In This Article
Personalized marketing works. But I’m not talking about the lame basic stuff like addressing someone by name in an email or wishing them a happy birthday. I’m talking about understanding your target audience inside and out—their preferences, interests, online behaviors, pain points, and aspirations.
Get ready to discover a whole new, low-tech, high-touch way to connect with your audience in a way that has them think that you’re living in their house!
In the end, you’ll come away with a combination of personalized messages, a personalized marketing strategy, and personalized promotion techniques, you can achieve successful personalized marketing.
What do customers want from personalized marketing?
The folks at Marketing Charts asked consumers what they valued most in terms of personalization and the answer was pretty clear — reminders and updates.
Just take a look at what else consumers said they wanted:
- Timely offers, discounts and recommendations on products I purchase
- Recognize me on my devices
- Recognize my preferences
Most of these things are NOT that technical and can actually be done with the technology you have today.
The What and the Why of Marketing Personalization
You know great personalization when you experience it. It’s when you go to the same restaurant or store and they know exactly what you want. It’s when you check into a hotel and somehow the staff knows who you are and why you are there.
It’s authentic. It’s natural. And it creates the most warm and fuzzy, loyalty building customer experience ever.
In the digital age, personalized marketing is like having a one-on-one conversation with each customer, at scale. But let’s face it, all those personalized messages that use your name in the subject line, or send you coupons on your birthday are nice — but they don’t leave you feeling like you’re special.
And the goal of any personalized marketing strategy is to create a strong bond between you and your customer that has them choose YOU, every time, regardless of price.
Marketing personalization isn’t just technology and strategy (although those are a big part), it involves using much more human personalization efforts that show your customers that you know them, get them, understand them and have solutions for them that get the job done.
Why Does It Matter?
Consumers are bombarded with generic marketing messages daily. Over 70% of shoppers ignore anything that doesn’t feel personally relevant. Personalized marketing allows you to deliver content that speaks directly to an individual’s needs and interests, creating a personalized experience that resonates with them.
Personalized marketing is also key to fostering strong customer relationships. Over 40% of consumers are more likely to become repeat customers if you tailor their experience. It shows you’re paying attention and care about what they need, not just making a sale.
If you need further proof, 65% of a company’s business comes from happy, returning customers. This proves that a little personalization in your marketing strategy, supported by effective customer relationship management, can make a huge difference in increasing customer loyalty and boosting revenue.
Beyond Names and Dates: Taking Personalisation to the Next Level
Calling someone by name is a good starting point, but true personalized marketing goes deeper. Emails featuring personalized subject lines are 50% more likely to be opened, indicating a shift from generic advertising to more tailored customer interactions. Let’s look at some often-overlooked areas where you can make a difference:
1. Customer Journey Mapping: It’s Not Just About the Destination
The first step in any marketing personalization is mapping out your customers’ journey so that you can get to the specific touchpoints where their search for a solution intersects your product or service.
This is called customer journey mapping and is an important aspect of creating a successful personalization strategy. Understanding your customers’ journeys helps you deliver the right message, in the right format, on the right platform, at the right time.
| Stage | Example Touchpoints | Personalization Opportunities |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | Social media ads, blog posts, articles | Content that addresses their pain points and interests based on browsing history or demographics. |
| Consideration | Website visits, product demos, reviews | Personalized product recommendations, targeted email sequences based on website activity, case studies relevant to their industry. |
| Decision/Purchase | Cart abandonment emails, personalized offers, live chat support | Limited-time discounts, tailored bundles or cross-sells, testimonials from satisfied customers in similar situations. |
| Retention | Loyalty programs, exclusive content, personalized follow-ups | Early access to new products or sales, curated content based on past purchases, birthday or anniversary rewards. |
Then, gather data about your customer interactions to continue to refine and tweak your personalization tactics.
Here are a few ways that you can group or personalize your marketing:
- Association or affiliation group such as moms, dads, seniors, etc.
- Interests or activities such as hiking, cooking, etc.
- Geography
- Previous purchases; if you like that, then you’ll like this
The best and cheapest way to identify these types of personalizations is to do A/B testing.
Here’s how A/B testing works:
- Create two versions: Develop an original version (A) and a modified version (B) of the element you want to test.
- Split traffic: Randomly divide your audience into two groups, showing version A to one group and version B to the other.
- Collect data: Measure user engagement and interactions with each version.
- Analyze results: Use statistical analysis to determine which version performed better.
- Implement changes: Apply the winning variation to improve your overall user experience and achieve your goals
With each A/B test you run, you can measure personalized marketing efforts, gather data you’ve collected, and continue to optimize your strategies.
2. Content That Clicks: You’re Not Writing a Novel, You’re Solving Problems
Let’s cut to the chase—when someone clicks on your content, it’s like they’re saying, “Tell me more!” (cue the dramatic pause). It’s the online equivalent of a customer leaning in, nodding their head, and grabbing their wallet. So, how do you get them to click? Spoiler alert: You’re not here to win a Pulitzer; you’re here to solve their problems.
