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Personalization is a term more associated with marketing. A personalized campaign is the implementation of a strategy that delivers individualized content to recipients through data collection, analysis, and the use of automation technology.
Studies have revealed that high performing businesses use data-targeting more than underperforming businesses. And they have a reason to do so! As consumers today expect personalization, brands that use data-driven marketing campaigns have started seeing the results. As per studies, 80% of consumers are more likely to get attracted and align themselves with a company which offers a personalized experience.
If done correctly, personalization leads to unlimited opportunities for improved sales. Haven’t one known of Amazon’s strategic approach to customization? Another example is that of Cadbury. Taking a clue from the success of Facebook’s personalized video, Cadbury created its own campaign which helped them obtain 65% click-through rate and 33.6% conversation rate! Doesn’t it prove that personal touch indeed works?
As consumers are interested in knowing more about something that directly affects them, personalization helps to drive the message further. A marketing campaign can be tailored more by getting increased data from consumers. By segmenting audiences, it enables brands to offer the right product to the right consumer at the right time.
So, it pays to be creative with one’s data. Understanding consumers can help one optimize their marketing campaigns for impactful results. A campaign needn’t be just personalized, it should be made shareable. Storytelling helps to make meaningful connections on a personal level.
Having dwelled so far on the importance of personalization, let’s now move on to discuss the five most professional ways for a successful personalized campaign.
01. Implementing Right Technology. Just like any other project that one starts in life, running a personalized marketing campaign is no different – it’s necessary to have the right tools in place to run it. The implementation of the right technology helps to free up time and resources that assist to automate tedious processes and analyze huge data. The personalization may well include implementing technology with respect to content, automation or data collection. The way technology can be implemented for personalization can be visualized from the below tools:
• Social technologies allow a business to analyze the value that consumers attach it to.
• Visualization software makes service configuration an engaging experience.
• Scanning software that gathers exact measurements can be rendered into an online personalized 3-D model.
• Recommendation engines can help customers configure services.
• Using smart algorithms and data processing helps to interpret big data.
• Customized software can enable tracking of individualized design features in customer orders.
• Digital sensors and smart tags offer great potential for visibility and flexibility.
Not getting personal in eCommerce marketing is a big mistake. Not just revenue, it could cost any business their customers too! There are a number of personalization software packages being sold in the markets, and it could get quite tricky as to whether one should go for it or how to identify the right one.
Some of the eCommerce personalization tools that one comes across are: OptinMonster is a powerful tool that can instantly boost revenue; Monetate is one of the better-known tools; Barilliance offers personalization throughout the customer journey; Evergage enables a business to provide the right products, messages, and incentives at the right time by tracking visitor behavior; Apptus uses artificial intelligence helping to predict right products to customers; and so on.
The combination of big data and technology is transforming personalization. Technology today, is even changing the way simple message segmentation and individual-level website customization are being carried out. So it is most important to put in place the right technology, before setting on the path to further personalization.
02. Gathering Customer Data. When gathering data, it is always recommended that strategic thinking and planning comes to play, and the relevant data is gathered. It involves defining audiences and building the segmentation. Segmentation may not be just based on demographic data, but it could be based on the actual engagement of any visitor with the business website.
Planning always need to be done looking ahead! In the segmentation phase, it’s recommended to include all possible segments as it will become the foundation of the marketing process.
In an era where privacy is a major issue, customer data accumulation might get counter-productive. However, when it comes to marketing, customers actually crave for personalization! According to a study, 65% of customers were happy to share their information in exchange for more targeted marketing.
So, now when, customers themselves are so forthcoming in giving their personal data, isn’t it sensible to gather it for targeted and strategic marketing?
Consumer data gathering is the core of any successful personalization strategy. It gives one the opportunity to improve their marketing along with their products and services. This can be elaborated further through an instance: by sending a survey to the buyers who frequent the most and asking about their marketing preferences can give valuable insights in improving one’s product or service. The data collected can also be used to fine-tune further the marketing strategy that is in place.
03. Content Strategy. Today, due to time constraints, consumers do not want things that are too texty or long. For a successful e-mailing strategy, writing great content is essential, but including images can make it more successful. If one has a wealth of meaningful content to offer, it’s advisable to not use all of it in an e-mail. Instead of using CTA (Call-To-Action) buttons to send people to the pages on a website with the relevant content will prove more beneficial.
Personalized content can be categorized into four core types.
• Alerting Content: By displaying relevant, time-sensitive information, it improves customer experience. Example of this could include displaying real-time information like weather delay, service disruption, etc.
• Easy task-making Content: By helping customers do what they came to do, makes their lives easier. Example of this could include extending deep links to useful tools.
• Cross-selling Content: This one is directly related to driving RoI. The trick is to show users something relevant. Example for this could include an ad of a new product or announcement for an upcoming conference.
• Enriching Content: A content that enriches a user’s experience usually helps in creating an overall brand perception. Example of this could include blogs, articles, social networks, etc.
When content is targeted to the user, it provides them a rich experience. However, if used wrongly, could involve the risk of invading an individual’s privacy. It is recommended to divert potential customers to one’s actual site where an entire experience is tailored to their specific needs and interests.
04. Re-targeting, Link Customizing/Analytics. One of the best and easiest ways of creating personalized marketing is via the re-targeting or re-marketing channel. Re-targeting allows targeting consumers who have visited the business website with personalized display advertisements anywhere on the Internet.
This can be explained taking an example of Nike shoes: Even after one leaves the Nike website after exploring, one may while reading some news on Yahoo may notice a personalized retargeting banner featuring the very same Nike shoes one was browsing! Isn’t that real personalization?
Another technique on the World Wide Web enables a URL to be shortened or customized and is yet directed to the desired page. It is referred to as a URL Shortener or URL Customizer.
The URL Customizer helps one to make a link meaningful, track clicks, or even disguise the underlying address. Shorter or customized URLs are more convenient for websites and hard copy publications. Link customizer provides analytics about clicked links. Setting up a powerful server-side analytics engine is a costly affair, but thankfully URL shortening sites have come to the rescue providing detailed information on the clicks a link receives along with other details.
A Link Customizer can track its performance – providing analytical data; promotes sharing and enables a higher click-through rate. The registered members along with being able to track all their shortened URLs can as well access the RSS feeds of the URLs.
05. Continual Updating and Refining. Personalized marketing practices are no different from any other processes; it requires a continuous review and optimization for ensuring cent-per-cent effectiveness. Best practices usually involve in letting a campaign run for a fixed period and then analyze the results. This helps in deriving at an accurate and practical progress of a campaign.
During the refinement stage; strategies or elements pertaining to personalized marketing campaign can be evaluated that could include:
• Analyzing new consumer feedback to integrate into the strategy.
• Analyzing how implemented technology is holding up.
• Checking to see if automation tools need further tuning, etc.
Personalization is all about creating a seamless process that enables a smooth buying experience for the consumers. Making consumers feel important, and as being one in a million, is the secret mantra behind developing a strong and lasting bond.
It’s more about giving the best marketing experiences for the customers – existing as well as prospective. The customers are likely to be thankful for the attention to detail that one will give them.
One usually goes through highs and lows – If your organization hasn’t yet implemented any strategy thus far, the above tips discussed can go a long way in building a successful personalized campaign for your business. Leverage the tips. Get started now!
