One-size-fits-all doesn't work in advertising anymore. To stay ahead of the competition, know your audience and curate your messaging.
Brand marketers and advertisers, are you personalizing your marketing content?
Personalization is a popular buzzword in advertising these days, but for good reason!
Personalized advertising has proven 3-4 times more effective than blast messages and can reduce customer acquisition costs by 50%.
And the modern consumer expects it: research from McKinsey found that 76% of customers felt frustrated when a personalized experience doesn't happen.
So, how can brands get started? For businesses new to personalization, we've summarized four key factors that drive successful personalization at scale:
Key elements of personalized advertising
1. Data Foundation:
Centralize customer data to enable seamless interaction across all channels. Data quality is paramount, as is privacy compliance.
2. Decision Making:
Use machine learning and AI models to predict customer behavior and tailor marketing efforts accordingly. Segment customers based on value and trigger propensity scoring to identify the right opportunities for engagement.
3. Design:
Develop flexible content that can be easily mixed and matched to deliver personalized messages.
4. Distribution:
Integrate communication channels to ensure a unified customer experience. React to customer actions in real-time across all touchpoints.
Examples of personalization in marketing
Spotify recently built upon its popular, annual "Spotify Wrapped" feature with "Daylists" , sending users daily curated song playlists based on their recent listening activity.
Similarly, Penguin Random House created an online "book matchmaker" quiz to help readers find new favorite books based on their reading preferences.
And at Exverus, we've worked with the Stella & Chewy's raw pet food team to build personalized campaigns, like the America's Next Top Petfluencer contest, which encouraged pet owners to upload photos of their pets (and zero-party data!) for a chance to put their pet on a billboard; and the rich media AR selfies ad unit, which let pet owners create their own filters for pet photos.
All of these strategies get consumers interacting with the brand and feeling confident about making a purchase because the recommendation is tailored their individual tastes.
Why is personalization an effective media strategy?
Because, at its core, personalization is about helping buyers see themselves in your brand and creating a connection with them through shared values, interests, or experiences.
It helps create a holistic customer experience. When asked what they want most from personalization, one of the top answers from consumers was, “Know me no matter where I interact with you.” Online, offline, on-site, or in their inbox -- buyers expect a consistent and tailored omnichannel experience.
But you can't personalize your content unless you understand your audience and their needs.
Data-driven ad personalization
Companies can gain valuable insights into their target audience's preferences, interests, and behavior patterns by analyzing consumer data. These insights allow you to tailor your content and messaging to resonate with the individual -- instead of delivering a one-size-fits-all approach.
In a way, personalization starts before you even know your customer. You must build your strategy and workflow to collect the necessary data points to create personalized content.
Once you have identified your audience and collected data, the possibilities for personalization are endless. Personalization can take many forms, from creating dynamic website experiences to segmenting email campaigns based on customer preferences.
The future of personalized advertising
The landscape of personalization is constantly evolving. Brands will create seamless customer journeys across different touchpoints.
Imagine a shopping mall, retail store, and an e-commerce platform working together to deliver a unified, personalized shopping experience. Imagine a streaming TV service showing ads using AI to deliver the most relevant product message based on the individual viewer.
By understanding where personalization is headed, marketers can build stronger customer relationships, drive sales, and stay ahead of the curve.
This piece originally appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For more tips, research, and analysis; subscribe for free here.