Remarketing Revealed: The Air Arabia Story

After the launch earlier this year of our case study with global airline Air Arabia, we wanted to dig a little deeper and get the inside scoop on their success.
So we caught up with SaleCycle Campaign Manager, Oliver Bolton, to get his insight on what makes their On-site and Email Remarketing campaigns so successful, and the tips and tricks he’s learned along the way.

Q What aspect of managing this campaign has been the most fun/interesting?

A Beyond looking at dream holiday destinations and at the names of cities I want to work in, I’d have to say it’s seeing new technology succeed! Air Arabia was one of our first clients to use customer trend based messaging; with them being a busy airline they were perfectly suited to make the most of it!
It’s common for customers to be presented with the fact that say “15 people are currently looking at your flight”, adding a sense of urgency!

It’s not about scaring customers into booking though, I’ve just got back from my honeymoon and seeing the consumer trends pop-up  reminds me that flight seats are finite really and I’m glad our seats were booked well in advance.

Q Congratulations! We’ve all felt the anxiety of the flight hunt, I guess a honeymoon triples it?! What was the most challenging aspect you encountered when setting up the campaign and how did you work around it?

A Due to their global presence, it was vital that Air Arabia went live in multiple languages. With access to their internal language resource, we were able to launch in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian!

Not that it caused any complications, but it was interesting to see that we were capturing data for 25 different currencies! Out of those, there were 4 currencies I’d never heard of, though I feel bad for our finance team!

Q Well we’re happy to keep our finance team busy 🙂 So besides the global templates… What are some other key elements that make this campaign so successful?

A Beyond the creatives, it has to be the mobile optimization that we carried out for their new mobile platform. We lived and breathed their new website leading up to its launch, being there on day one.

This also pointed out a separate issue; with two front end booking systems we had to put in place clever dynamic link structures to enable our emails to continue a mobile session on a desktop site and visa versa. This convenience lets the customer come and go as they please, never having to restart a search.

Q Nice! Many times I’ve found a deal on my phone but then lost it before I got home… Were you surprised by any of the results from this campaign?

A First off, it has to be the results from their first few months; an 8% increase in their online sales was the best payback we could expect for the blood, sweat and tears invested!
I found it interesting and surprising to see how different customers react to the various airlines – just because one subject line is working for a certain airline – does not mean it will work for all… But with some split-testing and time well spent I’ve acclimated to their customers tastes!

Q And now just for fun… what’s your campaign management spirit animal?

A Mine must be an Alligator – patient and observant to ensure I spot any new consumer trends or behaviors and agile enough to react so they don’t pass by!

Thanks Oli! If you want to check out the full Air Arabia story download a copy of the case study below;
READ THE AIR ARABIA STORY