Case Study

Findmypast

Leading genealogy platform boosts user engagement with personalized website dashboards

Website
findmypast.com
Industry
Genealogy
Geography
United Kingdom
Partner

Findmypast is a British-owned world leader in online family history, with over 18 million registered users across its family of brands, which includes Findmypast, Genes Reunited, the British Newspaper Archive, and Twile. Its lead brand, also called Findmypast, is the home of the world’s most comprehensive online collection of British and Irish records.

The platform provides an accessible family history experience, supplemented by expert guidance from in-house specialists at every step of the way. By combining the best of British and Irish records with unique DNA and family tree experiences, it brings new discoveries to users across the globe every day.

The Challenge

The Findmypast (FMP) team wanted to provide a more personal and engaging experience to users after logging into their account. In order to ensure maximum relevance and optimizing personalization – while also avoiding repetitive messaging – FMP needed to solve the following challenges:

Address users according to their proficiency using the genealogy website (casual vs. expert users)
Consider website behavior when personalizing content
Provide specific welcome content to newly registered users
Drive sales/subscriptions and nudge marketing opt-ins
Adjust content according to subscription status; e.g., free trials offered only to non-subscribers

Marigold Engage’s website capabilities unlock a new level of advanced targeting based on campaign data and website behavior. The personalized dashboards significantly improve the user experience and provide unique content for all customer types.

Sarah Wilson

CRM Manager, Findmypast

Optimizing Personalization:
The Path To Success

Using Marigold Engage’s dynamic website content capabilities, FMP used the dashboard on its platform to display personalized messages to logged-in users. The team created a content and behavioral data strategy, replete with website content blocks and journeys that match the interests and proficiency level of individual users. Every user’s experience is different, based on complex business rules defined via Selligent.

Personalized Findmypast dashboard content included:

Specific ‘onboarding content tiles’ directing new users to useful family records and educational content such as PDFs and video tutorials. Content tiles were displayed based on behavioral data gathered from engagement with onboarding emails.

Direct download links to the FMP mobile app for iOS and Android users.

Promotions such as free trials and 10% discounts on subscriptions and record sets.

Content tile requesting marketing opt-in.

Implementation of seasonal sales on DNA research tools (Mother’s Day etc.)

Weekly content update for seasonal news, topical history and new blogs.

Results

Using Selligent to display personalized content via the website dashboard struck a chord with Findmypast users.

“We like the advanced targeting that the Selligent SITE module allows, drawing on campaign data and website behavioral activity,” said Sarah Wilson, CRM Manager for Findmypast.

Data collected in Selligent during the 26-week-long campaign also allowed for identifying highly engaging content.

Based on learnings from the dynamic dashboard campaign, FMP created an ‘abandon’ function on its platform using Selligent SITE’s shopping cart feature. After a specific time frame, users who abandon paywalled content automatically receive targeted messages to encourage further engagement, conversion, or upsell to the subscription.

As a result of the optimizing personalization dashboard campaign, the FMP team achieved milestones such as:

23 %
Growth in Records Viewed and Searches Completed
251,400
# Website Sessions Resulting

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