There's no shortage of different types of marketing out there, all with the same end goal in mind—to make businesses more profitable. However, mastering the art of marketing can sometimes be more complex than it seems.
If you’re too aggressive with marketing, it can be off-putting to customers. If you don’t do enough, it can seem like you don’t care or it can impact your bottom line. This is where personalized marketing, or marketing personalization, comes in.
Personalized marketing is the perfect medium between the two, providing businesses with the unique opportunity to reach potential customers on a more personal level.
So what exactly is personalized marketing and how do you implement it throughout your brand?
| Understanding Personalized Marketing |
Personalized marketing, also known as one-to-one marketing, is a deliberate practice that utilizes customer data to deliver branded messages. This type of targeted marketing will hone in on the individual, instead of casting a wide net in hopes of luring in a few random potential customers.
Analytics today are very sophisticated and can provide companies and marketing firms with valuable data on clients so they can deliver targeted messages specifically to the types of clients they are looking for.
Have you ever been shopping for something such as a handbag, and then the next day received an ad specifically for a bag company? That is personalized marketing at its finest.
So, why is personalized marketing so effective when traditional marketing methods have worked so well in the past?
To put it simply, today’s consumers are tired of irrelevant marketing messages. They are constantly bombarded with messages and often easily start tuning those messages out. They turn the volume down for radio ads, switch the channel during commercials, and send spam telemarketing calls right to email.
Consumers are getting better and better at drowning out meaningless marketing messages—so it is time to bring the message to the consumer in a more personal manner. This means crafting personalized messages that meet consumers where they’re at, instead of attempting to appeal to the masses.
This is why personalized marketing works so well, it is more authentic, more engaging, and more personal than your average marketing messages.
Now that you have a basic understanding of what personalized marketing is, it's time to implement these strategies. Here are some of the most common personalized marketing trends that many companies are using to great success.
Email marketing is nothing new but adding personalization to this marketing effort can lead to better ROI. One study found that a majority of customers are more likely to open personalized mail, while personalized emails drive six times more transactions than generic emails.
As personalization becomes more common, consumers are becoming less tolerant of general ads. Impersonalized marketing messages are a thing of the past, while 70% of shoppers tend to respond to marketing messages only when it's targeted to their interests.
Use what you know about your target audience and build something you know they're going to love. Make it impossible to scroll past it or set it aside. If you do that, you're going to win lots of business.
This is how we run our business actually. Our team invented a technology that didn't exist previously just so we could cut through the noise.
Here's one of our dynamically printed D2C package inserts. Basically, this tech enables people to send 1:1 messaging out in every package they ship.
Once a potential customer has interacted with your brand, an easy and effective way to drive loyalty is to provide them with a custom-tailored discount. Research typically suggests the best way to do this is by sending a personalized discount within an hour of a potential customer’s first interaction with your brand.
The best part about these approaches is that they are easy and effective, and actually work to help companies reach customers on a more personal level. When paired with your traditional marketing efforts, these personalized efforts can go a long way in getting your business the type of traction you’ve been looking for.
So, you’re ready to start implementing a new, personalized marketing plan. Here are some of the benefits you can expect from a more personalized marketing experience.
One of the biggest benefits associated with a one-on-one marketing approach has to do with the So, you’re ready to start implementing a new, personalized marketing plan. Here are some of the benefits you can expect from a more personalized marketing experience.
One of the biggest benefits associated with a one-on-one marketing approach has to do with the customer experience. When you show your customers that you understand their needs, they are more inclined to trust you.
When customers feel like you really understand them, it makes the whole customer experience easier and makes it feel more like a relationship instead of a transaction.
If you want a better ROI, or return on investment, with your marketing investment, then personalized marketing can be a more cost-effective strategy than traditional marketing efforts. When you engage in traditional marketing programs, a large percentage of the individuals who see your ad will have no use for your product or service. This limits your ROI.
According to a study from McKinsey and Company, one of the world’s leading producers of marketing insights, personalized marketing efforts can actually deliver up to 8x the ROI of your marketing costs.
Building customer loyalty is important, and at times difficult, a part of building your brand. According to one study, approximately 65% of most companies’ businesses come from repeat customers.
Personalized marketing and catered shopping experiences are one of the easiest and most effective ways to build this type of loyalty.
In order for your company to start engaging in personalized marketing efforts, you need to gather data on your current and potential customers. The key is to do this subtly without hassling your customers. There are two primary ways to gather data like this:
These are transparent ways to get information from your customers. However, surveys require time to fill out and many customers, won’t take the time to complete them. If you have to build a survey (and you likely will at some point) just remember, every question dramatically decreases the likelihood it will be completed. Stick to simple examples like the CSAT. Here's an example that gets excellent responses.
How do you feel about X?
Analytics are essentially pieces of code on your website that track someone’s behavior so you can learn more about that customer and even send them targeted ads. While it won’t hinder your customer’s experience, some customers feel uncomfortable knowing their behaviors have been tracked for marketing purposes.
It’s hard to find a balance between the more convenient and the more upfront ways of collecting data, but both options can help give you the information you need to properly target your customers with personalized marketing efforts.
Whenever you add analytics to your tech-stack, it's very important to involve someone from your marketing and IT teams at a minimum. Some technologies have the potential to severely limit the flow of new leads into your pipeline, especially as they relate to your website.
All of the data capabilities in the world are meaningless if people hate to use your website or can't even get it to load.
Personalized marketing is the way of the future, and it is essential that your brand gets on board with this more individualized approach. Doing so will help you target the specific type of customer you want and reach them on a more personal level than ever before.
There are a lot of ways to start building your business and growing your Ecommerce store. Focusing on repeat customers is one of them. By placing a bit more emphasis on this sector of customers you can start seeing the steady growth your business needs to be sustainable in this market.
If you're looking to learn more about marketing or Ecommerce in general, feel free to reach out to us at: solutions@undigital.com