Deliver Personalized Experiences

The need for businesses to provide personalized customer experiences is growing, with customer experience professionals citing it as the number one changing customer expectation. Emarsys defines personalization as the implementation of a strategy by which companies deliver individualized content to recipients through data collection, analysis, and the use of automation technology. In simpler terms, it is a marketing strategy that focuses on making content suited for an individual customer based on what they know about the customer through data collection.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used more and more to personalize customer experiences. AI is able to perform human-like tasks as it makes adjustments based on what it learns from experiences and other inputs. AI will continue to evolve and provide support for specific tasks.

Examples of Personalization

How is personalization used by businesses? One of the most obvious examples is product recommendations on websites. Sites like Amazon collect data on consumer buying and searching habits and use this to recommend products in multiple places on their website. On Amazon’s front page, Amazon develops “recommendations for you” based on an analysis of your past purchases, search history and wish lists. Amazon creates single-click Dash buttons for past purchases that are likely to be repurchased such as cleaning products or face wash. Amazon also uses collected consumer data to recommend similar products to you. When you view a product, Amazon shows “frequently bought together” and “customers who bought this also bought.” Amazon is far from the only business to do these types of product recommendations, but they do it very effectively.

Another frequent personalization tactic is targeted emails. Companies can gain a customer’s attention by using their name in the subject line. Addressing you by name in the email and having your account information already logged in or available from the email are other ways that emails can be personalized. Companies can also use the data they gather from your website visits to recommend products to you. They can include a product that you viewed but did not end up purchasing and similar products to those you viewed or purchased. It is important that companies make sure that their channels are consistent. The personalization on the website should be reflected in the emails. Finally, customers tend to give out personal information when they sign up to receive a company’s emails. This information can include a birthdate which can be used to send special birthday offers.

Companies can also use social media to personalize experiences. Interacting with companies via social media, whether it’s to complain, ask a question, or give feedback, is becoming increasingly popular, especially in younger generations. People often have personal information visible on social media, and a quick browse through a customer’s profile can help a company resolve their issue or determine how to best market to them.

Why is personalization important?

Customers expect companies to offer personalized experiences.

Customers’ expectations for personalization will have risen by 88% by 2020. Customers are no longer content with being treated like the masses. They want to be treated as an individual, with unique needs and experiences, instead just a number. They want to feel like they are important and matter to a business and that the business cares about their wants and desires.

Personalization increases customer loyalty.

80% of customers are more likely to do business with a company that offers personalized experiences and 56% of customers feel a stronger sense of loyalty to brands that they feel show a deep understanding of their preferences. Customers are willing to give up personal information in exchange for more personalized experiences tailored to them. They also expect companies to keep this personal information protected. This relationship is built on trust which in turn builds loyalty.

Personalization drives revenue and customer engagement.

Investing in affective personalization tactics can increase ROI because customers are more likely to shop with companies that offer personalization. Happy customers are more likely to return more often and spend more each time. Research also suggests that email personalization can increase open rates by 26% and customer-centric marketing can boost online sales by as much as 25%.

Personalization with Peoplocity

Peoplocity personalizes customer interactions using a private, secure mobile messaging platform. 90% of customers believe mobile allows them to make better purchasing decisions and have a better experience. Customers can message a company through their Peoplocity app to ask questions, get help and give feedback. Their data is available from their profile, so the company doesn’t have to ask for it and can address them by name from the start. The company can redirect the customer to another representative internally through the platform, before replying to the message. Customers don’t have to wait on hold or go through the transfer process. The feedback option also allows the company to take feedback and adjust their practices to fit their customers’ preferences and needs.

Categorized in: Blog, Consumer Experience

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