Marketing personalisation will make your campaigns take off
We are in the content age. We are bombarded by brands creating and curating content on a daily basis. Marketers focus on creating engaging content, to better connect with (and convert) customers. By creating something truly unique, there is an opportunity to stand out from the crowd.
A couple of years ago, everyone said the same thing about personalisation. Highly targeted personalisation is a core part of the customer experience. Yet, more than a third (38%) of businesses are not offering any marketing personalisation. Others are struggling to realise it in an intelligent and scalable way.
When a brand offers a personal experience, the customer is more likely to engage and convert. Personalisation is powerful and offers many benefits for your brand. In this blog, we look at why you need personalisation as part of your strategy.
What is Marketing Personalisation?
Marketing personalisation has come a long way. It’s more than using a first name on an email or direct mail flyer. It’s more advanced, with a range of data-driven options that enable deeper and more meaningful relationships.
Actions are triggered by customer buying habits and profiles. Getting to know customers more deeply, and catering to specific needs, encourages conversions and sales.
Cross-media personalisation spans web, email, print and mobile channels. Variable data printing (VDP) enables communications to be tailored with a personalised message, image and graphic options. Therefore, this approach leverages your customer data and motivates recipients to respond.
1. Increase Conversions
Good marketing personalisation increases conversions and sales. When you tailor content specifically to an audience the message is more persuasive.
According to Econsultancy, 93% of businesses see an increase in conversion rates from personalisation. It can achieve this in many ways, including:
- Customised landing pages
- Customised content, such as subjects lines, messages and triggered actions
- Specific deals such as ‘recommended for you’ or ‘other people bought’
- Pre-filled data fields, saving time and minimising barriers to purchase
Importantly, the focus is customer-centric and intended to make the experience seamless and consistent.
2. Encourage Lead Nurture
Starting with general content at the start of the sales funnel, messaging can be personalised along each stage. By targeting communications based on preferences, more specific offers drive prospects further down.
An effective way to do this is through product recommendations. Customers are open to products that suit their preferences, and that align with previous purchases. Additionally, we are well used to seeing ‘Customers also bought’ social proof recommendations.
Customers expect tailored information, and they increase sales. For example, Amazon provides suggestions for your next purchase based on past behaviour.
3. Enhanced Customer Experience
Today’s customer journeys aren’t linear. They must work across channels and devices. Personalised brand touchpoints offer a personal touch, to improve the overall experience.
A seamless experience works across:
- Multiple channels – ensure consistent messaging
- Multiple devices – can each device offer a tailored experience?
- On and offline – ensure data captures in-store and print conversions alongside digital channels for a single customer view
Customers expect personalisation and are prepared to give their data to get it. A survey by Salesforce found that 62% of shoppers expect personalised offers or discounts based on items they’ve purchased. In addition, 57% of consumers are willing to share personal data to facilitate personalised offers.
In fact, a lack of marketing personalisation could drive customers away. Segment’s State of Personalisation Report found that 71% of consumers feel frustrated when their experience is impersonal.
Putting the customer first and providing a seamless journey improves the experience. With relevant content your marketing will be useful – and more effective.
4. Better Customer Engagement
An advantage of personalisation is being able to reach highly targeted, specific audiences. Using data to segment lists by location, preferences and behaviour enables you to adapt the message to fit the segment. Based on audience knowledge, you can craft more effective campaigns.
Quality rather than quantity should be the focus. Creating highly targeted messages for specific audience groups will improve ROI. Personalised website content will keep visitors on-site for longer, while personalised email campaigns will gain better open and click rates. Direct mail is also highly effective when used in this way.
5. Build Relationships
Tailoring your approach will help to build stronger and more personal relationships. As the relationship continues, you can gather more data on customer habits and preferences, making for more effective targeting.
Marketing personalisation replicates 1-2-1 sales, where people have a personal connection. Offer the personal touch through birthday, customer anniversary or thank you offers.
While research suggests that basic personalisation cannot stand alone, these tactics should form part of a wider, next-level strategy. Whether B2C or B2B rewards and personal messaging can deepen loyalty and advance the relationship.
6. Drive Customer Retention
Intelligent marketing personalisation can encourage shoppers to act. More knowledge and deeper relationships make it easier to keep and grow your customer base. In fact, Segment’s research found that 44% of consumers say that they will likely become repeat buyers after a personalised shopping experience.
Retention initiatives include loyalty programmes, tailored offers, product recommendations and suggested repeat purchases. Follow-up communications reinforce the message, by thanking the customer and recommending next steps or products to strengthen the relationship.
7. More Intelligent Marketing
Effective marketing drives bottom line sales. For this reason, implementing next-level personalisation should be a business priority.
We have seen that personalisation has moved beyond the basics. It offers a range of tangible benefits that can successfully impact sales growth. It has the power to increase conversion rates, average order value and customer lifetime value. For marketing teams, it enables more effective use of budget and delivers improved ROI.
An investment in customer experience, personalisation puts the customer first. But by offering tailored content brands deliver real value to customers, resulting in increased sales and retention.
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Read more > Using Data To Drive Customer Engagement