5 Easy Ways to Personalize Marketing

Consumers have come to expect a personalized marketing experience. Yet not all marketers have taken the plunge. Are you still looking to integrate personalization into your print and multichannel mix? If so, here are some common sense things about personalization that you should know.

1. Content just has to feel personal to them.

At its simplest, personalization means tailoring an experience to an audience. While marketing can be personalized down to the individual, it doesn’t have to be. When someone receives a more tailored experience, it feels more personal to them. This includes simple segmentation, such as dividing mailings on pet products into those for cat lovers and dog lovers or cross-selling or upselling to people who bought a specific product.

2. Personalization follows a continuum.

Personalization falls along a full spectrum from simple to complex. It might be swapping out images based on geography, using the recipient’s name in the salutation, or matching offers based on demographic characteristics. These are all ways to become more granular with your customer base, and all of them are effective.

3. Use one channel to cross-pollinate another.

Draw on both print and digital channels to gather data about your customers. Use direct mail or pop-up website surveys, asking people to provide more information about themselves in exchange for discounts on products they are interested in.

4. Track everything.

When many people think about tracking, they think about response and conversion rates. But track everything, both offline and digital. Which product pages on your website are they visiting? Which do they stay on the longest? Which emails do they engage with? This gives you more information to improve your targeting later on.

5. Surprise them with small, meaningful gifts.

Send a surprise gift now and then. If someone places an order, include a small gift related to that item. One retailer does this extremely well: If customers order “girlie” things, it sends them a “girlie pen.” If they like pizza, it puts a pack of pizza gummies in the box. Not surprisingly, this brand has a net promoter score (percent of people recommending the brand to others) of more than 60%.

Customers have more purchase options than ever before. What will make them stick with you? It is the personal experience, so make it a great one.