Some people just love shopping. They enjoy the thrill and excitement of store hopping and chasing after elusive bargains. Holiday seasons, they'll take on the mall with their entire family in tow; or chase around frantically on birthdays and Valentine's Day for last minute gifts. I'm not like that - I hate shopping. Who has time for queues and people, crying babies and overcrowded changing rooms? No, I'm definitely not part of the mall-rat race.
My ideal shopping experience is to sit back, cup of tea in one hand and my mouse in the other, knowing that I'll soon receive my online-purchased items at my front door. Ah, bliss.
There's something else I love about being an unashamed online shopper - the personal touch. Online retailers go out of their way to ensure you're greeted with a cheery "Hi" whenever you log on, a list of suggestions based on your prior purchases and notifications on the latest specials. Then there's the emails with nice bonuses, like a voucher code if they see you haven't shopped in a while, or a promo because it’s your birthday. All these little touches work together to keep me coming back over and over again.
Yep. I'm a sucker for great marketing personalisation - and I'm not alone.
What is Marketing Personalisation?
Personalisation is a Content Marketing strategy where companies leverage information, data analysis and digital technology to deliver individualised messages and product offerings to prospects or current customers. It is also referred to as one-to-one marketing.
Personalisation allows you to engage directly and intimately with your target audience, one at a time, and draw their attention with content aimed purely at them. It maximises the potential of your time spent interacting with them, which is why so many businesses incorporate it into their marketing strategy.
There are a number of ways businesses implement personalisation. Think about the last time you visited Amazon. They're regularly cited as a fantastic example of effective website personalisation and with good reason. No two visitors to Amazon will see the same recommendations. That's because Amazon, and others using dynamic content, take your online information - your demographics, topics of interest, historical behaviour and transactions - and tailor the content to your preferences.
Before you can tailor and personalise your visitor's experiences, there are some key technical steps you should take.
11 Tips for Adding the Personal Touch to your Marketing
1. Centralise your contact database
Your marketing database houses all the important information about your contacts that allow you to deliver dynamic content based on certain attributes.
2. An integrated email system
If you are looking to include dynamic content in your emails (which you should totally do, by the way) you will need your email system connected to the same contacts database and smart content generator.
3. Narrow down your focus
One of the fundamental principles of inbound marketing is to determine your ideal customers and to tailor your content accordingly. Especially if your business is new to content marketing, it makes sense to focus on creating high-quality content for those prospects who are most likely to buy, instead of generalised content that draws a large number of disinterested prospects.
4. Value added now hints at value added later
There’s no argument as convincing as the one that comes with proof. By serving your users content that is valuable to them now, it will be much easier to convince them that also your products, services and offering will be of value to their business. Even if your buyers are not ready to take the next step just yet, they are sure to stick around to get some more of the good stuff.
5. Engage with your Buyer Personas in a timely fashion
We can all identify with the hassle of an over-eager salesperson approaching us while we’re simply browsing the aisles and the annoyance of searching for sales assistance when we’re ready to buy. This is why Struto uses an intelligent content optimisation system that allows us to deliver the right type of content to the right buyer at the right stage of their buyer’s journey.
6. Think like a researcher
“Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion,” said American statistician, professor and engineer W. Edwards Deming. The same goes for content marketing. Go beyond assumptions and sign up for a COS service like HubSpot. You will be able to learn what kind of content loses your audience and which content has them riveted and begging for more. Employ your fundamental assumptions and measure your audience’s response to assess how your strategy is panning out.
7. Deliver content that you can be proud of
Any bit of content available on your digital platforms is a representation of your brand, and even if it doesn’t carry your by-line, it’s still a piece of work to add to your portfolio. The quality of your content automatically reflects on the quality of services and products that your company delivers. And remember, there’s no shame in opting for hiring someone else to create content that does right by your brand.
8. Personalised Greetings
The goal of personalisation is not creep your audience out, rather to make them feel welcomed and understood. The moment they feel known and valued on your site, you've succeeded with your personalisation efforts.
The lesson here is to use personalised greetings in areas where people prefer it, like follow-up emails, newsletters and logging into member areas on your site. Drop in personalisation tokens that will enhance your message and create a personal connection with your reader, like using their first name in your opening line or their company name within your body copy.
9. Think Bigger, Think Multi-Device
Content needs to be optimised for all devices. Mobile should no longer be considered an ‘optional’ offering, but a necessity, or you face losing valuable opportunities to reach your audience. So if your strategy is to personalise content for an optimal user experience, why not increase your chances of converting a visitor into a customer with device personalisation? Use responsive design to provide relevant content, optimised navigation and a clutter-free experience on your mobile website, depending on the type of device they are using.
10. Enthusiasm breeds enthusiasm
If your brand, services and products don’t get you excited, they won’t get your prospects excited either. Make sure that the people responsible for creating your content have bought into your brand, and eager to share their passion.
11. The X-factor
As the wise Dr Seuss taught us as children, “there is no one alive who is youer than you,” which is an asset that you can capitalise on with your content marketing. Personalising your content is not just about addressing your buyer persona personally, but sharing something of your quirk and charm. Whether you and your brand are serious, technical or silly, let your content reflect your personality, and you’ll attract the type of buyers who are eager to do business with someone like you.
With the right environment set up and primed for tailoring your unique messaging, you can get busy personalising your site to your specific users and target personas. Here are some of the ways personalisation can power up your marketing strategy and drive more success and engagement within your business.
Using HubSpot for personalisation
Everyone knows that content is king, so personalisation can be used to bolster your site content to ensure it penetrates even deeper and engages uniquely with each visitor. HubSpot's CMS helps to transform a standard static website into a personalised platform with which to target all your leads.
The integrated nature of the HubSpot CMS pools all the bits and pieces needed to deliver this 'Wow, they know exactly what I need' journey, building and maintaining trust with your potential and existing clients alike. As each new or existing visitor lands on your site they are dazzled with tailored dynamic content that offers up exactly what they're looking for.
What exactly do we mean by dynamic content? Have a look at how you can personalise elements on your site to target and segment content for different users, even targeting where they're based within their buyer's journey.
Everyone knows that adding a personal touch boosts value and has the ability to transform the encounter for the better. Why not give it a try in your marketing? Have any personalisation tips for us? We'd love to hear from you!
