East Midlands Trains Website

East Midlands Train website East Midlands Train website East Midlands Train website

Challenge

In the autumn of 2009, ILN was tasked with relaunching the East Midlands Trains website (www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk), which we had built in 2007. Although the site was performing well, ILN proposed increased functionality such as a dedicated cheap ticket purchase tunnel and deeper engagement with high-value customers through a customisable mechanic. We also suggested an entire reworking of the information architecture and site look, and feel and content strategy, to ensure a greater customer value online proposition and more profit-orientated online direction.

Solution

Fulfilling these potentially conflicting requirements meant first understanding market size, scope and potential. Despite relentless marketing drives and natural search dominance of train behemoths The Trainline.com and Virgin trains, East Midlands Trains’ willingness to push forward with new functionality meant a positive impact on natural search listings and a focus on subsequent search campaigns delivering high propensity to convert customers rather than simply volume. This enabled the dual requirements of offering customer value while delivering increased revenue from the web.

Results

ILN launched the site on time, on budget and in scope. In 2010, ILN was also awarded East Midlands Trains' digital marketing activity, which saw a 300% uplift in natural search traffic. However, delivering revenue, not traffic, was the relaunch's KPI. The figures far exceeded expectation. For finding the best fare, average transaction value (ATV) rose by 50% within a year. For the highly customised 'My Journeys' mechanic aimed at retaining high-value customers, usage doubled, and ATV moved up 10%. Combined with a sustained natural search campaign managed by ILN, online revenue contribution rose by 60%, equating to a ROI 13:1.

2010 saw East Midlands Trains' digital marketing activities being highly recognised, with the website relaunched by ILN voted as one of the best SharePoint websites by Top SharePoint.

The innovative Best Fare Finder tool also scooped the award for Information Technology Excellence at the Rail Business Awards.

What we delivered

Website design and build
Email campaigns (ECRM)
Reporting and Analysis
SEO
Social media and digital marketing activity
Content planning and creation

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East Midlands Trains