5 Ways to Enhance Personalization with the Right Data

Data is the fuel you need to power your personalization efforts. Here are some of the specific ways the right data can facilitate focused, powerful engagement with your customers.

1. Getting the timing right

Timing is everything in marketing. Sending the right message to the right customer at the right time can make a huge impact, propelling the buyer rapidly along the sales funnel from basic awareness to feel ready to make a purchase.

Data can play a vital role in helping you time the delivery of your marketing messages with maximum effectiveness. If the browsing behavior of a particular user on your website suggests they’re planning a holiday, for example, relevant product recommendations based on their previous purchases could be just what they’re looking for.

As well as increasing the likelihood of a sale, this demonstrates a certain level of understanding and strengthens your relationship with the customer.

2. Anticipating needs

If you’re able to get personalization down to a fine art, you might be able to predict and anticipate your customers’ needs before they’ve even thought to act on them.

The data at your disposal can provide all the insights and information you need to track purchasing trends and make accurate predictions of what your customers are likely to need at a given point in the future.

If, for instance, a business client has been buying the same office supplies from you at regular intervals over the past few months, why not pre-empt their next purchase and thank them for their business by throwing in something for free, or waiving delivery costs?

This sort of targeted, data-driven engagement makes a huge contribution to brand loyalty and supports long-term relationships.

3. Targeted emails

Compared to some of the latest developments and innovations taking place in the digital marketing space, email has been around for a long time. However, the channel seems to have lost none of its power to engage with customers and support strong relationships in both the B2B and B2C spaces.

Research has shown that 59% of B2B marketers see email as their most effective marketing channel for revenue generation, while consumers who purchase products through email spend 138% more than those who don’t receive email offers.

Using customer data to personalize email communications and newsletters can help you gain maximum results from this powerful channel.

Here’s an example of email personalization done well from ride-sharing company Lyft:

4. Audience profiling by location

Being able to accurately profile and target your customers by location can be vital if you’re a company that depends on local audiences, or offers services that are specific to a particular area or region.

There are many potential benefits to be gained from location-based marketing, such as focusing on customer groups who are most likely to value and use your services because of their close proximity to you.

Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington provided an example of how leveraging location data can deliver results. It analyzed which postcodes were home to its most frequent visitors and then offered discounts to other customers in the same areas, leading to a 13% increase in membership in a single quarter.

5. Loyalty rewards

Rewarding customers for their loyalty makes them feel valued and strengthens your relationship with them, increasing the likelihood they’ll stay loyal and remain a customer for many years to come.

Conducting in-depth analysis of your user data can help you identify your most dependable customers and make informed judgments about the rewards that will be most relevant and beneficial for them.

One brand that has done this particularly well is Starbucks, which engages with its audience via a gamified mobile app that combines loyalty rewards with options for users to customize and order drinks. This is all made possible by data such as purchase history and location.

The rewards program was cited as a key factor in a significant increase in revenue for the coffee chain.

This and numerous other examples of effective targeted marketing underline just how vital it is to leverage your customer data for effective personalization.

Source: Smile.io

Further reading:

• Trends in Personalization
• Guide to Winning Customer Hearts and Minds
• Driving Customer Experiences with Impact