List Costs Slashed; Membership Grows 107%
The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) faced an issue common to many membership marketing campaigns: list fatigue. Typically, a well-targeted purchased list will net 80-90% useable names. By contrast, NBAA’s limited universe of pilot/owners, plus years of marketing activity, had reduced their “keep rate” of useable names to less than 35%. Not only was NBAA paying for three names and using only one, list performance was dropping precipitously due to repeated use.
Data Analytics Improves Performance and Bottom Line
Using proprietary data modeling and analytics, MGI developed a buying behavior profile of the typical NBAA member. The profile was appended to over 300 buying behavior fields from publicly available database records. Using this additional data, MGI was then able to select and test several profiles, apply them to the universe—in this case FAA national aviation records—and determine if these prospects outperformed typical purchased lists.
We have worked with MGI since 2006 and have seen record levels of growth in both member count and dues revenue during this time. The past six years have been difficult economically for the country and our industry, and we believe the strategy and execution provided by MGI has been a key component in our success.
One advantage was immediately evident: only useable names were purchased, reducing the cost of outside lists by two-thirds. In addition, the results proved very positive. First, all profiles performed consistently; that is, no matter how many were mailed, their performance was consistent. They also performed significantly above the financial break-even point compared to previously purchased lists.
Since the response rates were consistent, MGI replaced the poorer performing lists with consistent performing names. After four years, NBAA’s overall response rate increased by 52% and the total cost per member dropped nearly the same amount. Most importantly, the number of new members increased by 107%.