When a global study falls short of defining the characteristics of a local market, it is necessary to take a different path to understand the needs and desires of a customer properly.
Mastercard needed to improve the product offering for the Affluent Millennial segment in Colombia, a buyer persona with very particular characteristics within the local market:
- Although they are digital natives, there was insufficient information about their demographic spectrum and consumption habits
- They expressed reservations and reservations about the use of digital payment methods
Consequently, the execution of digital advertising campaigns had a high cost due to the difficulty of finding effective segments. Still, more importantly, Mastercard needed a representative first-party database of this niche to work with them in activation campaigns and product creation.
The phrase “We are what we eat” (by Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin) also works when we use digital content: we consume those things with which we identify or about which we have doubts.
We defined a group of content pillars that helped us to segment audiences, meet their information needs, and identify prospects related to the Affluent Millennial profile.
Using financial education and the different ways in which the segment’s users can enjoy the benefits of credit cards as a transversal axis, the following organic and paid distribution channels were established:
- Native content distributed in digital mass media of news, finance, and lifestyle allowed identifying users in the attraction stage.
- Production of two editorial and lifestyle websites created to convert interested audiences into valuable leads through newsletters, downloadable content, and personality tests
- Customized ads and emails with calls to action to take advantage of exclusive promotions and activities for Affluent Millennial customers
Along with the content distribution plan, a validation model was applied based on A/B testing, data analysis from content consumption, surveys, and logic tests.
Distribution
Highly targeted ads
Brand Awareness
Media endorsement
Lead nurturing
Email marketing
Results
The creation a first-party database of people who fit within the definition of the buyer persona Affluent Millennial in Colombia.
With the analysis of content consumption and obtaining a significant number of data points of their psychographic profile obtained:
- Creation of exclusive offers and services for Mastercard Black credit cards.
- Significant reduction in digital advertising by targeting activities to specific segments.
- Validation of the tone and manner of advertising and communication campaigns, with higher interaction KPIs than other campaigns and segments.
Awards and recognitions
The execution of the project was recognized as a finalist in the Data-Driven Media category at the Effie Awards Colombia 2020.
Technologies and other nerdy stuff
- The websites were developed in WordPress
- Creation of surveys and logic tests using Typerform
- I configured and managed Hubspot Marketing Hub to collect profile information generated in different spaces and automate communications through newsletters
- I used Google Analytics to analyze web traffic
- I designed dashboards in Google Data Studio to gather information from Hubspot and Google Analytics.
Project status
Completed. The campaign met its objective within the established timeframe, and the websites are no longer on air.
My role in the project
As Director of Strategy for the Digital Studio of Publicaciones Semana, I was in charge of:
- Conceiving and directing the project
- Led a team of 8 people, including writers, visual designers, editors, digital advertising specialists, and social media managers
- Intermediating with the client (Mastercard) and other stakeholders in the execution of the project
Where are the numbers?
Although the information on this case study is public, I prefer to talk personally about the KPIs. Let’s meet together!