1. Leveraging the Data Science Tool-kit to Drive Customer
mark.beckwith@ft.com
@thisisbeaker
Acquisition, Engagement & Retention
Mark Beckwith
Head of Campaign Management

2. Some context….
 About the FT
– One of the world’s leading business news organisations, is recognised
internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy
– Combined digital and print circulation of 665k
– Mobile drives almost 50% of traffic, 20% of digital subscriptions
– FT education products now serve 37 of the world’s top 50 business schools
 About my team
– Sit within a Customer Analytics & Research team of 25
– Six Campaign Analysts, spread across the globe
– Stakeholders include, Marketing (B2C, B2B), Product, Customer Services, Data
Technology, Communications, Financial Publishing
– Responsible for the full campaign cycle from a data perspective – from ideas
gathering and briefing right through to evaluation and optimisation
 About me
– 2.5 years at FT
– 14 years experience in Database Marketing and Analytical roles

3. A bit more context…..FT data
 Our data
– Metered access subscription model
– Every user interaction captured =
incredibly rich data
– Allows precision targeting of
communications with users and
subscribers
• Email
• On-site
• Social
• Outbound
• Direct Mail

4. How the team is successful….

5. The benefits of being ‘Data Bilingual’

6. The benefits of being ‘Data Bilingual’

7. Building capability/gaining buy-in…..it’s a journey
From here……
…..to here
The end result
“Having worked alongside with many database teams in the past, working
with the team at the Financial Times was an absolute dream. Here was a
team who understood exactly what I was trying to achieve and was very
motivated to make it happen”

8. Finding the right tools for the job

9. RFV + + ….driving acquisition with propensity modelling

10. …..the outcome (plus the benefits of collaboration)

11. Methods of driving engagement….segmentation

12. Using segmentation in a traditional way…..

13. ….and a new approach
 Behaviour comes in all shapes and sizes…

14. The components
 There are two key components
– Seasonal component
– Trend component

15. Identifying changing behaviour….
Constant trend
Change in trend
‘Break point’ identified

16. …and what is their subsequent behaviour

17. Let the data drive the comms strategy

18. Engagement activities…..onboarding

19. …and some results….

20. Who will stay and who will go?
 Model scores drive help determine
– Frequency
– Content
– Send time

21. Looking to the future

22. Do more stuff like this, but quicker…

23. Thank you
Mark Beckwith
Head of Campaign Management
mark.beckwith@ft.com
@thisisbeaker