How to use personalization in marketing strategies

Over the years, marketing has undergone a transformative change with the gradual shift from offline to online marketing. With the growth of several digital platforms, the journey of a customer through the sales funnel- right from awareness to conversion has become more complex. Moreover, the amount of content on the web has also increased manifold- articles, ads, ebooks, videos, etc. The new-age customer has become inundated with content, making it more difficult to reach and engage with him/her. According to a survey by Hubspot, almost three-fourth of online consumers get frustrated when they come across content like ads or offers that they are not interested in.

Hence, improving customer experience and retention has become critical and one of the methods of achieving the same is to incorporate personalization in marketing strategies. Personalization is a strategy that involves taking your target audience’s personas, interests, location, buying intent, and behavior into account in order to tailor your marketing messaging to them. This is an effective way to grab the attention of your audience and eventually spark interest in your brand. 

Without a doubt, there are many benefits of using personalised marketing. Here are some of them:

1. Helps improve customer experience- Website or email content that is personalized to a person’s tastes and preferences resonates better and improves the overall experience.
2. Increases conversions and improves retention- People are more likely to buy from you if you deliver personalized content because you are able to deliver a message that addresses their needs/interests.
3. Increases brand loyalty- Taking the time to deliver personalized messages increases brand loyalty and customer satisfaction.

Now that we have discussed the benefits, let us look at the best ways to broadly incorporate personalization into your marketing strategy.

How to use personalization in marketing

Analyze customer data and segment your customers and potential customers

Taking a look at the data of your customers from different channels- website forms, social media, email subscribers, etc. and performing research on their backgrounds will help you understand their interests, preferences, online behavior and purchase intent. This will help you develop different kinds of messaging for each segment on each channel. HubSpot’s buyer persona tool is a helpful tool to visualize your customers.

Decide the messaging to use

In order to better understand the type of content your audience wants to consume and their intentions behind using your product or service, you could create questionnaires or surveys that appear in the emails they receive or your website, analyze social media activity, and official focus groups. Shorter surveys are likely to be more effective at generating feedback. The messaging should be different for the various stages of the sales funnel.

Consider different strategies you can use to get more personal

i. Email outreach

• Email is one of the most common ways to get personal with your audience. Using the name of your prospect or customer in the subject line and using the account of a person from your company is a great way to grab their attention. 
• Categorize your email list according to different personas. You can send out specific messages to each category ensuring that you address specific needs and challenges faced by them. 
• Tailor the content that is relevant at different stages of the funnel after analyzing your customer data set.

ii. Website content

Creating content that addresses your target audience’s pain points and that is placed strategically on your website is another way to personalize your content. Ensure that the navigation of the website is aligned with your customers’ pain points. 

iii. Create landing pages for different personas

You could consider creating specific landing pages for an offer on your product or service that is designed to appeal to different personas. 

These are broadly the strategies you can explore to incorporate personalization in marketing. Companies that have successfully leveraged personalization have been able to increase conversions and revenue. So if you haven’t explored getting more personal with your audience, it is a great time to do so especially in the new normal. People are looking for content that informs and helps them, so by providing the relevant information at the right time in a manner that they will like, you will stand a chance of engaging with them better.