Written by: Tedfuel
Personalization is a hot trend. More and more diverse businesses are betting on personalization in their communication strategy. By replicating a human-like persona in marketing messages, they are able to extend a personal hand to their audience. It works and has significant benefits, especially when the consumer pool is looking for the high-end tech product to think as they do or for the company, they’ve been purchasing from for years to know them intuitively.
But, personalization, no matter how popular today, was not a big trend about a decade ago. Marketers, advertising firms, and public relations officers were still hung to the rules out of the book and Kotler’s theories continued to surface.
However, as globalization brought a dramatic wave of connectivity, where consumers of different demographics are profiled, we have been able be more specific in how we cater to them.
As Manuel Machado, co-chairman of CCOMGROUP puts it: personalization in marketing is an aspect linked to the needs that a customer has and how a brand is able to cater to them.
Today about 98% of marketers trust personalization because it’s a strategy that tends to drive conversion. Tailoring to customers’ personal needs is the big picture, and it is ahead of other trends.
Machado’s associates at CCOMGROUP drive personalization in messaging through “CCODING,” which is their unique system of engaging in Cultural Listening to pull out nuances and turn them into insights. “We let cultures guide our thinking and build around their context, ensuring that our client partners are fluent with communication that is beyond effective – it’s authentic,” says Machado.
It sounds fancy and makes great sense. However, personalization – whether it’s changing your messaging from person to person or developing campaigns for unique micro communities and niche groups – is not easy.
Machado, who’s spent decades working with a complete roster of clients, understands that personalization is still a growing idea. Many do not have accessibility to the segmented databases that provide an accurate picture of the consumer and integrating technologies and resources into this is expensive.
Machado boasts more than two decades of experience in marketing and communications, public relations, branding, business administration, and reputation management. He holds diverse industry experience and, given his vast knowledge, Machado often speaks about marketing trends, what has come, surged and gone into oblivion to the point of no return. However, one aspect he believes continues to prove all the more relevant day after day is authentic communications, which often come in the form of personalization. Companies could benefit from humanizing their brands, products, and the way they sway customers. For instance, his team provides personalized brand communications byway of what they call a blend of the arts – or going beyond the numbers to know what truly matters in the community – and the science of strategic messaging planning – which comes in the form of data and quantitative audience parameters.
How does the audience respond to personalized content?
When the audience interacts with personalized content, their degree of satisfaction increases. Satisfaction in the long run converts into brand loyalty, which is a positive outcome, and it continues to impact conversion rate and sales.
The objective of personalized marketing content is to help a customer perceive a product or brand with the added value of fully meeting their unique needs. Hence, a user feels valued, which would establish a stronger link between the customer with the brand.
Let’s take an example: a great way to get started with tailored content is through email marketing. RTB, or real-time bidding, enables the delivery of tailored content to users in real-time across the web and social media platforms. As a result, it’s essential to use Cross Channel Marketing, which combines all of the available channels in a way that allows you to deliver each user a specific message through the most appropriate channel and when it’s most needed.
There are others who argue that excessive personalization, especially in advertising (where the user may feel his privacy has been invaded), might be dangerous to the user; thus personalizing content in a subtle manner is essential. One of the issues with customization marketing is that there has been a slew of subpar attempts in recent years, leaving users weary of seeing the same ad for a washing machine over and over. However, tailored content increases interactions and makes them more relevant, and it is a means to increase response and engagement rates, improving conversions as a result. Hyper-targeted campaigns are more than a trend because their success is ultimately about properly engaging the people they serve.
