Företag

Zillow Group is a leading online real-estate marketplace that provides customers with an on-demand experience for selling, buying, renting, and financing homes. Operating as a popular website and mobile app, Zillow has become a trusted resource for millions of users across the United States, with over 110 million US homes in its database. 

Utmaning

As the largest and most trusted marketplace for real estate information and services, Zillow knows home ownership is a multifaceted and long-term process. While the company’s most active users are those searching for a new home, they find a lot of its success comes from nurturing long-term relationships to meet the needs of its users wherever they are in the buying cycle. 

Zillow letade efter en lösning som kunde tillgodose deras behov; de ville skala upp, vara säkra på att e-postmeddelandena landade i kundernas inkorgar och mäta nyckeltal som öppningsfrekvens för att övervaka engagemanget.

Teamet behövde hjälp med att hantera följande utmaningar:

• Tillförlitlig leverans av e-post: Given how important email is to Zillow’s business, it was essential that time-sensitive messages are delivered to users’ inboxes when they matter. If these messages are delayed, they miss a key window of opportunity. 

• Hantering av e-postökningar: Zillow required a solution capable of handling sudden surges in their email volume anytime a burst occurs, particularly during time-sensitive events like weekend open houses and busy buying cycles.

• Spåra viktiga mätvärden för e-post: the team needed to measure key metrics such as opens, clicks, and unsubscribes to gain a comprehensive view of customer behavior. 
  
  

Lösning

In 2015, Zillow migrated to Bird and leveraged its Deliverability and Analytics solutions. Over time, Zillow has customized its use of the platform to improve email deliverability, monitor customer behavior, and scale out. They now send, on average, 200 million emails per month. 

Säkerställa leverans i rätt tid och tillförlitlighet
It was crucial to Zillow that time-sensitive messages were delivered to users’ inboxes right when they mattered. For example, if a realtor was hosting an open house on a weekend, their users must receive emails about the event with enough time to attend. If those messages are delayed, even by a few hours, they quickly become useless till recipients and the sender. Zillow chose Bird for its robust API and reliability, ensuring that time-critical messages, such as notifications for weekend open houses, reached users in a timely manner.

"Bird's API och tillförlitlighet har varit stabila. Det har gjort det möjligt för vårt team att fokusera på att bygga de funktioner som är avgörande för Zillows verksamhet."

Justin Farris, Senior produktchef för tillväxt

"Bird kan hantera kraftiga ökningar av vår e-postvolym när som helst, t.ex. när vi behöver leverera meddelanden för den tidskänsliga helgen med öppet hus och köpcykeln."

Justin Farris, Senior produktchef för tillväxt

Förbättra e-postprestanda med hjälp av analys

Den Zillow team was leveraging email to deliver important notifications for their users—for example, new activity listings or activity on flagged homes. By leveraging Bird’s Signals, they are able to analyze user patterns, such as indications that someone has purchased a house or stopped looking for one. Doing so helps email deliverability metrics by reducing unread rates, deletes, and the number of messages reported as spam because Zillow can remove unengaged users from that segment. 

Den team can also identify opportunities for re-engagement, such as when someone rents a home, and the lease expiration date approaches, strengthening the brand relationship. 

"E-post är det enklaste och snabbaste sättet att hjälpa våra användare i stunden. Det är en del av vårt övergripande uppdrag att ge användarna den information och de verktyg de behöver för att bli smartare när de köper bostad."

Tara Clark, chef för e-post

Förbättrad leveranssäkerhet för e-post
With the adoption of Bird, Zillow has a centralized platform that empowers anyone to track email deliverability and analytics effectively. This enhanced capability allows them to easily measure vital email metrics such as open rates, click rates, unsubscribes, spam flags, and more. This has helped them shape customer conversations more effectively. As a result, they increased email open rates by 161% within the first month of using Bird. 

“We connect email with downstream funnel metrics, which lets us get the whole picture,” says Tara Clark, Director of email. Tara notes that the company segments its audience based on actions and personas, including buyer, renter, and seller. 

Resultat

Bird has provided Zillow with a reliable, high-performance infrastructure for delivering emails to users' inboxes. The team can now track essential email metrics, including open rates, click rates, unsubscribed, and more. By leveraging Bird’s Signals, Zillow can analyze how their email campaigns are performing and make smarter decisions. 

Zillow experienced a 161% increase in open rates within the first month of using Bird’s email solutions. This improvement helped them scale up their email sending, especially during busy times, knowing that Bird can handle the increased volume. 

Justin Farris, Senior produktchef för tillväxt, highlighted the solid API and reliability of Bird, which allowed their team to concentrate on developing unique features that set Zillow apart in the real estate industry. Bird proved capable of managing surges in email volume, particularly during critical events like weekend open houses and buying cycles.

"Det har varit ett samarbetsarrangemang där vi bygger en lösning tillsammans -Bird tillhandahåller den tekniska infrastrukturen som Zillow lägger värde på."