The Future is Personal
Personalization goes both ways. Your customers need to get to know you, and you need to get to know them.
Digital marketing tends to be impersonal, focusing on lists, list building, lead generation, etc. The customer is not thought of as a person or an individual with personalized needs. They are an email address.
Instead of delivering the same messaging and content to everyone, personalization is knowing and responding to the customer and their needs, not their email address.
We often don’t take into consideration the relationship we have with customers who engage with us. We need to try to understand the customer’s point of view. What story do they tell themselves about who they are and what they need?
Website personalization is a lot like listening. You can gain insight into your customers, their needs and their internal story by:
- Paying attention to what they were searching for when they found your site.
- Noticing what links from other site(s) they clicked to find your site.
- Listening to the answers they give to questions you may ask on certain pages of your site.
- Paying attention to what pages or posts they navigate or return to regularly.
- Noting which pdfs, whitepapers and videos they download or view.
And, over time, how your website interacts with them can be a personalized reaction to their internal story as it unfolds through their engagement with your website until they get to:
I have a problem.
- Maybe this company can help me solve it.
- I think this company “can” help me solve it.
- Sign me up!
Personalization makes a customer feel like they’re being seen, being heard and being understood. Nothing builds customer loyalty more than human, relevant experiences.
Don’t send your customers material that doesn’t align with their identified wants and needs.
Recent studies have shown:
- 71% of customers get frustrated with impersonal shopping experiences. –segment.com
- 67% of customers have unsubscribed from lists because the emails they received were irrelevant. –litmus.com
- 44% of customers are likely to become repeat buyer after a personalized shopping experience. –segment.com
When we feel paid attention to and well understood, we naturally develop an affinity for that brand, company or person.
Most businesses start thinking about the customer experience “after” the purchase.
Personalizing your website, emails and marketing materials “before” the purchase develops loyalty with people before they have even become a customer.
After they become a customer, personalization enhances their experiences because:
- Your conversations are more relevant to them.
- They feel better understood by you which makes you more valuable to them.
- It creates a more meaningful relationship for them.
Top 4 Reasons to invest in personalizing the customer experience:
More Interested Customers: You’ll have customers who are interested in listening to what you have to say.
More Buyers: When you have “earned” credibility, customers are more likely to buy from you again and again.
Higher Revenue Potential: These customers will spend more over time because your relationship with them continues to be nurtured.
A Trusted Referral Network: Your customers will become your believers, followers and evangelists–your Tribe. They will do the work of creating new business for you by telling their friends and colleagues about what a REMARKABLE customer experience they are having.
Personalization is all about relationship building and is an important step on the pathway to a REMARKABLE customer experience.
If you are interested in finding out more about how we can help you deliver a more personalized customer experience, contact us today.
Now go out there and do something REMARKABLE.
