In today’s marketing world, personalization is extremely important. Companies such as Netflix and Facebook have spent millions in recent years to create experiences for users that are unique to them. The video game industry has leveraged personalization by selling skins and customization frameworks that allow players to adapt the game to their own style, and original content that allow players to explore worlds on their own terms. However most businesses struggle with developing personalized experiences due to technology constraints, time or money. Lucky for you, these are all myths!
Here are a few ways that you can personalize your organization’s website like they do, without breaking the bank.
1. Start with knowing who they are
You won’t be able to get anywhere without first knowing who is visiting your site. Whenever possible, be sure to capture simple items like user email addresses, names, and if possible, demographic data like age, location, or industry they work in. You can also dive deeper into your data to find out what browser they use, if they are accessing your site by a mobile device or on their desktop, and what do they do when they are on your site? Most of this information can be tracked through Google Analytics for free, or use a more indepth experience solution like HotJar. Any information will help you begin personalizing the customer’s journey.
2. Personalize at a high level
As simple as it may seem to write “Hi Chris” on a webpage, the experience goes much deeper towards making a new customer feel special. Implementing Call-to-Actions around what you know about a user can take the user experience a step further. But don’t solely rely on the data you know about the user. You should use all data you have available such as time of day, where the user came from, and specific pages the user visits. This changes your simple message above to a more complex personalized message like “Good Morning Chris, glad you found us on Twitter. Here are some new shoes for you to look at today.” Plugins such as Duda on WordPress can help with this process, and create easy to implement personalized experiences.
3. Make adjustments
Be sure you are testing your website’s personalization points, and tracking what has the best results. A/B testing using services like Google Optimize will help you create more engaging experiences with your customers. Setting up testing and tracking is simple, and only requires that you create different messages, web pages, or call-to-actions. Once you have 2 different user experiences setup, Google Optimize will display one experience to 50% of your traffic, and the other 50% to the second user experience. Now sit back and see what your customers engage with the most, then make the adjustment permanent.
4. Staying up-to-date on tech
We can not avoid the continuous transformation of technology. Business activities must stay up-to-date to leverage tech’s impact with customers. If your users expect to engage with you in a specific way, and you are unable to meet that expectation, you may lose that customer. Being familiar with technologies your customers use will help you craft unique personalized experiences with those technologies. Be proactive in your research. One strategy would be to start with the personalization elements you want to see on your website, then find technologies that help you achieve that user experience. Along the way, you’ll learn about new tools, and stay up-to-date on technology trends and usage.
5. Consider the offline experience
Although at times it may feel as if we all live online, we clearly know we still spend a substantial amount of time offline and unconnected. Don’t limit your marketing and personalization strategies to only digital. Refresh your perspective on the entire customer journey and include both online and offline experiences. Extend the conversation, and engagement beyond your website with traditional marketing elements that build true relationships. Then drive those experiences back to your website in a personal way that converts and transforms your customers into influencers.
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