Getting Started With Marketing Personalization

To reach customers, a generic email, text, or Facebook ad won’t cut it. Today’s customers have high expectations. They expect personalized advertising that’s relevant to their lives, and they are willing to help make that happen.

As many as 57 percent of consumers are willing to share personal data, as long as it results in personalized content and offers. At the same time, the majority of consumers (88 percent) aren’t happy with the level of personalization they receive from brands they like, according to research presented by Econsultancy.

To help marketers better meet consumers’ expectations, we’ll explore what personalization is and why it’s important, and provide a few tips to get started.

Personalization Defined

Personalization is more than just adding a customer’s first name to an email subject line. Personalization is the act of knowing your customers and creating customized content and messages that resonate with each one. Customized content can take many forms. From sending a personalized promotion to customers based on their purchase history, to targeting a specific audience for a Facebook ad.

Why Personalization Is Important

Personalization helps brands attract and retain customers. By crafting messages and ads that are relevant to customers, you’ll draw more people in and keep the customers you have delighted with your efforts.

In time, you’ll build a relationship with your customers. It’s similar to building a relationship with a friend. The closer you get and the more experiences you share, the more trust you develop.

As we’ve mentioned, customers want personalization. In fact, 58 percent of customers are willing to switch half of their spending to brands that excel at personalization, according to a recent report.

Tips to Achieve Personalized Marketing

To put your new personalization strategy into place, here are a few tips to get started:

●       Collect the Right Data

Get to know your customers. In today’s modern age, that means collecting personal data. You’ll likely need a tool or platform to collect, store, and utilize the data. Ideally, you’ll get both demographic information (like name, age, and sex) and behavioral information that tracks things like past purchases and visit frequency.

●       Segment Audiences

Your customers are likely a diverse bunch. To pull off personalization on a large scale, you’ll need to segment your customers, or break them into smaller, like-minded groups. Doing so gives you the power to create content for each niche.

●       Start Small

Create a small list of ways you can personalize your next marketing campaign. Don’t try to do it all at once. For example, segment customers by location and send a promotion that’s specific to a store in that area.

●       Test, Test, Test

As with any marketing campaign, you should test to see what’s working and what’s not. You can test many different personalization tactics. For instance, you can send an email that includes a customer’s name and test it against a generic message that doesn’t include the name.

Personalization is an important marketing and advertising tactic, but it takes some time and effort to perfect. You need to collect data and leverage it in a way that customers will respond to. Doing so will help you build a strong relationship with your customers.