The benefits of campaign personalisation are now well known. Shoppers are bombarded with marketing messages from every channel and device. So, it makes sense that relevant, targeted messages that tune in to individual preferences stand out.
- By 2020, 51% of consumers expect that companies will anticipate their needs and make relevant suggestions before they make contact (Salesforce)
- 79% of consumers say they are only likely to engage with an offer if it has been personalised to reflect previous purchases (Marketo)
So how can marketers achieve personalisation that gets results? How much personalisation is required, and how relevant can you make it without looking like a stalker?
For winning results, adopt a clear process. When implementing client campaigns, we identify key targets from the start. Identify what you need to achieve, and crucially, what your data tells you. Look at past performance and understand what drives a sale.
Winning personalisation should be straightforward. Here are our tips to make it successful.
Identify your goals
Personalisation can mean different things to different teams and organisations. For example, some may be focused on campaign personalisation, while others are focused on website content or geo-location.
However, personalisation ultimately unifies these key objectives:
- Deliver an enhanced customer experience
- Ensure relevant messaging based on preference and habits
- Increase conversions and sales for the business.
Define your goals of what you want customers to do this time around. Once you have a clear objective, it’s time to assess your data.
Audit your data
To take your data to the next level you’ll need to conduct a data audit. Whether you are seeking to grow sales, conduct customer research or create brand awareness a Data Audit will establish what usable data you have.
As well as customer details and purchase history, you may have:
- Newsletter subscribers
- People who have used customer services
- Entrants in a prize draw
- Followers of your brand on social media
A full Data Audit will establish what data is GDPR compliant, what data can be used for analysis and what data can be used for marketing. Taking a holistic view will enable you to make the best use of the data, in a way that adds value for your customer.
Understand the customer
How well do you know your customers? You’ll gain the best picture about behaviour, preferences and motivation by thoroughly analysing your data. Without this, it will be difficult to formulate an effective personalisation strategy.
- Analyse the behavioural data you capture
- Segment data according to customer personas
- If you don’t have one, define a customer journey map
The analysis needs to identify who your customer is, and describe the attributes of their buyer persona. In fact, it’s likely that you’ll develop a set of personas. These can be used to help you identify at what stages personalisation could optimise conversion.
The aim is to understand what drives your customer to purchase. Try to recognise the customer mindset at each phase of the journey. What does the data tell you?
Define a personalisation strategy
Review the past performance of campaigns and activity. Which campaigns were the most successful? Why? Which campaigns underperformed? Why?
As you now understand the mindset of your customer at different phases of the journey, it’s time to close the loop. Match your messaging, products and offers to each stage. What do they care about when browsing or researching? What value do they seek as they move through the journey? What will motivate them to purchase?
Ensure that any personalisation is relevant, and serves a purpose to drive a sale. Don’t make it too complicated; not just for personalisation sake.
For each stage, and each piece, there needs to be a reason to personalise – or it will look like Big Brother. The aim is more Big Sister i.e. we know enough to give you choice, but not enough to become a stalker!
Personalise content
When thinking about personalisation, most businesses think about email and website content. But there is huge opportunity to stand out from inboxes and digital noise by personalising print too.
By integrating personalisation across multiple channels, your customer experience starts to transform. Customers recognise your brand and respond to tailored messaging no matter the channel or device.
Consider the following options when thinking about your strategy:
Channels | Data criteria |
Direct Mail | Customer name |
Gender | |
Website | Location |
Campaign landing pages | Chosen preferences |
Adverts/retargeting | Common product categories |
Social media | Previous purchases |
Chatbots | Recent browsing history |
Leverage your data to deliver personalised content across channels and touch points. For example, we use XMPie’s uCreate functionality for easy integration of variable data into client campaigns.
The system enables multiple ways to personalise content and connect with customers, from variable data to images, video and email. The Automatic Dynamic Object Replacement (ADOR®) technology enables campaigns to be multilayered according to preset conditions.
Your marketing software should allow you to associate specific content and conversion goals with a defined persona or user behaviour. The touch points identified as high value carry personalised elements, optimising their effectiveness in the journey to conversion.
Summary
Personalised messaging is expected by customers, who respond to an enhanced customer experience. Brands who execute well thought-out personalised campaigns enjoy higher conversion rates.
However, often brands struggle to implement an effective personalisation strategy. They may lack insight into exactly how to achieve it in a straightforward way. The answer is to keep it simple, and follow a process.
Identify your goals, and conduct thorough data analysis to understand customer behaviours and prompts. This information is crucial to understand how much personalisation to include, and at what points it will add most value.
Want to learn more about implementing personalisation into your next campaign? Data marketing expert Relativity IM offers data solutions for retailers, businesses [and print service providers]. Find more information on the Relativity IM website.