What Is A Personalized Digital Marketing Strategy?

How well do you understand your online audience? Is your marketing strategy personalized to their tailored needs and expectations? Machine learning has opened up an entirely new realm of personalization. Ads have become more realistic with 3D graphics and user interfacing. Marketing personalization is the next critical step in developing brand commitment and, ultimately, a stronger customer relationship.

Digital Marketing personalization increases ROI and improves conversion rates.

To quote McKinsey and Company, an authority in the digital marketing realm: ”Personalization is a force multiplier—and business necessity—one that more than 70 percent of consumers now consider a basic expectation. Organizations able to build and activate the capability at scale can put customer lifetime value on a new trajectory—driving double-digit revenue growth, superior retention, and more prosperous, more nurturing long-term relationships.”

Technological advancements had already begun to shift how consumers shop online, but post-pandemic online purchasing has increased by 67%. Many companies have taken to social media platforms to surpass their competitors. These platforms have implemented a recommendation engine to track relevant content. The goal is to entice website visitors toward product recommendations. They optimize retail marketing campaigns by monitoring a user‘s search inquiries and purchase history in real-time, they optimize retail marketing campaigns. Personalizing digital marketing ultimately cultivates customer loyalty.

Forbes has compiled 50 pretty eye-opening statistics regarding personalization:

• 71% of consumers feel frustrated when a shopping experience is impersonal.
• 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand that provides personalized experiences.
• More than 50% of consumers are willing to share information on products they like to get personalized discounts.
• 84% of consumers say being treated like a person, not a number, is very important to winning their business.

Now that you know you need to gain more detailed information about your target audience, how do you collect customer data?

The most powerful source is declared data. This is first-party data that is reported voluntarily by your customer. This can be demographic, i.e., address, phone number, etc. It can be as simple as a marketing campaign offering an email address discount. Regardless of how this information is sourced, when a consumer voluntarily enters their information, that information is more than likely true. Chatbots are also a powerful tool for collecting declared data. You can gather anything from age to sizing, to educational background, simply by chatting with your consumer.

Take Spotify, for example. Have you seen their End-of-Year Wrapped Report? It is an excellent example of the advancements in personal marketing strategy. The wrapped report is a detailed roadmap of an individual customer‘s year-long history on Spotify. It provides a segmented personalization of who you listen to and what genre you prefer and categorizes your fanbase ranking to a specific artist versus other loyal listeners. Spotify allows you to share your rank among friends, and this personalized marketing strategy becomes an ad (for Spotify) on social media. Not only does this wrapped report increase customer engagement, but it also improves customer experience by compiling their favorites all in one place. This campaign is brilliant and solidifies customer retention.

How can machine learning benefit both your personal online experience and generate sales for your brand? AI shopping bots collect data and can scan the web to find your ultimate deal. There are countless bot software options available. Each bot is specific to an area of eCommerce. With the knowledge of a user’s personal information, shopping preference, pricing parameters, and demographics, this information can be used to pinpoint an ideal consumer market. If your brand has been ranked as an authority by the Google algorithm and you have put in the effort to stand out, you will likely rise above the eCommerce competition.

Let’s talk about continuous shopping. This is the blend of entertainment with instant purchasing. Live commerce opens a new eCommerce channel with enormous value for brands and retailers. In the realm of eCommerce, personalized marketing drives the customer journey. With the implementation of Google ads placed within pages that direct the user to click on “Products you recently viewed.” These are colorful and clickable ads. They direct you right back into a search you had previously abandoned and straight to the landing page to make the purchase.

Industry giants like Amazon and Netflix understand how to draw your gaze and keep it! How about that “Continue Watching” button on Netflix? Many a weekend has been burned due to that feature alone. This marketing campaign may have been the first time many consumers have ever encountered an addiction to continuous shopping. They also understand that popularity grows an audience. The “Trending“ button is also a powerful campaign that they launched. Would any of us have even known what Squid Game even was without that feature?

By understanding how marketing efforts can be customized, you can improve the digital experience that your users will have. We recommend taking advantage of marketing automation technologies as well. This tech automatically manages marketing processes and multifunctional campaigns across multiple channels. What is clear is that CRM (customer relationship management) and personalization efforts pay off. Well-organized businesses can target customers with automated messages, personalized email, web, social, and text.