Here’s the kicker: The average reader’s attention span is shorter than your morning coffee break—15 seconds, to be exact. That’s all the time you’ve got to convince them that your content isn’t just worth reading but worth their valuable time. (No pressure, right?)
So, what do customers really want? They want juicy, bite-sized nuggets of information that hit the spot. And they want it NOW. Your content should feel like it was custom-made for them—because it was. This is where personalized marketing swoops in like a superhero (cape optional). By delivering emails and push notifications that speak directly to their needs, you’re making sure your message hits home.
Bottom line: Don’t waste time warming up the audience—jump straight into the action. Craft a killer subject line, drop in that link, and watch the clicks roll in. Your content should feel less like a novel and more like a cheat sheet to success. BOOM!
3. Harness the Power of AI: Your Personalization Sidekick
Artificial Intelligence (AI) might seem intimidating, but it can be a secret weapon in the world of personalized marketing.
Social media marketing (SMM) leverages AI to optimize strategies by utilizing data from social media platforms to personalize content for consumers.
AI can analyze customer data, predict their next move, personalize website experiences in real-time, and automate email campaigns. By using data analytics and AI, you can take your personalization efforts to a level that would be difficult to achieve manually.
The Challenges: Don’t Worry, You’ve Got This.
While a personalized marketing strategy is effective, research by two-thirds of marketing professionals show data-driven personalization is challenging to execute. Almost three-quarters of brands find it challenging to do right. So what are the challenges?
1. The Data Dilemma: Too Much of a Good Thing?
You have more information at your disposal than ever before. But this abundance of data is useless unless you can gather, organize, and glean actionable insights from it. You need the right marketing platform or customer relationship management software to collect data and perform data aggregation.
You must navigate privacy regulations and be mindful of what customers are comfortable sharing. Leveraging technology solutions can help you stay organized and compliant. Data collection should always be done with customer consent and transparency.
2. Striking a Balance: Personalized or Creepy?
Imagine visiting a website for the first time and looking at a pair of shoes, then leaving. A few minutes later, you’re bombarded with ads for those shoes. This feels intrusive, right?
Knowing where your customer is in the sales funnel and respecting their boundaries is essential. This brings us to another key aspect – retargeting. Retargeting is powerful when done strategically and subtly. A successful personalized marketing strategy is crucial in engaging consumers and driving purchases by tailoring experiences to individual preferences.
However, a staggering 94% of consumers disliked aggressive retargeted ads in 2017, emphasizing the need for delicate implementation to avoid creeping out consumers. Focus on adding value with retargeting — like showcasing related products they might have missed. Use data to personalize, but aim to enhance, not intrude upon, their experience.
Conclusion
Effective personalized marketing relies on a deep customer understanding and thoughtful execution. You can create more effective personalized marketing campaigns by focusing on sending personalized messages, email marketing, and mobile app notifications. Measuring personalized marketing efforts, such as A/B testing and monitoring personalized content, allows marketers to adjust strategies based on data-driven insights, ultimately improving customer experience and boosting ROI. If you can show customers you understand them through authentic connections, the rewards are substantial. Embrace technology, prioritize customer data security and transparency, and never stop experimenting to refine your approach and master the ever-evolving world of personalized marketing.
FAQs About Personalized Marketing
How can I start personalizing my marketing?
You don’t need complicated personalization marketing technology, instead lean into getting to know your potential customers. Start with their purchase history and start created a list of related products and services that would be a good complement to what they have already purchase. For that you’ll need to make sure that you have a good data collection system.
Create different customer segments based on where your customers are in their buying journey or their industry, or their interests. The key is to create smaller groups of customers who are similar and care about the same things so that you can create customized marketing strategies or send personalized emails that will connect and resonate with them.
What is meant by personalized marketing?
Personalized marketing, often called one-to-one marketing or individual marketing, goes beyond simple personalization. Rather than just using someone’s first name, it leverages data analysis and technology, including customer relationship management, to understand customer preferences, interests, behaviors, and purchase history to create a customized marketing strategy.
Personalized marketing is about crafting a unique experience tailored to their needs, enhancing engagement, and driving conversions. With personalized marketing, you can foster brand loyalty over time and create more meaningful, lasting customer relationships.
What is Personalized content marketing?
Personalized content marketing creates and distributes valuable, relevant content tailored to a specific audience’s interests. This could mean recommending blog articles based on past reading history, sending them exclusive content offers based on purchase behavior, or delivering dynamic email sequences that change based on brand interactions. Additionally, using personalized subject lines significantly enhances email open rates by making the content feel more customized for the individual recipient. A personalized shopping experience makes the customer want to return.
Conclusion
Customers are individuals with unique preferences, not just data points. Go beyond the basics, use data intelligently, and give them an experience worth remembering because that is what a personalized marketing strategy is all about. When you invest in providing personalized experiences to your customers, you’ll see the results in your bottom line.