We have all received emails or SMS that are either generic or irrelevant to us and wonder why some companies find it challenging to incorporate even the most basic elements of our history and interactions with them in their campaigns. Recommendations for products we have already purchased or unrelated to our preferences and websites with cluttered category pages featuring thousands of products with no relevant sort for us are common.
Conversely, we’ve all received emails with content that resonates with us, showcasing enticing offers and products perfectly aligned with our interests. Websites that provide relevant recommendations and prepopulated filters, removing items that hold no interest for us.
There is no doubt that personalized experiences are the way to go. Personalized experiences lead to lower acquisition costs, higher conversion rates, increased order values and enhanced customer retention. While quick wins can be achieved within individual channels with standalone or even home grown systems, true personalization demands a holistic approach.
The critical components? First, align your strategy with your unique value proposition. Understand what sets your company apart and let it guide your personalization approach. Second, invest in extensive customer-level data and seamless integration between systems—the “customer data journey” which is the bulk of this paper.
This data initiative begins with data collection, assessing existing systems like POS, e-commerce sites and campaign deployment tools. The next steps involve data integration and management, ensuring accuracy and completeness within a consolidated system. These are followed by data enhancements and metadata, providing context to the data for actionable insights.
Customer data deployment, the fifth stage, involves sending accurate data to various systems, ensuring personalized campaign versions. However, the most critical function lies in the last stage—data accessibility and utilization. Marketing and analytics teams need to leverage the customer database for comprehensive reporting, goal setting, and data mining.
Going through the exercise of a customer data journey enables organizations to interact with customers in a personalized, relevant manner across channels, aligning with their core capabilities and ultimately increasing customer lifetime value.
To learn more, download the complete paper here.
Nick Antoniades is an accomplished strategic marketer and analytics leader with over 20 years’ experience in direct to consumer and retail spanning several sectors including home goods, fashion, supplements and food. He has an extensive track record in driving growth and optimizing marketing campaigns and customer lifetime value through strategy, analytics and operational excellence. He has utilized A/B testing, segmentation, and personalization to significantly improve performance and has implemented CDP, personalization engines, and analytics tools.