19 October 2023 | Personalization
Today, we see ads and sponsored posts just about everywhere – on social media, on news sites and in apps. In addition, many emails and SMS fall into our inboxes every day. Hands up if you've ever been annoyed by the number of messages that are absolutely overflowing? (At least we're raising our hands here!)
In order for your business to have any chance of being seen in today's hustle and bustle, you need to personalize more. Personalized offers, personalized products and personalized communication. Yes, personalization is more important than ever – and you need to start now.
Personalization is a process and a kind of tactic you use to tailor services, products, newsletters, messages, etc. for the unique individual. Personalized communication means – as the name suggests – the actual communication with the customer in the process.
Personalized communication is much more than using someone's first name in a mailing, or showing relevant product recommendations. (See all 12 examples below!)
Today, an incredible amount of things happen in a so-called Internet minute. With personalized communication, you get a chance to (also) be seen in the media noise – if you use your data correctly.
There are several reasons why you should personalize. The most important are:
You can get increased engagement with the help of relevant and personal content that shows that you see and care about your customer. That makes the customer want to be part of your brand.
Increased customer loyalty starts with you being loyal to your customer. Because if you're not loyal to the customer, why would the customer be loyal to you? You achieve increased customer loyalty by adapting your communication to the unique individual.
If you adapt communications, campaigns and recommendations to the customer's buying behavior and interests, you will get increased revenue. That's for sure. Yes, if you make the entire process relevant to the customer, the customer will also be more likely to (continue) buying from you.
The result is stronger customer relationships that last a long time, where a strong relationship is more difficult to end than a fleeting one.
Basically, it's all about your ability to use data. Because it's in your data, your unique sales data and your contact lists that you will find the answers. More engaged customers, increased sales and more spot-on communication – everything is in your customer data.
You also need to analyze and segment your data, as well as learn more about your customers. What media do they consume? What do they usually buy? What are their interests?
Last but not least: you must dare to test. You will get nowhere if you don't start testing. You don't have to go for all the trends, but you have to start experimenting to see what works in your particular business. Test, test, test!
The possibilities are many – only the imagination sets the limits. Here are 12 tips on how you can personalize your communication:
Using merge tags is a simple trick to attract the recipient's attention. The tags pick up things like the customer's name or city.
Send recommendations based on past purchases, behaviors and interests, via SMS and/or email.
Make communication with season ticket holders extra special – they are, after all, your most loyal customers! You can send curated mailings, give them priority for shows and create unique playlists on Spotify just for them. Or why not invite them to special customer evenings?
What do subscribers to your newsletters get that others don't? Can you give them special offers?
Use pop-ups on the website that you base on impressions from cookies, and let the visitor, for example, take advantage of a discount through the pop-up.
Send special offers to the people who live in the same city where the event is taking place. Or recommend activities that take place in the area that the customer is going to visit.
Use storytelling and allude to emotions in your communication. What kind of feeling can you use for your communication – nostalgia, joy, inspiration or perhaps community?
Target advertising to consumers based on past Internet behavior.
Personalize your automations by creating different, targeted messages. What kind of communication does the customer who visits you on a Sunday get, compared to the customer who booked a special package?
Pay attention to the customer's birthday! Such automations are easy to set up and give you stronger customer relationships. You can also pay attention to your and the customer's anniversary: "Now we have been friends for 3 years – congratulations to us!".
Interact with your followers on social media. Always reply to comments and messages, and let followers participate in things like surveys, polls and quizzes.
Create SMS and e-mails for different segments and target groups. For example, use event tags and/or purchase history to target your communication.
Do you want to learn even more about personalized communication? Then you should check out our webinar! For 45 minutes, you will hear the experts Åsa Appelqvist and Erik Lindholm tell you more about how to get started and how you can work with personalization in your business.
