing function. Burdened by an outdated and manual marketing application, ClickDimension, they were handcuffed by the limitations of extracting and manually manipulating Excel files from their core banking system, FiServe DNA. This labor-intensive process not only consumed valuable time but also left them grappling with a disjointed customer experience and risk of noncompliance with CASL.
Challenges and Current State Metrics
DUCA’s marketing efforts were hampered by:
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Operational Inefficiencies: Marketing campaigns were based on static lists, which lacked real-time updates, leading to issues like emailing customers who had closed their accounts. There was a large number of contacts and the manual process was taking more than 20 hours a week.
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Compliance Risks: Adherence to Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) was compromised, as the delay in updating consent status posed legal risks. Ensuring that unsubscribed contacts were updated within a week would violate the compliance rules, making the process a liability.
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Scattered Analytics: With disparate systems like for landing pages, emails campaigns, and website analytics, the inability to track and measure campaign performance was glaring. There was no consolidated measure of conversions or ROI from marketing campaigns.
The Learners.ai Approach and Solution State Metrics
Selecting Learners.ai for their expertise and accreditation status, DUCA embarked on a transformative journey. We started with a strategic roadmap, which included:
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HubSpot Integration: Establishing a real-time sync with FiServe DNA via Lodestar data warehouse and Celero APIs. This would fully automate the marketing function with direct integration to the core banking systems, reducing more than 20 hours of manual effort a week and eliminate the risk from CASL non-compliance.
Just taking a quick look at their architecture, it pictures a thousand words.
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Marketing Automation Modernization: Migrating from ClickDimension to HubSpot and decommissioning the old system. This not only saved DUCA more than $20,000 in annual subscription fees, but provided a much superior and unified platform to execute omnichannel marketing campaigns, not just emails. This was how Pippa Nutt, DUCA’s CMO envisioned her team to function: “Now we have a proper marketing platform.”
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Data Cleanup and Migration: Transitioning and sanitizing the customer data between systems. The integration efforts revealed several data consistency issues, prompting the team at DUCA to clean up their data and get all their data a clean bill of health.
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Consolidated Marketing Platforms: Integrating various marketing channels into HubSpot for a unified view of the customer journey. The ability to track ROI and measure conversions at a granular level now allowed the marketing team to make informed decisions, personalise campaigns, and report and optimise ROI.
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Customized Training and Adoption: Implementing hands-on training and workshops to ensure high user adoption and self-sufficiency within the DUCA team. The DUCA team was able to get all of their internal team members trained to administer and operate HubSpot without adding a new staff member.
Outcomes
The solution provided by Learners.ai not only streamlined DUCA’s marketing operations but also fortified their compliance posture. The real-time integration architecture eliminated the manual workload, thereby reducing operational risks and errors. Quantitative benefits observed:
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• Operational Efficiency: 20 hours saved a week in manual work with a reduction in manual errors and delays. More than 50% improvement in orchestrating and launching marketing campaigns.
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• Compliance Alignment: 75% decrease in CASL-related incidents.
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• Enhanced Analytics: 100% increase in campaign tracking accuracy, resulting in a 20% better utilization of the marketing budget.
Future Enhancements
Post-implementation, DUCA is not only leveraging their new capabilities but also expanding their horizons. Requests for new campaigns, increased use of email templates, landing pages, and putting a plan in place for publishing thought leadership through blogs. There is also potential to further expand HubSpot’s capabilities to other team members in Wealth Management and Mortgage businesses.
Conclusion
With the technical complexity demystified and operational excellence achieved, DUCA’s partnership with Learners.ai is a resounding success, marked by tangible improvements and a roadmap for continued innovation. As DUCA explores further advancements, Learners.ai stands as a beacon of digital transformation in the financial services industry.
