Improve the Customer Approach with Personalization
Whether in a shopping centre or at the Italian restaurant around the corner: customers are addressed individually. Thanks to personalization, companies are able to use marketing measures more effectively and efficiently, because it enables them to address the target group online in a precisely tailored manner.
Personalization can be applied to all areas of digital marketing — whether classic websites, e-mails, mobile apps or ads. In advertising, it is already standard practice today. A well-known example of this is the targeting of Google Ads to specific search terms, so that the user always gets ads matching his search while surfing the Internet. Many online store operators also use personalization to suggest additional offers to customers for products in the shopping cart or to make recommendations such as “Customers who bought this also bought.”
In the B2B sector, account-based marketing, for example, is a method of preparing a personalized approach to the right decision-makers. For B2B marketers, it is a major challenge to know the needs of customers. In addition, it is important that the contacts in the database are always kept up-to-date and complete.
The right content at the right time
The central application area for personalization is now to accompany the decision-maker during his customer journey with content that is tailored to his current situation. For example, if a fleet purchaser is interested in a car, his customer journey typically looks completely different from that of a private individual looking at a similar model. In order to recognize this, it is necessary to recognize the customer every time he or she contacts the company.
The target group and the offer tailored to them is usually much more specific in the B2B environment than in the B2C environment. The online channels are mainly used to search for information, but the purchase usually still takes place offline. Nevertheless, companies must personalize along the entire customer journey — both online and offline. For example, the online channel can be used to form opinions, and the data collected can be used to address customers offline, for instance with personalized offers.
Step by step to personalized content
Implementing personalization successfully is a complex process that requires a well thought-out digital strategy. Many companies fall back on specialized service providers who, in the best case, provide support from the conception to the implementation.
The first step is to determine goals for the individual digital channels in a digital analytics framework, define target groups, personas and customer journeys, and determine what data basis is available for this. The goals for each channel can be very different and are based on the business goals, such as lead generation or sales. These are used to determine success factors, for example, trust is essential for lead generation. Now it is important to find out which context characteristics, personalization profiles and situations can be identified using analytics. What is the right time? Which place? Which traffic source or which end device plays a role?
Then the recipients and situations for personalization are determined. Target groups that can be mapped are for example new customers, existing contacts, certain age groups or promoters. The right opportunity could be touchpoints such as advance information, purchase or support.
Once the activities have been selected, the next step is their concrete design and implementation. The appropriate spots for personalization within a channel are derived from the previously established Digital Analytics Framework, which shows which activities within a channel contribute to which result. The aim is to continuously improve personalization and reduce the proportion of non-personalized measures. The more relevant data is available, the better this works. Possibilities for enriching this data include, for example, connecting third-party systems, collecting data via playful questionnaires or via a login area for which the user must register.
One thing is certain — by addressing customers individually, the target groups’ well-being and willingness to buy will increase. This effect should also extend to online channels. Personalization thus enables a precisely tailored approach to the target group on the net.
