Personalization in marketing is a strategy that involves tailoring content, messaging, and experiences to individual customers, making them feel valued and special. It is an effective way to enhance customer engagement, build brand loyalty, and drive business profitability .
Why Does Personalization Matter?
Personalization is a pivotal force driving effective marketing operations. It has been found that 90% of marketers believe that personalization significantly contributes to business profitability . Brands that provide personalized customer experiences are perceived as smart, unique, and caring by consumers, and over half of Millennial customers rank personalization as a high priority . Moreover, personalization can be a revenue accelerator, even for businesses that typically lack direct access to customers .
Benefits of Personalization:
Enhanced Customer Engagement: Personalization creates experiences that make customers feel that their interests are taken into account, leading to increased engagement and interaction with the brand .
Improved Brand Loyalty: By making customers feel special and valued, personalization helps build strong emotional connections and loyalty towards the brand.
Increased Business Profitability: Personalization has been shown to significantly contribute to business profitability, as it drives customer satisfaction, repeat purchases, and positive word-of-mouth.
Strategies for Personalization:
Use Data to Enhance Experiences: Data is the foundation for personalization. Marketers need to collect and understand data to guide their personalization activities. However, it can be challenging to decide which data to use due to the continuous growth of customer and visitor data. Marketers should focus on using relevant data to create personalized experiences .
Invest in Fit-for-Purpose Martech: Outperforming companies invest in marketing technology (martech) that is specifically designed for personalization. This enables them to effectively implement personalization strategies and drive growth .
Create Personalized Customer Journeys: Marketing automation can be used to create personalized customer journeys, where customer specifics are tied into the content delivered to them. Personal touches, such as using personalization tags in email subject lines and bodies, can increase open rates and result in more sales .
Approach Personalization Organization-Wide: Successful personalization requires an organization-wide approach, rather than viewing it solely as a marketing or analytics problem. Companies that achieve the best results from personalization look for long-term drivers of growth and emphasize customer lifetime value .