Bedrijf

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. 

Uitdaging

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 was op zoek naar een oplossing die aan hun behoeften voldeed; ze wilden kunnen opschalen, erop kunnen vertrouwen dat e-mails in de inbox van klanten terechtkwamen en belangrijke statistieken zoals open rates kunnen meten om de betrokkenheid te bewaken.

Het team had hulp nodig bij het aanpakken van de volgende uitdagingen:

• Betrouwbaar e-mails afleveren: 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. 

• Omgaan met e-mailpieken: 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.

• Belangrijke e-mailstatistieken bijhouden: the team needed to measure key metrics such as opens, clicks, and unsubscribes to gain a comprehensive view of customer behavior. 
  
  

Oplossing

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. 

Zorgen voor tijdige levering en betrouwbaarheid
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 naar de 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 en betrouwbaarheid zijn solide geweest. Daardoor kon ons team zich concentreren op het bouwen van de functies die het verschil maken voor Zillow's bedrijf."

Justin Farris, Senior productmanager voor groei

"Bird kan pieken in ons e-mailvolume aan op elk moment dat die pieken zich voordoen, zoals wanneer we berichten moeten afleveren voor het tijdgevoelige weekend van open huizen en de koopcyclus."

Justin Farris, Senior productmanager voor groei

E-mailprestaties verbeteren met analytics

De 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. 

De 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-mail is de makkelijkste en snelste manier om onze gebruikers op dit moment te helpen. Het maakt deel uit van onze algemene missie om gebruikers te voorzien van de informatie en tools die ze nodig hebben om slimmer te zijn bij het kopen van een huis."

Tara Clark, directeur e-mail

Verbeterde bezorgbaarheid van e-mail
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. 

Resultaten

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 productmanager voor groei, 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.

"Het is een samenwerkingsverband waarbij we samen een oplossing bouwen -Bird levert de technische infrastructuur waarop Zillow waarde legt."