What is Personalised Marketing?

Today, we live in a world of meeting ever-changing customer demands and having to keep up with new trends and technologies. Personalisation has become an integral part of digital marketing; it has also become even more complex. Today, 80% of customers are now more likely to buy from a company who offer personalised shopping experiences. A few years ago, personalisation used to involve referring to customers by their names and the inclusion of basic data about their age, gender, and birth date. However, times have changed.

Nowadays, we have the technology to gather large quantities of detailed data, permitting us to view specific interests, wants, and needs of the customer. This allows for a better understanding of the customer journey and widens the marketing funnel. The use of personalisation not only ensures that you will gain a larger quantity of customers, but also guarantees a more focused approach that will draw in your target audience.

Personalisation is focused on tailoring your digital marketing strategy to individual customers; the main aim is to understand your customer and determine what they want and need. Once you have established what their desires are, you can cater to them accordingly.

What does your customer actually want to hear about? If you are sending emails and ads that don’t offer customers anything that will personally benefit them, it is a waste of time. Consumers want to buy into things that are necessary or beneficial to their life; this is why spam is never successful in the long run. You need your products to appear to your target audience in the right place, at the right time.

Surprisingly, people are often willing to share their data if it means that they will receive personalised recommendations to suit their needs. 90% of consumers are willing to share their behavioural data if it means that their shopping experience is cheaper or easier. Amazon is a great example of this; their personalised shopping system looks at what products you have been searching for and then suggests what other products you might be interested in based on this search. This process is helpful for the customer because it makes their online shopping experience efficient and effective, while also increasing sales for Amazon.

This is where website cookies could become useful as it allows Google to see what websites/ products people have searched for and visited, e.g. if someone is suffering with acne, you could boost suitable products or treatments to them through personalised online advertising - and the best part? Google will do a lot of the hard work for you!

Personalisation matters; let us tell you why. Customers want to feel that they have a personal relationship with you and your brand; brand identity is all about gaining the trust and loyalty of your audience. Showing customers their preferred content demonstrates that you care about them as an individual. Personalisation also means that you receive better engagement from your audience; this is because you are able to target those who actually want to buy your products and treatments.

In addition to growing an audience who fit your customer profile, personalising your marketing strategy can save time and energy. Customers travel through the marketing funnel more quickly because they want and need the products that your company is supplying. People can also find what they are looking for faster than they would without personalised ads and emails.

Ultimately, customers expect personalisation. It is no longer a question of whether you want to invest in personalised marketing, but a question of how many customers you will lose if you don’t.

An experience which is designed for individual customers makes them feel appreciated, resulting in more positive feedback. Building a rapport and increasing loyalty to your brand will ensure that customers spread the word about your individually tailored experiences. Read more about how to manage customer reviews here.

There are hundreds of ways to personalise your digital marketing strategy and reap all of these amazing benefits.

Here are a few quick-fire ideas to get you started in personalisation:

Digital marketing is constantly evolving, but we are more than happy to keep you up to speed. If you ever feel that your marketing strategy needs a few tweaks here and there, book a free consultation with us today.