Personalization, also called one-to-one marketing or personalized marketing, is a marketing strategy where a brand customizes the content it delivers to the intended recipients to meet the customer interests, needs, and preferences. By using analytics data, such as customer demographics, browsing habits, and purchase history, brands can create ads that contain individualized messages to enhance buyer experience and increase customer engagement and loyalty.
With personalized marketing, brands not only create buzz about their products and services but also develop a more personal and sincere connection with their audience. Customers receiving individualized content feel that the brand is communicating directly to them, which in turn motivates them to make a purchase.
Why Is Personalization Important?
According to a 2018 survey, a whopping 91% of the participants say that they are more likely to purchase from brands that recognize and remember them as customers, and offer timely, useful, and relevant product recommendations.
Because consumers prefer to receive personalized content, brands should consider incorporating personalized marketing campaigns into their over-all marketing plan to better attract and win over customers.
Below are the top advantages of personalization in marketing.
-
It enhances the customer’s buying experience.
By understanding consumer preferences and addressing them through personalized marketing, a company can create marketing communications that engage target audiences in a much more relatable and effective way. When customers feel that brands recognize and anticipate their preferences and/or pain points, the more they are encouraged to buy from them.
-
It is cost effective.
Traditional marketing strategies like brochures, radio and TV commercials, and billboard advertisements use generic content to reach a wide audience. While traditional marketing is a great way to boost brand awareness, it may not be as effective in increasing conversion rates and ROI.
But with personalization, businesses can identify the specific marketing channels that each of their target market groups prefer and create ads that match what they are searching for. When consumers see the personalized content, they are more likely to respond positively.
-
It fosters loyalty.
When customers receive personalized communication, they will more likely feel that the brand cares enough to understand what they need. This type of marketing approach builds more trust and loyalty among customers and has a higher potential of encouraging repeat purchase behavior.
- It increases the brand’s reach.
Personalization could be an effective word-of-mouth marketing strategy. When clients or customers are happy throughout their shopping experience, they are more likely to make a review of the product and share their experience on their social media or even directly recommend the product to people they know.
Personalization Best Practices
Personalization goes beyond addressing customers by their names when sending emails or text messages. Here are tips on how to create a successful personalized marketing approach.
Know, understand, and anticipate the audience’s needs.
There are several methods to identify customers’ needs. Using analytics data can help track the web pages visited, links clicked, emails opened, and the time spent on your website. Requesting customers to fill out a survey form can also provide meaningful insights on how they perceive a brand’s products and services and what they are looking for. With this information, brands can stay updated with what consumers need and anticipate the potential demands of their target market groups.
Break down the audience into segments.
Segmentation may be:
- Geographic (by region, country, or climate)
- Psychographic (according to lifestyle, interests, or opinions)
- Behavior (based on shopping patterns, habits, loyalty, usage rate)
- Demographics (based on gender, age group, occupation, or marital status
By creating smaller groups of consumers who share similar characteristics and preferences, brands can design targeted marketing campaigns that are more relevant and appealing to each segment.
Create a content road map.
With the audience divided into segments, brands can create marketing content that more accurately addresses each market segment’s preferences. However, creating compelling content is not enough. Marketers should also determine the proper channels to use in delivering individualized content.
To identify the right marketing channel, marketers can use data collected from surveys and website analytics tools to check which advertising channels their consumers most often use or visit. If personalized content is delivered through the proper channels at the right time, consumers can easily find them, which can potentially attract leads and convert them into buying customers.
