Personalization is rapidly becoming essential for businesses to drive engagement, loyalty and revenue growth.
With declining website traffic from search and the phase-out of third-party cookies, companies must find new ways to maximize every visitor interaction.
Consumers now expect personalized, tailored experiences across all touchpoints, just as they receive on social media.
This article explores the foundational pillars of effective personalization, the role of AI in identifying segments and predicting journeys and real-world examples of how brands have boosted conversions through location-based, channel-based, behavioral and customer data-driven personalization tactics.
Why personalization is vital for marketing strategiesTwo primary contributing factors are making personalization a vital component of the marketing strategy for businesses:
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said last year that search will be much more personalized and ultimately about understanding what users want and helping them accomplish it. He also said AI has been transforming Google Search for years.
It is not about 10 blue links but the most meaningful, rich answers. Two-thirds of consumers prefer these tailored interactions, indicating a trend toward more intimate and user-centric search experiences.
Consumers today are already used to content tailored to their interests. Social media feeds respond to what engaged users in the past. As search also gets more personalized, consumers will expect personalized experiences at every touchpoint – even the websites they visit.
Personalizing the experience is complex. It necessitates a comprehensive customer data platform (CDP) that maintains unified and actionable customer profiles.
Brands must urgently connect their CDP with their CRM and CMS to create personalized experiences. For meaningful personalization, three things need to come together.
3 foundational pillars of personalization 1. Harness your customer dataImplementing data-driven personalization can be challenging. Harnessing data effectively requires a sophisticated CDP capable of processing real-time information to craft diverse personalized experiences across the site. It also requires specialized data analysis skills and the creation of a comprehensive, unified customer profile.
With sophisticated data processing capabilities, you can collect real-time data and leverage it to deliver diverse personalized experiences that matter most to your customers.
Connecting the omnichannel purchase journey with customer data and intent is challenging. However, ensuring a seamless, tailored experience across all channels, both now and in the future, is essential for keeping customers happy.
This requires fluid connections across various touchpoints to foster loyalty and revenue growth. As brands, we must ensure that simple workflows are defined for the most common use cases.
3. Personalizing content and distribution workflowsContent strategy is a major hurdle for many organizations, with 90% finding it challenging to produce content that aligns with user intent. Brands must define content creation and distribution workflows to ensure the content reflects customers’ intentions.
Establishing streamlined workflows, utilizing design systems, centralizing digital assets and deploying AI for content customization are key steps toward achieving this. Aligning imagery across touchpoints and using analytics to capture genuine insights are vital for meaningful engagement.
Types of personalization to considerThere are typically four types of personalization, all enhanced by AI-driven strategies and insights.
Location-based personalizationGet the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.
Business email address Subscribe Processing... AI’s role in personalizationAI-driven personalization tailors experience for everyone by analyzing their interactions and preferences, avoiding the one-size-fits-all approach.
AI personalization significantly improves decision-making, reduces business risks and fosters brand loyalty. Here are three use cases for AI and how it plays a significant role.
Identifying visitor segments to targetAI plays a pivotal role in dissecting visitor data to uncover meaningful segments. By analyzing visitors’ locations, devices, channels, browsing behaviors and interactions, AI models automatically group visitors into meaningful clusters.
Brands can then target these segments for personalized experiences and connected journeys. AI-driven segmentation empowers businesses to allocate resources effectively, optimize marketing efforts and enhance customer experiences.
Use AI for visitor journey prediction and optimizationVisitor journey stages represent the sequence of interactions a user has with a brand, from initial awareness to conversion and beyond. AI models meticulously analyze user behavior data, including website visits, clicks and session duration.
By discerning patterns, these models categorize visitors into relevant stages, such as “Ready to buy,” “High LTV” (Lifetime Value) or “Dormant.” Brands can then strategically deliver personalized content tailored to each visitor’s specific journey stage.
AI-powered content creation/selectionAI dynamically creates personalized content, ensuring relevance. It continuously learns from user interactions and precisely selects content for visitor segments. A/B testing and sentiment analysis aid in iterative learning and content optimization.
Ultimately, AI-driven content personalization ensures that each visitor receives relevant, engaging, timely information, fostering stronger connections and driving conversions.
How brands can leverage personalization to boost revenueHere are two real-life examples where behavioral and channel-based personalization helped increase RFP submissions and conversions for a brand:
Goal: Increase ROI from the paid and email ‘spring campaign’How we solved with channel-based personalization:
Impact: 2X conversion rate for visitors from paid/email spring campaign.
Goal: RV resort wanted to drive more bookings from customers interested in long-term staysSteps we deployed:
Impact: The customer witnessed 55% increase in conversion rate within a month from implementing behavioral personalization for the visitors interested in long-term stay.
Personalization, connectivity and data: The triad strategy for boosting revenueAI is here to stay. Platforms will continue to leverage AI to deliver personalized experiences to their customers. By extension, personalization could soon become as essential as having a website.
Early movers that invest in the trifecta of personalization, connectivity and data will have the advantage over their competitors today and beyond.