How ZEN.COM increased active users by 50% with hyper-segmentation 

In an era of increased mobile shopping and banking from smartphones, ZEN.COM, a global fintech company, aims to make shopping, money exchange, and daily financial management more secure by streamlining them into a single mobile app. Serving over 500,000 users, ZEN.COM has seen explosive growth in the last few years and built impressive partnerships with companies like Visa and Mastercard.

But as ZEN.COM’s mobile user base grew, so did their messaging needs—they struggled to convert and activate mobile users. They did not have a marketing platform that supported their needs for in-app messaging, push notifications, or a holistic multi-channel strategy. That’s why ZEN.COM switched from HubSpot to Customer.io. In the process, the company transformed its single-channel strategy into a hyper-personalized, multi-channel messaging powerhouse.

Despite a daily influx of new users to their mobile app, the ZEN.COM team faced challenges converting them. During this time, their sole method of interacting with customers was through email, focusing primarily on transactional rather than engagement topics. Their previous marketing automation tool, HubSpot, limited the number and types of messages the team could send. The tool also limited the team’s ability to optimize campaigns. They needed a new solution.

After switching to Customer.io, ZEN.COM developed a multi-channel approach by incorporating in-app messages (https://customer.io/blog/what-is-in-app-messaging/) and push notifications. 

Managing finances can be daunting and confusing. Recognizing this pain point for users, ZEN.COM took action. The challenges of mastering the app’s features, understanding its functionality, and staying informed about new updates and releases—all tangled with the delicate nature of financial management—hindered users from feeling secure in utilizing the ZEN Mastercard® and ZEN.COM app. Ultimately, this affected their overall shopping experience.

Combating user hesitation with education-focused in-app messages and push notifications empowered users to navigate the app confidently and manage their finances. Messaging was tailored to evoke the app’s value proposition, and segmentation enhanced personalization. By executing an activation strategy focused on engaging and enlightening users, ZEN.COM boosted the number of active users, user loyalty, and conversion rates.

You may miss out on valuable customer interactions using only one channel. In fact, there was a 47% increase in mobile messages (https://customer.io/learn/state-of-messaging-report/) sent last year and a 187% increase year-over-year (https://customer.io/learn/state-of-messaging-report/) in the usage of in-app messages! These channels provide a unique opportunity to reach users at the right time and the right place during moments of high impact. Adding them was a game-changer for ZEN.COM and could be for you, too.

While sending educational emails and in-app messages proved helpful for many users, ZEN.COM realized they needed to go further. Highly relevant messaging inspires action, but sending generic and vague messages or promoting at the wrong time can permanently drive away customers. To connect with users individually and prevent personalization mishaps, ZEN.COM utilized Customer.io’s advanced segmentation features and value proposition design to hyper-personalize their messaging with accuracy.

Here are a few cases:

• Influence user behavior: ZEN.COM analyzed user activity levels within their app to trigger unique activation campaigns and promotions based on user actions.
• Trigger location-based offers: They utilized location segmentation to send local offers in the local language.
• Segment based on value: ZEN.COM also implemented campaigns based on customer value, enabling them to nurture customers at different stages of their lifecycle.

ZEN.COM’s use of Customer.io for personalization and user segmentation is just a glimpse of what is possible. With the platform’s unlimited attributes and events, you have nearly limitless opportunities to segment your audiences and personalize your messaging.

Expanding from one channel to three may seem intimidating at first. It’s no secret that multi-channel messaging takes more orchestration than a single-channel messaging strategy, but it also creates more opportunities to reach your customers where they are and with greater accuracy. Finding the right balance between sending too many push notifications (which can lead to being muted by the user) and encouraging engagement is crucial. ZEN.COM discovered this balance through experimentation. Testing variables such as segmentation, timing, language, and creatives helped refine their strategy.

Pro tip: Even when campaigns are performing well — continue testing. Testing reveals that even small variables can significantly impact the overall campaign performance. It also helps establish the necessary frameworks to enhance tactics and achieve larger goals in the future.

ZEN.COM is experiencing rapid growth through partnerships and expanding its platform’s functionality. To keep up, their customer communications needed to scale quickly. Using Customer.io, they expanded their messaging channels beyond email and saw success. They saw a 50% year-over-year increase in their active user base within their app—a direct result of adding a multi-channel strategy, user segmentation, and best-in-class content to their overall strategy. By implementing robust segmentation and personalization and utilizing advanced testing and optimization capabilities offered by Customer.io, ZEN.COM has successfully elevated its marketing efforts (and business growth goals).

Your brand can achieve results like ZEN.COM. Learn how Customer.io Journeys can elevate your marketing today with data-first, optimized multi-channel messaging.