#021 Conversion Rates & Their Myth

Dear readers, in todays newsletter I would like to share our findings around campaign results (KPIs) and the typical mistakes we′ve seen made.

First thing to mention is: THERE′s NOT THE ONE % FOR EVERYTHING!!

Often we see statements saying 98% opening rates...

Yes, if we are talking about P2P communication, or even 2FA use cases where the user is looking for that message as he wants to log-in somewhere or initiate an online transaction, but NOT in case of a marketing campaign send as push message on random basis!

Good example is made by doubletick.io, where the headline of the opening rate section is saying "Staggering 98% Message Open-rate"...

... and below the graphic it says "for businesses Whatsapp have a base opening rate of 58%", but most of the readers just scroll through the website and remember "ah, 98% read rate with Whatsapp"...

So it′s important to compare use case with same use case, otherwises there is with all of a sudden a wrong expectation set and brands will be dissatisfied when receiving their results.

ONLY in certain use cases you have opening rates that hit the maximum, like 2FA or P2P.

But let′s start with the basics of an A2P campaign - P2A is different story:

1. how up date is your optin database
2. does the user expect your message
3. is your message personalized (!!)
4. have you optimized your message flow, e.g. with A-B testing upfront

With the capability check on Google Jibe API you can check in real time if the user will be RCS capable and reachable, so you can define your omni-channel matrix accordingly and have a second and third fallback if needed. E.g. if not RCS capable let′s stick to todays approach and send an E-Mail etc.; As we could prove with our own usage of RBM vs. SMS it′s a quick win whenever you can use the better channel. Also from campaign management perspective as with SMS (or E-Mail) you are very limited in callbacks and transparency what happened after sendout.

As long as your optin′s aren′t outdated and user remember their optin and value your service / offers, there′s a good basis for good campaign results in first instance. But also it′s relevant how many similar messages the user receive in short period of time and how many messages in general, e.g. if there is an overload like in our todays E-Mail inbox often given, he will quickly get annoyed and unsubscribe or block the sender / agent.

Typically we see delivery rates of >90% if the capability check is made inline of the message sent attempt and as long as there is not a huge delay between those two API calls.

Followed by read/opening rates >50%, but here you need to take into consideration:

• User can disable read notifications in their messaging application but still read the messages
• Some people already have read the message in preview/push notification and act on behalf
• When people don′t see relevance to open the message they can easily delete/swipe left
• Read receipts will come in over time, so e.g. we′ve seen a +10% after 5d waiting period

Main driver for better read rates as already mentioned above:

• Personalized message helps a lot to convince the recipient it′s not just another spam
• Right timing to make your message even more valuable, like a coupon after shop visit
• Use of carousel to give user a selection of choices or to select by category to next one
• Focus on UX instead simplicity = e.g. use personalized message + carousel + payoff line

When it comes to CTR (click-through-rates) everything is possible and depends on:

• What is your chosen call to action / What is the user required to do
• It′s a significant difference if you should "buy" vs "get more info"
• We′ve seen e.g. doubling of data package sales by using RCS than SMS
• How relevant and valuable is your offer to your target group at that time

It′s important to compare the campaign results with similar ones made in different channels like other OTT channels, SMS or E-Mail etc to see how good/ bad RCS one perform. Also we recommend a proper QA upfront as well as A/B testing to finetune your campaign before sendout as you don′t have a second virgin approach.

Therefore we recommend to have at least the most common devices and applications at hand to make sure an Android user with Samsung Messages client has same great experience than with Google Messages Client and hopefully soon Apple iMessage User.

Last but not least, what we have seen is users are used to the native messaging inbox for business communication whereas the OTT messengers are typically used for their private chats. That results in higher attention when receiving a business communication via RCS than Whatsapp and less concerns. To keep this behavior it needs all of us to take care of the channel to keep the fraudster away to establish a well secured and reliable communication path. Let′s work on this and help to prevent RCS being negatively impacted by fraudulent use.

Yours, #B