Creating Uniquely Personalized Experiences in an Otherwise Impersonal World
There’s a lot of talk about the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and its far-reaching impacts on the world of digital marketing. Unfortunately, it’s largely become a moving target, one where everyone is eagerly anticipating an AI platform that is so advanced it personalizes the user’s experience. However, AI may never fully be able to duplicate the experiences that individuals create themselves.
Think of all the tools your digital marketing team can use to personalize a user’s experience. Think of all the information your website gathers. Think about how each of your digital marketing strategies provides you with real-time feedback. You have the data. You have the insights. You can personalize a user’s experience. It may not have the immediate response times that AI provides, but it’s not something where you have to wait for that universal AI application. You can get started right now.
So, what are some of the tools you have access to that can help personalize a user’s experience? Let's dive in.
Existing Digital Marketing, Social Media, and Advertising
Have you ever taken the time to ask your customers why they’ve signed up to your email newsletter? Have you ever given them the option to outline what their interests are and what they’d like to see more of? A large number of e-commerce enterprises fail to ask the simplest of questions. However, those answers provide invaluable information into the makeup of your customers.
Knowing why some digital advertisements work better than others, for a given customer segment, can only come from an in-depth analysis of your data. You need to know who paid traffic works for and why. You need to go deep to understand which advertising strategies work best with different customer segments. A perfect example might include a specific age group having a greater affinity for fashion on Pinterest. Can you use this information to personalize the customer's experience? Yes, you can, but only if you go deep.
Your Website and Buyer Personas
Your website provides you with real-time data and insights into customer behavior, the kind of insights you can use to follow up website visits with tailored messaging across all channels. Use the data at your disposal. Track individual landing pages and understand what’s working and what isn’t. Understand why a given landing page has a high bounce rate versus one that doesn’t. Identify why a given call-to-action works and another doesn’t.
You can gain further insight by segmenting users by their technology platforms. Are there any noticeable trends between laptop, desktop, tablet and mobile users? Are those trends even greater amongst different buyer personas or do some personas move seamlessly from one technology platform to the next? Understanding how customers interact with your brand in real-time allows you to tailor their experiences by improving the options you provide them and the follow-ups you pursue.
Your CRM and Customer Interactions
Aside from your website analytics, your social media metrics, and your CTR data on advertising, there’s also your CRM and customer interactions to draw upon. That CRM should be defined by your buyer personas and by the things they want and need. When you combine your CRM inputs, with the real-time feedback from your website, individual landing pages, email newsletters, social media, and paid traffic sources, then you’ve got everything you need to personalize a customer’s journey. All that’s required is the ability to organize that data across multiple buyer personas and the willingness to put a plan in action.
You have everything you need to personalize each of your buyer's journeys. Take the time to understand the data you have and then isolate the data that gives the best insights. You'll find plenty of opportunities to create a personalized marketing message and a customized experience.
If you're looking for additional ideas about how to improve your e-commerce business, then read E-Commerce Insight: Top 8 Shopping & Feed Tips
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