Latcham case study
Cultivating loyalty with
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)
Driving member retention with data driven content
The Royal Horticultural Society: overview
Founded in 1804 to improve the science, art and practise of horticulture, The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is the UK’s leading gardening charity.
Helping to make the UK a greener and more beautiful place, RHS membership offers great days out in gorgeous garden spaces, flower festivals and expert gardening advice.
To sustain its gardens, events, and pioneering scientific research, RHS needs a flourishing membership.
The challenge
Research into RHS member retention highlighted two significant areas of consideration:
Renewals were lowest within the first two years
of membership.
There was a strong correlation between garden visits and membership renewal.
We were asked to deliver a direct marketing strategy to encourage and incentivise member-engagement with RHS gardens and events, specifically targeting members within the critical first two-year period
The delivery
Using Latcham Engage software, we integrated complex member profile data with RHS content in the production of 75 thousand exceptionally individualised 12 printed page landscape booklets.
Each booklet was personalised with member-specific content based on profile and history - eg: if a member had a record of attending a particular garden, the content would feature relevant images, maximising relatability.
Packs were differentiated according to member payment type - ie: cash or direct debit. We used this information to personalise discount vouchers for gardens and gift shops. The data from redeemed vouchers was used as a direct measure of member engagement.
Benefits and outcomes
The success of this campaign was evidenced by an increase in garden visits to the Glow festivals and a significant uplift in member renewals when compared to previous renewal periods.
The direct mail campaign demonstrated the effectiveness of personalised communications in fostering member connection and retention.
Using data to drive content also helped us to reduce postage costs as we were able to merge smaller batches into single
data sets.
Summary
The success of our direct marketing campaign demonstrates a clear correlation between personalised communication and targeted marketing in driving member engagement, loyalty and ultimately, member retention.
Latcham has made working on a complex mailing, simple and enjoyable. Excellent client care and support, including being on hand to help navigate challenges and provide solutions. We’re very happy with the end results and would highly recommend them!
The Royal Horticultural Society