Countrywide Financial
E-News Gets the Clicks, Keeps the Customers

Countrywide Financial, the country’s largest independent mortgage lender, wanted a way to communicate with, retain and cross-sell a large group of current customers … without spending barrels of money. It knew e-mail was proving itself as a sound marketing medium, and the company’s customer database was brimming over with e-mail addresses. Now all it needed was a partner who could create an e-mail program that provided customer-focused, retention-oriented content.

Opening the Door to Opportunity
Once on the job, CCG created a quarterly e-newsletter dubbed FrontDoor and versioned for two distinct audiences. Both versions feature short, high-impact stories on Countrywide products and services as well as financial, home and lifestyle topics, plus a heavy dose of links that drive readers into the Countrywide Web site. This blend keeps Countrywide front-and-center in customers’ minds, increases awareness of all Countrywide has to offer and helps build long-term relationships.

An All-Around Success
Through the years, CCG has continued to help FrontDoor evolve and maintain its role as a vital link in Countrywide’s retention and cross-sell efforts. Today, FrontDoor has higher click-through rates than are typical in the financial industry. The most recent results show a 47 percent open rate and a 7 percent click-through rate, with the most-clicked stories positioned well “below the fold,” indicating that recipients are reading the entire message.

“By all measures, FrontDoor has been an all-around great success for us,” says Paul Chartrand, Countrywide Home Loans assistant vice president for online marketing. “Our customers are pleased with the content, we have had above-average response rates and our various product registrations have increased dramatically.”