Using data-driven insights to provide the target audience with personalized ads is not a new idea. It has been around for a few years now. Yet, 84% of consumers feel that the number of irrelevant marketing messages they see every day keeps on increasing, especially on mobile.
So, what’s going wrong? CMOs and other marketers have access to more data and better technology, but why are consumers still feeling that they are bombarded with irrelevant messages?
The answer lies in targeted personalization. Here, in this guide, we walk you through the basics of some precise personalization tips on how to nail it right.
Striking the Right Balance between Personalization and Intrusion
Yes, it’s a fine line. Though there have been plenty of concerns raised about privacy; consumer studies reveal that the audiences welcome personalized ads as long as it’s transparent and done correctly.
A study by Adobe found that 78% of consumers like personalized ads, while another study by Epsilon reveals that 80% of consumers are likely to make a purchase when a brand offers them a personalized experience.
As one can understand from these studies, personalization works big time. But, what’s the right way to go about it, without intruding on the privacy of the consumer?
Start with a Personalization Roadmap
All CMOs desire to achieve personalization. But, what they fail at is defining how to get it done. This is where a personalization roadmap comes into the picture.
What is it? A personalization roadmap is a clearly-defined marketing plan for the entire marketing team to follow.
What does it do?
- Identifies personalization goals
- Evaluates current capabilities
- Define personalization strategies
- Identifies and segments the audience
- Prioritization of personalization
Now, that we’ve discussed the roadmap, let’s take inspiration from a few market leaders who have nailed personalization perfectly.
3 Brilliant Examples of how Brands were able to Leverage Personalization to Achieve their Goals
- Netflix
Netflix is synonymous with personalization, and the company spends millions of dollars on continuously upgrading its algorithm to provide users with the best CX. But, it doesn’t end there. Recently, the streaming giant revealed that their app personalizes the artwork seen by consumers. The artwork for shows, movies are personalized based on previous user actions.
By matching the right artwork with the right audience, Netflix can show viewers the content they are likely to watch. In the words of a Netflix spokesperson, “we don’t have one product. But, we have over 100 million products matched to our subscribers based on their personal preferences.”
The key takeaway: Consistently refine your approach to personalization and try to get the best use of customer data.
- Coca-Cola
The “share-a-coke” campaign is one of the best examples of personalized marketing. The idea behind the campaign was to get people to purchase personalized coca-cola bottles and share the image on social networks using #shareacoke.
As a result of the campaign, Coca-cola was able to see an increase in its sales for the first time in a decade.
The key takeaway: What’s brilliant about this campaign was that it appealed to the current trends of social media sharing. Matching personalization with current trends a sure-fire strategy to success.
- Easy Jet
Everyone loves a bit of nostalgia, and Easy Jet nailed this with its 20th-anniversary campaign. To commemorate the special event, Easy Jet sent out a personalized email to all its customers. The email had the entire travel history of the customer with the airline like – the first time they travelled with the airline, where they are likely to go next and so on.
The email open rates for this campaign were 100% higher than regular newsletters, and the company saw an increase in CTRs by 25%.
The key takeaway: Combining storytelling with personalized data builds customer connections and engagements rates, thereby increasing brand loyalty.
What’s holding back brands from Achieving Precise and Targeted Personalization?
There are plenty of reasons for this. Contrary to common belief, it’s not a lack of data that prevents brands from achieving highly-effective personalized campaigns. Rather, it’s a lack of budget and overconfidence.
In a study by Avanade/Sitecore, 73% of CMOs surveyed stated that there is a lack of collaboration between the marketing dept and IT dept, which makes it difficult to secure funding. The study also found that CMOs failed in testing personalized ads, which, in turn, reduces efficiency and ROI.
Personalization is not a one-time process. It’s Continuous.
Less than 40% of marketers make use of even basic data like purchase history, referral source, browsing history to provide their audience with targeted, relevant, and highly-precise ads. That’s a whole lot of opportunities wasted.
At Logicserve Digital, we have been helping companies transform the way they engage with their customers. We do this with our marketing partner Adobe. They help us to personalized experiences at scale, powered by AI. For more details please get in touch at sales@logicserve.com
