Connect by Hallmark Empowers Financial Services Company’s Distributed Workforce to Enhance the Client Journey

Background

To support a financial services company’s workforce of branch advisors, Hallmark Business Connections created a custom line of cards for a variety of sending occasions. This program supports a customer-driven marketing strategy by focusing on personal relationships between advisors and clients. To send these cards and related products, advisors access their Connect platform to make purchases for their client base. In 2021, in addition to the yearly refresh of product offerings, the website underwent a redesign and additional functionalities were added. In the few weeks following the launch, the number of unique visitors to the site increased to 24,647 from 11,696 (compared to that same period from the previous year).

The Solution

After more than a decade of supporting the client with the Connect platform, Hallmark introduced a redesigned platform and added more functionalities. To evaluate the success of this relationship marketing service and understand the user experience, Hallmark conducted an optional survey to collect data surrounding advisor opinions. Advisors were asked to reflect on the website’s functionality, product offerings and integration of marketing campaigns and branding objectives. More than 280 advisors participated in the survey and their responses largely gave a favorable opinion of the Connect website and service.

Results

GREETING CARDS AS CONNECTION BUILDERS

Survey respondents overwhelmingly believe Hallmark greeting cards are valuable. 94% of respondents indicate greeting cards play an important role in connecting throughout the client journey.

Furthermore, respondents lean on Hallmark greeting cards to serve several purposes related to lifecycle marketing. When asked about their motivations for participating in the Connect program, nearly 90% say they use the cards to stay connected with clients. However, that’s not all Hallmark cards can achieve. As 76% of respondents indicate, cards can also elevate communications by adding a personal touch other formats cannot.

Though not as common, 23% of advisors look to cards when they want to reach out to potential clients and 18% use a card as customer retention marketing when they hope to reconnect with a client they’ve lost touch with. On average, survey respondents indicate they use Hallmark greetings for at least two of the above reasons. It’s clear that financial advisors who participate in card sending see these greetings as powerful connection builders.

THE PERKS OF PERSONALIZATION

The Connect platform allows users to customize products in multiple ways. Advisors can add a printed personal message, return address, recipient address and prepurchase stamps. Cards can then be shipped to advisors or mailed on their behalf. These offerings add value for both the advisor and the recipient by delivering personalized marketing materials that are individualized and easy to deliver.

To understand what advisors think about personalization options and how they make decisions about personalization, Hallmark asked about their use behaviors and preferences. More than 73% of advisors use personalization options, with most (57%) doing so “occasionally” or “often”. There is also a core group of committed personalizers (16%) who always take advantage of these one-to-one marketing options when they order from Hallmark.

For those who use personalization features, the most popular is return addressing. This service saves time and is a feature that is nearly unanimously used (94%) by those who “always” personalize and is used by 78% of those who use personalization features at least some of the time.

Wanting to understand why users sometimes chose not to use personalization features, Hallmark asked what factors motivate that choice. The most common (70%) reason for not partaking is a preference to handwrite and address cards and envelopes. Only a few respondents (6%) indicate they avoid personalization for reasons related to difficulty navigating the personalization engine.

Whether frequent or casual users of personalization, the advisors surveyed undoubtedly demonstrate there is significant interest in personalization options and when provided those options, users will take advantage of them.

EASE OF USER EXPERIENCE

Following a website redesign, Hallmark sought to understand how advisors felt about navigating the new site and its enhanced capabilities. Nearly all participants (98%) find their company’s branded Connect by Hallmark website easy to use. In fact, 35% of participants describe the site as “extremely easy” to use.

When it comes to aspects of the site that may seem more daunting, like the personalization engine, the reviews hold consistent. 93% of advisors find it easy to use personalization features. Connect by Hallmark provides a customized marketing platform that makes sending greeting cards hassle free.

Why It Works

Hallmark Business Connections is committed to providing clients with platforms that represent their brand and empower their distributed workforces to provide excellent service throughout the client journey. The scalability of sending enables target audience segmentation and customer targeting of specific loyalty marketing messages. Connect by Hallmark offers greeting card solutions that deepen connections through personalized messaging without the hassle, headache and expense of sending independently.

Connect by Hallmark has enabled this financial services company and their advisors to connect with clients by sending personalized greeting card products through an easy-to-use platform, enhancing the client journey and overall service experience.