One of PerfTech’s current Bulletin System customers, an ISP who ranks among the top dozen operators in the U.S., recently undertook an in-browser messaging trial to keep their subscribers informed regarding their respective data usage.  There were two factors important for the ISP to evaluate:  1) subscriber interaction with the in-browser message, and 2) follow-on results. 

Details of the Trial

The trial ran for a period of 3 months, from 20 October 2015 through 19 January 2016.  About 66%, or 2/3 of the 1M+ subscriber base was included in the scope of the trial; of those, only those subscribers who exceeded 80% of their respective data allowance in a given month received one or more of the following series of message contents:  

  • 80% of the subscriber’s monthly data allowance was used
  • 100% was used; there would be no charge until the 3rd monthly overage occurred
  • 100% was used for the 2nd month; there would be no charge until the next overage
  • 100% was used for the 3rd month; a fee of $10 per 50GB would be charged to their account 

With the receipt of each message, subscribers were able to either:  simply read the information without taking further action, or click on one of the following action buttons:

  • Acknowledge:  indicates the subscriber acknowledges the information, but takes no other action
  • Check Usage:  links the subscriber to his account login to view current usage
  • Data Plan Options:  links the subscriber to information on upgrade data plans
  • Opt-out:  allows the subscriber to choose to no longer receive usage alerts

Results

Across the 3 months of the trial, a total of 223,868 subscribers were targeted and received in-browser messages that conveyed 80% of their monthly usage allowance had been reached, meaning approximately 75,000—about 10.0% of the trial base—hit 80% during at least 1 of the 3 months.  (Those who received one of more of the 100% messages represented subgroups of those who first hit 80%.)  Respective interaction rates for the various action options across the series of messages are shown below.  

Summary:  Experience Positive, Churn Down, ARPU Up

Note that of those approximately 224K targeted subscribers who exceeded 80% of their usage allowance, all received an in-browser message, and 36.8% took positive action.  Another 6.3% opted out of receiving further usage alerts, and the remaining 56.9% received the usage info on their device screens but did not to take further action.  

Since data overages were free of charge for the first 2 months, it was only in the 3rd month that overages were charged to those subscribers who had exceeded 100% for the 3rd time.  There were 76,460 of the 3rd-time notices delivered (note that heavy users received multiple notices, one for each time they needed another 50GB); each carried a charge of $10, meaning $764,600 in revenue was generated during the 3rd month of the trial, and should recur each month thereafter.  Spread across the trial base, the increase in ARPU equates to slightly more than $1/sub/month.  

Prior to the trial, the ISP reported that during contact with a bill-shocked subscriber, the ISP would either lose the overage revenue or lose the subscriber.  With the delivery of in-browser alerts at graduated usage thresholds, the ISP was able to avoid bill-shock and confrontation, reduce subscriber churn by 13%, and achieve a 3% upgrade rate to a higher, more expensive data tier.  

The ISP considered the trial highly successful, expanded their use of PerfTech’s in-browser messaging system, and ensured uninterrupted usage alerts to their subscriber base.  In addition, the ISP intends to move forward with other types of in-browser messaging campaigns.