Our last chapter explored what customer data is, the type of data you want, how to collect it, and how to get important customer insights from it. In this chapter, we’ll explore how you can use those insights to create memorable experiences for each and every customer.
What is personalization?
Personalization is the process of tailoring a product, service, or experience to meet the specific needs or preferences of an individual customer. In the context of marketing and customer experience, personalization involves using customer data, such as demographics, behavior, and past interactions, to deliver targeted and relevant content, messages, and recommendations.
You can personalize the experience in many ways, including:
- Personalized recommendations: Where you recommend products or services most likely to be of interest to an individual customer based on their past behavior.
- Personalized content: Tailoring content, such as emails, website pages, or social media posts to the interests and preferences of the individual customer.
- Personalized offerings: Serving up unique or customized experiences, such as events or promotions, based on the individual customer’s preferences or behavior.
Your customer expects a personalized experience
Personalization is increasingly important in today's competitive business environment, as customers expect relevant and targeted experiences that meet their specific needs and wishes. In fact, 72% of customers will only engage with personalized messaging.
Personalization allows you to create more meaningful and relevant interactions with your customers and to show you care about their preferences by tailoring your messaging and offering to each one. This creates a more personalized and engaging experience for the customer, which in turn leads to higher satisfaction, loyalty, and ultimately, revenue for the business. Personalized experiences are a win-win for customers and the organization.
66% of consumers expect brands to understand their individual needs and 80% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company that provides a tailored experience.
By gaining valuable insights into your target audience, you can also make better-informed decisions about future marketing strategies and product development, allowing you to stand out from your competitors and build a stronger brand identity.
According to Adobe, 89% of marketers see a positive ROI when they use personalization in their campaigns, which could be why one-third of marketers spend 50% or more of their marketing budgets on it.
If you’re serious about competing in this aggressively competitive digital landscape, then customer-centricity must be your mindset and personalization your priority.
What are the ingredients of good personalization?
According to McKinsey, companies that do personalization well have the potential to generate 40% more revenue. So, what do you need to be able to personalize the customer experience?
- Good data: As explored in chapter four, you need access to data from across all your touchpoints, including customer interactions, transactional data, and third-party data sources, about your customers' preferences, behaviors, and interests.
- Advanced analytics: Once you have your data in place, you need to be able to analyze it—to identify patterns and glean insights that can inform personalized experiences. This requires advanced analytics capabilities and tools that are seamlessly linked with all the other tools in your technology stack.
- Strong strategy: Companies need a clear strategy for how they will use data, analytics, technology, and content to deliver personalized experiences. This requires a deep understanding of customer needs and preferences, as well as a commitment to ongoing testing and optimization.
- Quality content: You need relevant and engaging content that can be tailored to each customer's preferences and interests. Content should be easy to manage, publish, and personalize.
- The right technology: You need technology that can deliver seamless personalized experiences across multiple channels. It should bring all your data together, enable advanced analysis, provide actionable insights, and the ability to act on them. A digital experience platform (DXP) brings all these elements together, including strong content management tools, to provide an all-in-one solution that meets all your personalization needs.
Meeting customer expectations
By creating seamless and memorable personalized experiences that meet the unique needs and preferences of each customer, you can drive customer engagement, loyalty, and revenue.
To personalize the customer experience, you need good data, great analytics, and the ability to act on your insights with the right technology.
In the next chapter, we’ll explore the two most popular platforms used to manage the customer experience and compare them in terms of capabilities and how they help you along your digital maturity journey.
