Harvard Business Review Complex Chinese (hereafter HBR) has been committed to building a convenient, easy-to-use reading platform that can offer more informative and useful articles to working professionals. For example, HBR optimized the article categories on its website to make article searches faster and more accurate. It also introduced new ways (e.g., podcasts) for readers to enjoy “reading” and receive the latest news in the workplace.
However, as social apps became more widespread, HBR not only wanted to maintain close contact with readers through social channels, but also wanted to attract readers back to its website and increase subscriptions by analyzing traffic data and obtaining reader profile insights. To this end, HBR adopted Appier’s BotBonnie conversational marketing platform and turned the official HBR LINE account into a custom-built micro-CRM platform. Using BotBonnie’s account binding feature, the brand was able to let users bind their member data with a single tap. Users could then access customized LINE menu functions, such as article browsing history and “saved-for-later” articles. When new articles on topics a user follows is published, or when a user hasn’t finished reading an article, HBR can send LINE messages to notify them. By partnering with BotBonnie to build a micro-CRM platform, HBR was able to provide more personalized services and interactions, as well as build a more holistic digital experience for members.
In addition to regular article notifications, in 2022 HBR launched the “HBR 100 Reading Challenge”. The campaign used BotBonnie’s Account Binding and Daily Check-in kits to engage readers on LINE. The system pushed relevant business articles on users’ chosen topics, which increased readership and prompted users with free membership to convert to a paid membership. The campaign successfully achieved 8x the number of bound accounts compared to previous campaigns.
HBR believed that when it came to social engagement in today’s world, the key to winning was to provide personalized experiences. Besides the LINE account binding feature which provides a custom menu, BotBonnie can also tag and segment different members based on their membership type. HBR used unique tags for three target segments: regular members, trial members, and subscribed members. The brand then pushed relevant articles to each segment based on their topics of interest, such as career development, information technology, and marketing and public relations. This enabled HBR to not only manage member data in one place, but also precisely push content that readers are interested in, thus reinforcing loyalty. HBR successfully achieved 7-8% lift in the percentage of LINE users who returned to its website after tapping a personalized message.
During the Lunar New Year period of 2022, HBR launched a “Change Your Workplace” campaign on Meta platforms. Leveraging immersive conversations on Messenger, HBR tagged customers to collect user profile data that could be used in the future for precise targeting with messages. During the campaign, users could enter a Messenger chat via posts on Meta platforms. In Messenger, HBR deployed BotBonnie’s Persona Kit to change its profile photo and engage users in a “situational conversation” that enables the brand to understand users’ needs in the workplace. The users are then tagged based on this information. After the conversation, users could also scratch for a 2022 lucky charm right in Messenger.
HBR Complex Chinese Department of Marketing Associate Director Wei-Ting Wang says, “Since partnering with Appier BotBonnie, we’ve been able to quickly create exciting marketing interactions on social media and build a two-way communication channel with existing and potential readers. With this accumulated experience in using tags, we hope to better understand readers’ needs and create more personalized messages and experiences.
Recurring Notifications can help brands circumvent the 24-hour time limit for engagement with push notifications. Brands will be able to regularly push messages to users who have opted-in to recurring marketing messages, thus bypassing the time limit for engagement.
Between September 2021 and March 2022, HBR leveraged Meta’s Recurring Notifications with support from BotBonnie to promote its new podcasts. By regularly pushing new episode notices to subscribed users, HBR aimed to reach new audiences on Facebook with this new content form and get users into the habit of tuning in.
Using Recurring Notifications ensured that podcast-related information was only delivered to users who were truly interested, helping HBR avoid being blocked by uninterested users. Finally, this feature was also effective in increasing the number of regular listeners.