Personalisation was originally associated with direct mail and was often abused slightly by marketers who enjoyed flouting their new toy! I once worked on a project where personalisation became a bone of contention as one member of the team had inserted the recipient’s first name in to every paragraph of the copy, rendering the letter somewhat disingenuous. “Hi John, we notice you’ve previously purchased a ticket, John. Why not let us help you out again John?”. No, no, no.
So, how have things changed? Well, first of all, personalisation moved in to the digital space which changed the game entirely. Initially this involved every marketer sticking the recipient’s first name at the beginning of every email, but the difficulty came with managing the juxtaposition between a person’s assumed online anonymity and the vast digital footprint they leave behind. However, through the development of technology, managing this dichotomy has become far easier and the opportunities available to get to know your audiences better and offer them a more personalised customer experience are endless.
Personalised email is still going strong, with 90% of survey respondents stating that personalisation is used in their email marketing. However, many have moved beyond “Hey John” and are finding dynamic content, to be their most effective personalisation tactic. In the same report by One Spot, they found that 60% of marketers say real-time data in email (e.g. contextual info like location or weather) is either ‘effective’ or ‘highly effective’. The same response was given by 58% of respondents in relation to machine learning driving email personalisation. However, you don’t need automation to speak directly to your customers. Why not use the tools you have available to identify your prospective customers and speak directly to them using video? There are numerous free tools available, which will allow you to record short messages and send them directly through your email provider…I have used Vidyard to provide you with an example here:
In a survey of over 206 digital marketers, 96% of respondents praised the ability of personalisation to advance customer relationships, 61% said personalisation has helped them achieve a superior customer experience and 88% said it has helped them realise a measurable lift in business results.
I’ll leave you with the wisdom of Evergage CEO, Karl Wirth, who states that there are four key principles of user experience – ‘remember me, understand me, help me and surprise/delight me’. How are you going to do any of those if you don’t get personal?!
To chat about using personalisation in your marketing or running ABM programmes, please get in touch on 01234 964000 or letschat@sherpamarketing.co.uk.