Marketing Personalization: A Long Term Investment

With 94% of marketers agreeing “personalization of the web experience is critical to current and future success,” we know that personalization is an investment that yields impressive results.

However, personalizing content can take more effort than producing generic, robotic marketing content. Getting to know a customer’s habits and preferences can take time, and analyzing customer behavior may require a few extra resources from the marketer’s toolbox. Nevertheless, personalization is an investment worth making, as a 1:1 shopping experience yields dramatic increases in ROI.

How is personalization a “long-term investment”?

Companies might need to wait several months before seeing a significant payoff in any type of long-term investment. The time it takes for personalization to pay off varies, based on the amount of interaction a shopper has with a company. For example, the pay off for a consumer that purchases purchases from a company a few times each year is longer than the payoff of a consumer who buys from that same company a few times each week. The brand will subsequently have more opportunity to gather data about the frequent purchaser based on his or her purchases and will be able to use the applicable personalization techniques over time to increase revenue on the customer. The more you know about your customer, the better the payoff.

Why does personalization yield results?

Customers prefer personalization. Tailored content enhances a shopping experience and makes a customer feel special. 1:1 marketing improves loyalty, strengthens business-consumer relationships, generates leads, and attracts shoppers. This all leads to an increase in sales and ROI. With all of these potential benefits, marketers should be more than willing to invest a little effort into personalizing content for shoppers.

How do you get that payoff?

Investing in personalization is a three-step process. Marketers should practice the following steps for maximum ROI.

1. Collect customer data: Data is the backbone for a personalized marketing campaign. Companies can collect customer data with a Data Management Platform (DMP), and make adjustments to marketing strategies based on what customer data tells them. Companies can retrieve data by offering exclusive customer membership accounts, promising an exchange of personal information like name, address, and birthday, for special offers and discounts. Companies can also collect data from customers’ past searches or purchases in-store or online. After compiling this information, marketers can then…
2. Analyze customer data: Customer data analysis shows whether a marketing strategy is working or failing. By evaluating specific metrics, marketers can figure out their customers’ preferences. Each interaction between a consumer and a business contributes to their 360-degree customer profile. The more interactions a consumer has with a business, the more complete their customer profile will be. Complete profiles allow businesses to adjust their marketing strategies and provide relevant content for customers. With a customer profile, marketers can proceed to…
3. Create content based off of analysis and customer profiles: Once a company figures out which marketing messages their customers prefer, marketers can begin drafting personalized, relevant content. This tailored content may include products similar to past purchases, or special offers based on birthdays or location. Data analysis is reflected in every aspect of customer content – from a personalized subject line of an automated email to a list of recommended products on a website.

The collection, analysis and content development process should be a never-ending cycle. If companies slack on collecting customer data, marketers could miss important changes in customer preferences. This could lead to an inaccurate data analysis. Mistakes in data analysis – or neglecting to analyze data at all – can taint marketing content. And failure to adjust marketing messages can lead to a drop in sales, as nearly 75% of consumers dislike irrelevant content. Interested in learning a little more about marketing personalization? Check out some of personalization basics here.