Personalization
Enablers include data-driven insights and martech investments. MacGregor is coy about the mix of solutions Amaysim has in the stack, calling it telecom’s “secret sauce,” although it has been publicly reported that Twilio Segment, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Adobe Experience Manager, Kapello and Google Ads are in the mix at Amaysim during the last few years.
MacGregor says the business has leaned heavily on its personalization program over the past year, driven by the increased use of AI.
“The benefit of having a good personalization engine is freeing up space to talk to consumers: It’s really important to look at what we’re not sending them,” he comments. “It’s not often said that way, but it’s one of the most important things. When you get things, hopefully it’s more important.
“Personalization is in everything from how we interact with consumers who come to our website, what they’re seeing, how they’re seeing it, pop-ups, existing custom communications, push, in-app, where they are in the lifecycle. of life … is across all our owned channels and we’re trying to bring owned, earned and paid channels together so they’re all singing from the same song sheet. It’s not about having different ‘brains’ trying to push something out there – our goal is to bring it all together.”
Models built by AI are helping to understand which groups and customers to target, what they like, how they like to be served, preferences and points, inferences from behaviors and more.
“We’ve used AI quite a bit and it’s outperforming humans and what we’ve done before, against control groups and A/B testing. It’s better and significantly better versus our commercial offerings,” says MacGregor, without giving specific numbers.
“But there is also art and science. We know that with consumer behavior when you are launching the product for example, you need to create awareness. It’s bringing the two together – you can’t go all one way or the other. This is where traders have to master the art and science of getting the ratio right. It’s the role of marketers to look at those different component use case scenarios and think from both a customer and business perspective.”
It all comes down to what Nath labels as “relentless” understanding of who the customers are, what they like and what portfolios Amaysim needs to think about, build and work on.
“Do telcos have weak muscles when it comes to a customer experience service? I would say there have been many examples and we’ve seen some global phone companies change and adapt to be able to compete in the market on customer experience, and not just price,” he says. “Telco have turned from a commodity to a warm and customer-friendly operator. Those who haven’t – many have lost ground and seen their position decline over the years. Staying close to our customer is one of the things I have seen within Amaysim and is one of our strongest muscles.
“We bend over backwards to make sure we deliver great value to our customers and great service.”
The NBN plan
Which brings us to the next product that comes into the mix: NBN services. It’s a product more closely related to the company’s wheelhouse and comes in marked contrast to previous efforts in adjacent spaces, such as communal services. Amaysim offloaded its energy arm to AGL in 2020 for less than it bought the business for. It also comes at a good time given the maturation of the NBN in Australia: More than eight in 10 homes now have NBN connections nationally.
“What we are clear about is that we want to be in and around our core. Our core business is about connection – people, homes – and delivering a lot of value around that. So what can we do to make people happier, stay longer? That’s why the NBN makes a lot of sense, as well as selling equipment,” Nath explains.
“As we move forward, we want to ensure that our flagship handset continues to grow; we build another pillar, invest and make it grow; then we take the other, invest and make it grow. If you look at how the NBN market has progressed to this point, we now have over 80 per cent of homes connected to the NBN. There is a huge opportunity to give consumers great value and service, and that’s the role Amaysim has – we offer affordable freedom.
“We see great growth not only in the current base, but through them. It’s about spreading the word of mouth to say hey it’s not just mobile, it’s NBN now. So, did you know that you can get the next iPhone from the Amaysim device portal? If not, why not?”
Nath points out that the proof is in the pudding, with Amaysim delivering 108,000 of the 116,000 Optus customers reported in its latest full-year financial results.
“That’s the importance of what we bring to the table: Customer acquisition and growth. That’s what we’re really excited about. I’m sure that over the next few quarters, we should be able to repeat the same success with the NBN as well,” he says.
Another trend that Amaysim sees an opportunity to address is eSIMs. Across the Internet space, almost 40 percent of people are now accessing services via digital-only SIM cards.
“It’s become important for us to invest after that customer journey and experiences,” says Nath. “Again, it’s about what consumers are really looking for, where it’s leaving them and where we’re able to serve them better.
“We know that people are still versatile, for example. They can search and figure out what the best thing is online, but then they go to the supermarket and buy. That’s why we still have a physical package for eSIM – this is to say hey, for all those who are still unsure, go and get a physical package and we’ll help you set up the eSIM smoothly- in your phone.”
ESIM also feeds into Amaysim’s aspiration to grow its online DTC services. “ESIMs make switching easy and we can deliver great CX by controlling the entire journey and user experience. So it’s a big focus for us,” he adds.