Hitosara Improves Open Rate with Appier�s AI-Powered Customer Engagement Platform

Web push view rate reaches 19 times more users with AIQUA, lifting open rate by 36%

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TOKYO, JAPAN - Media
OutReach - 4 July 2019 – USEN-NEXT
GROUP of USEN Media Co., Ltd. (USEN Media) which operates a popular gourmet
social media platform (Hitosara) is using Appier’s artificial intelligence
(AI)-powered customer engagement platform AIQUA to boost its web push open
rate. Hitosara has achieved the highest open rate of 36% (8-10% on average). In
addition, Hitosara has been able to approach 19 times more users.

Hitorsara features posts about chefs, attracting more than
100 million page views (PV) and 20 million unique users per month. Approximately
80% of the website users are above 30 years of age, have been contributing with
building the website contents and are mostly upper middle “foodies”. Hitosara
is recognized as a media platform with strong influence when it comes to people
choosing restaurants. Hitosara differentiates itself from other gourmet
websites by providing original information about the chefs, including pictures
and recommendations from them such as seasonal and local food information.

The market for restaurant search services is highly
competitive, and Hitosara has been working on measures such as a loyalty point
system for members and push notifications via its app to improve engagement
with users, particularly those who are highly aware of food trends.

The Product Manager of USEN Media explained the challenges
before implementing AIQUA: “Although we have rich content only available on
Hitosara, and which is written by experienced food writers, there was a lack of
interest from website visitors and we were not maximizing our uniqueness. As
the website visitors mainly use the website to make restaurant reservations,
one of the challenges was to utilize content within the website that is related
to the quality of the service. It was important to build continuous customer engagement
by sharing our interesting articles with as many people as possible.”  While considering several options for
improvement, the person in charge discovered AIQUA, a customer engagement
platform that can help with audience analysis and segmentation using AI.

Appier explained the key main benefits that Hitosara can
expect by implementing AIQUA:

1. The ability to use a
   combination of its own audience data, as well as Appier’s third party
   data.
2. With AI, Hitosara can
   segment users precisely and develop campaigns promptly for every segment
   type.
3. The ability to re-engage
   with users who are visiting websites outside Hitosara.

In addition to creating marketing content based on data such
as number of website visits and logins, with AIQUA, clients are also able to
use other audience information provided by Appier, making it possible to
extract information such as user interests and preferences even before they
visit the website for the first time. Based on this information, marketers can
distribute effective messages to the right device at the right time.

Hitosara officially implemented AIQUA in January 2019 and
delivered web pushes approximately three times a week. By May, the PV for
articles in Hitosara Magazine increased by a maximum of 65% and by 25% on
average. In addition, the web push approach allowed Hitosara to reach
non-registered users 19 times more of registered members.

Mr. Takafumi Nagasaki, manager of Product Marketing from
USEN Media, commented: “The results achieved through AIQUA’s push notifications
were extremely high and we have achieved the same level of performance as SNS
advertising for Hitosara Magazine. The web push is not based on delivered
volume and cost-benefit is extremely high. I was quite surprised with the high
level of ROI we managed to achieve”

Appier ensured tight collaboration with the campaign
management team and content team of USEN Media and used rich content provided
by USEN Media, including images and video which were appropriate for different
seasons. This helped in approaching microsegments and supported Hitosara in
rapidly building user engagement. This is an effective solution for targeting
users in their ‘consideration phase’, when they visit Hitosara’s website and
make reservations after viewing the content or before they subscribe to the
site. 

“I was able to see the improvement on PV from the first day
of implementing AIQUA. Through delivering content- our key strength- on hot
restaurants and trending food we attracted foodies who appreciate unique dining
experiences,” said Mr. Nagasaki. “The implementation of the system and training
took short amount of time, and I think the process for setting up message
delivery to the appropriate target audience is very simple.”

“It is also possible to set the message delivery time to be
triggered automatically. We used this feature to send out thank you messages by
web push after receiving a booking, and we saw astonishing results including a
36% increase in the open rate. I can see the significance of high precision
audience segmentation and personalized messages thanks to AIQUA’s AI. I am
interested to see if it is possible to develop this same successful experience
in other business area.”

About AIQUA

AIQUA utilizes
AI as well as its individual data to better understand the target audience and
to create segmentation. It enables marketers to provide the most appropriate
contents and offers for users who visit the website and keeps opportunity loss
to a minimum. The hyper-personalized messages and offers can be delivered
across multiple devices, improving users’ Lifetime Value (LTV).

About USEN Media Co., Ltd.

USEN Media’s mission
is to connect restaurants and people, and in addition to Hitosara, an gourmet
media platform where photos of the chef are shared, it has also built online
platforms in different areas such as “SAVOR JAPAN“,
the gourmet website tailored towards foreigners visiting Japan; wedding media
platform “Uekore”; Web Magazine “bangs” for finding stylists; and “Oishi Photo”
, a photography service specifically for restaurants and cafes. USEN Media’s
operation is not limited to the web, as it has also been active in developing
other forms of media such as books and events.  

About Hitosara

Through highlighting
information of the delicious “Sara”
(dish) provided by “Hito” (chef),
Hitosara engages a variety of food lovers 
as ‘Japan’s largest gourmet social media platform’, providing
information about more than 11,000 chefs, as well as recommendations from food
connoisseurs and the chefs themselves including original content about seasonal
ingredients, recent food trends, “restaurants recommended by chefs”  and introducing new ways to enjoy dining.