Top U.S. Airlines - Iterable User Engagement Teardown

User Engagement Teardown:
Top U.S. Airlines
www.iterable.com

2
A Quick Word on Iterable
Iterable, Inc. All Rights Reserved
• Iterable is the growth marketing platform that
powers world-class customer engagement with
unparalleled data flexibility.
• Create, execute and optimize campaigns across
email, push, SMS, in-app and more.
• Everything you see here (and more) can be done
with Iterable. You can see other teardowns at:
iterable.com/teardown

3
What is a “User Engagement Teardown?”
• We analyze cross-channel user
engagement over a defined period
post-signup.
• We offer constructive evaluation and
feedback.
• We cover all types of B2C businesses:
e-commerce, marketplaces, media,
politics, etc.

4
Background on Delta, Southwest & Alaska
• Delta, Southwest & Alaska are three leading airlines
in the U.S.
• Delta, founded in 1924, is the oldest airline operating in
the U.S., generating $41B in revenue in 2017.
• Southwest, founded in 1967, is the world’s largest low-
cost carrier, generating $21B in 2017.
• Alaska, founded in 1932, recently made headlines with
its acquisition of Virgin America for $2.6B in 2016.

5
What We Did
• We signed up and received messages over
three weeks between July & August 2018.
• We escalated our activity over time:
• Completed user profiles
• Downloaded mobile apps
• Browsed travel deals and abandoned carts
for San Francisco, Denver, and New York City

On to the User Engagement Timeline…

Message TypeActivity Type
MessagesUserActivity
We’ll show you what we (the user) did here…
Scheduled
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
…and the messages we received here.
Activities and message types are
color coded as shown in this key.
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
User Engagement Timeline

Now let’s look at each brand’s user
engagement. First, Delta…

The Delta User Engagement Timeline
Signed up for account
Signed up for push/SMS
Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled

Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled
After we signed up for a Delta account, we
received an email (personalized by first name)
welcoming us to the SkyMiles program.

Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled
Our next welcome message encouraged us
to earn 30,000 bonus miles by signing up
for the Gold Delta SkyMiles credit card.

Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled
We then received an email explaining the
benefits of the SkyMiles program, followed by
another credit card offer.

Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled
Our last message asked, “How will you
start using your miles?” even though we
hadn’t yet booked a flight.

Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled
No further messages were sent after the
first ten days post-signup, so no cart
abandonment reminders were received.

Now let’s look at Southwest’s user
engagement…

The Southwest User Engagement Timeline
Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled

Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled
Shortly after signup, we received a personalized
welcome email with CTAs to learn more about the Rapid
Rewards program and log into our account.

Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled
We then received an email thanking us for signing up to
Southwest’s email subscriptions: their Click ’N Save
deals and Rapid Rewards Report.

Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled
The next three scheduled emails included a credit card
offer, our first Rapid Rewards Report and a Click ‘N Save
deal that was personalized by our location.

Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled
A week later, we received another Click ‘N Save deal, a flight
giveaway, and another monthly Rapid Rewards report.
The giveaway addressed us by a nearby city to our home location
instead of by name, as seen in phrases, like, “Where will you go,
Oakland?” and “Oakland, stay with us instead.”

Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled
After several abandoned carts, we received a
reminder to book our trip to NYC.

Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled
Our final message was another Click ‘N Save
deal for fall travel, but it was not
personalized by our abandonment actions.

Finally, let’s look at Alaska’s
user engagement…

The Alaska User Engagement Timeline
Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled

Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled
After signup, we received a personalized welcome
email encouraging us to see all our member benefits.

Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled
A couple days later, we received two promotions:
one about their new in-flight menu and a sale for
Australia round trip fares.

Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled
The following scheduled emails featured a partner
promotion for Hertz and a general fall promotion, which
was personalized by our state, not preferred airport.

Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled
On Day 10, we received a reminder for an Australia deal, with the
subject line, “It’s not too late, mates. Get special rates to Australia
nonstop.” This email was personalized by our preferred airport.

Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled
On Day 14, we received another general fall promotion that
was not personalized by our cart abandonment activity.

Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled
A couple days later, we finally received a cart
abandonment email with the subject line:
“Kate, your trip to New York won’t plan itself!”

Downloaded app
Abandoned cart
Completed profile
Days from
start:
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart
Scheduled
Our last message was another promotion for
autumn flights, with the subject line: “Fall sale.
! Fly from San Francisco, starting at $49.”

32
Frequency Takeaways
• Over the course of our 3-week study, all airlines relied on email as
the primary channel to communicate with users.
Company Email Mobile Push SMS
Delta 5 0 0
Southwest 10 0 0
Alaska 9 0 0

33
Differing Priorities
• Delta featured its SkyMiles program in its welcome series, focusing on member
benefits and earning miles rather than encouraging travel bookings.
• Southwest explicitly explained the email subscriptions that new users would
receive—monthly Rapid Rewards reports and regular Click ‘N Save deals.
• Alaska often promoted seasonal deals, specific destinations, and the
occasional travel partnership.

Now let’s look at the message content…

Iterable, Inc. All Rights Reserved 35
These are 4 standard Delta messages
(emails depicted in Gmail).
You’ll notice…

Personalization by first name and
SkyMiles account number in the header.

Answers to common FAQs in
the first welcome email.

An emphasis on member benefits
and how you can earn miles and
other travel rewards.

Inconsistent style for credit card
offers: different text formatting and
copy-heavy messages.

40
The Delta Inbox View
Consistent sender names
Focus on SkyMiles in every
subject line
Lack of preheader text

These are 3 standard Southwest
messages (emails depicted in Gmail).
You’ll notice…

Personalization by name, points, and Rapid
Rewards account number. A navigation
menu is also included in the header.

Confusing call to action in the welcome message
to, “Get on the list,” considering that we’re
already opted into email communications.

Dynamic content based on points balance (with an
animated speech bubble for emphasis), but messaging is
inconsistent, as seen in the content block below with,
“Redeem your points on a low fare now.”

Simple cart abandonment reminder with
airport information and icon-based imagery

46
The Southwest Inbox View
Separate sender name for
Click ‘N Save deals
Creative preheaders, like “You
better Belize it.”
Personalization by first name
and location

These are 3 standard Alaska messages
(emails depicted in Gmail).
You’ll notice…

Personalization by name, account
number and tenure in digital card design

Cross-channel promotion with call to
action to download the mobile app

Content for partners in travel
and financial services

Cart abandonment reminder
personalized by name and location

52
The Alaska Inbox View
Creative preheaders, like “Get
suite rewards…”
Fun use of emojis
Different sender names for its Insider
and Mileage Plan messages

53
Content Takeaways
• Each brand incorporates strong branding and streamlined
design, but differ in their messaging strategies to new users.
• Delta: Focuses on member benefits and FAQs to promote customer
spending, especially via its brand credit card.
• Southwest: Separates travel promotions and account activity in its
Click ‘N Save deals and Rapid Rewards reports.
• Alaska: Prioritizes partner sponsorships and tools, like its low fare
calendar and mobile app.

55
Our Recommendations
• All companies could optimize their cross-channel marketing by investing
more heavily into integrating push and SMS with their email program.
• Delta could extend its welcome and onboarding series with more personalized
content based on browsing history.
• Southwest could increase the sophistication of its cart abandonment messages
with dynamic imagery and real-time recommendations.
• Alaska could improve its partner content by integrating more targeted messaging
based on individual preferences and behavior.

56
Iterable enables brands to build highly
personalized welcome & onboarding
campaigns that activate consumer interest
Targeted segmentation of new memberships
converted 40% of users to make 1st
purchase
Ongoing testing increased click rates on mobile
by 47% during early days of app launch
New user data is collected to curate
personalized fitness sessions
How Iterable Powers Customer Engagement

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