The Rise of Personalization: What Today’s Most Innovative Brands Are Doing Right
In his book How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie wrote the following: “A person’s name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Although that book was published in 1936, those words remain relevant to this day. The rise in personalization just serves as proof!
In fact, the wisdom behind this principle is the basis of personalization marketing techniques that are currently being applied by today’s most innovative brands.
If you want to add more personalization to your marketing campaigns, you’re showing signs of being innovative. And the good news is, you can learn from the brands that have executed it to perfection.
The Rise of Personalization & Why It Matters
Business owners can’t ignore the rise of personalization. Over the years, as consumer preferences have changed, it’s become apparent that personalization is key to marketing success. Nowadays, customers want to be treated like the unique individuals they are. And technology has responded accordingly, making it possible to send targeted communications and custom product recommendations.
Before we dive into some examples of how the most innovative brands are using personalization, it’s important to understand why personalization is so important…
It Shows That You Understand Your Customers
One thing that separates successful brands from others is their ability to truly know their customers. The commitment to foster a relationship with your customers enables you to identify their needs, motivations, and behaviors. And in doing so, you create a connection with your customer that lasts beyond the initial transaction (but we’ll touch on that more below).
The most innovative brands use data to analyze customer behavior, preferences, and shopping habits. Then they utilize it to tailor a shopping experience that makes consumers feel good about their buying decisions. And it works!
In fact, a study by Cloud IQ shows that 69% of consumers are looking for an individualized experience.
It Breeds Trust & Loyalty
When you’re able to seemingly predict what a customer wants or needs, it delights them. It makes them feel as though they can trust you because you’ve shown that you understand them. And as a result, they look forward to their shopping experience with your brand. More importantly, they’ll keep coming back again and again.
Make no mistake—the rise of personalization has introduced a major opportunity for brands to improve customer trust and loyalty.
It Leads to Higher Conversions
The most innovative brands invest in personalization because it has produced results for them. For example, it can lead to higher conversions. These brands have seen what a game changer it can be, and they look for ways to capitalize on it.
According to Infosys, 59% of consumers say their purchasing decision is heavily influenced by personalization.
And The 4th Annual Retail Personalization Index notes that Amazon was able to generate $125 billion in sales by the end of 2020 as a result of their personalization efforts.
The report also reveals that other brands are following suit, demonstrating a huge rise of personalization:
- 95% of brands offer product recommendations
- 92% offer personalized recommendations in post-purchase emails
- 95% offer a simplified unsubscribe process
- 94% remove items from marketing emails that were purchased
- 96% have a cookie policy in place
What Are the Most Innovative Brands Doing Right?
It’s worth noting that this past year posed a lot of challenges for businesses. And yet, many brands have not only survived but also thrived just by pivoting and engaging their customers where they are—not where the brands want them to be. These brands acknowledge and appreciate the rise of personalization, and they put it into practice in virtually everything they do.
Now let’s discover how some of the most innovative brands are executing this principle to perfection…
Thrive Market – Helping You Get Healthy at Home
At the height of the pandemic, grocery e-commerce brands such as Thrive Market saw a significant surge in demand for their products and services. You probably started shopping online in ways that you hadn’t in the past, and you most likely found that some sites were just too cumbersome to bother with.
Thrive Market attributes their growth to their personalization approach, which makes shopping with them easy and enjoyable.
What do they do right?
- Personalized Emails – They use interest-based tags so they can target their emails and promotions to those who are interested in them, rather than pushing promotions to everyone.
- Personalized Suggestions – They use a personalization engine that enables them to identify users who might be interested in particular products (based on previous purchases from a similar category).
- Easy Reorders – They make past purchases easily accessible, so reordering is a breeze.
- Seamless Experience – The app and online store are integrated to ensure that their shopping experience is seamless regardless of the platform being used.
Netflix – Making Entertainment Personal
Netflix is certainly one of the most innovative brands that has mastered the art of personalization. Reigning sovereign over streaming services, they personalize each user’s viewing experience by providing a list of recommendations based on what they’ve watched, what they’ve added to their watch list, and what’s popular in their region.
This brand is data-driven to the extreme. They gather information from users based on their viewing habits and run A/B tests several times a year to feed their users’ desire for a personalized viewing experience.
Nike – Offering an Experience, Not Just Sportswear
Nike is a global sportswear manufacturer, and they got there because they continually innovate. This brand’s commitment to keep up with the rise of personalization was evident with their purchase of consumer analytics firm Zodiac, which gave them the ability to deliver personalization in all channels of their marketing.
Now, they approach the world of personalization from many fronts, including…
- Personalization App – NikeID is an app specifically for personalization.
- Personalized Content – They deliver personalized content to their customers based on country, gender, and other consumer metrics.
- Rewards Program – The Nike Plus rewards program provides exclusive content to members. Recommendations are suited to the specific sport each customer plays, along with personalized workouts and priority access to events.
Sephora – Recognizing Beauty is Unique
The beauty brand Sephora is recognized as one of the most innovative brands in the market when it comes to personalization. Here are some of the strategies they employ:
- Virtual Fittings – They were among the first beauty retailers online to offer a virtual try-on feature for their customers using an augmented reality mirror.
- Seamless Experience – They seamlessly integrate customer data from the online app with the online store. This makes it easier to synchronize data so that customers can get the same shopping experience whether they are using the app or shopping online.
- Targeted Product Recommendations – With over 300 beauty brands to choose from, this feature saves their consumers from being overwhelmed with options.
Amazon – The King of Personalization
When it comes to analyzing customer behavior and using predictive targeting, Amazon is the king. In fact, this company was among the first few brands to build their ecommerce model around personalization.
It starts off with their handy “Customers who bought this item also bought” and “Frequently bought together” sales prompts. These recommendations are derived from data on users’ purchasing history and behavior.
And, as you know, it works! The Amazon Report by smarterHQ states that 44% of customers made purchases out of these recommendations.
Plus, Amazon uses data from customer wish lists to make their recommendations. This personalized approach goes beyond what’s visible on the site.
They also use the same approach when targeting email offers and dynamic messaging to their client base. All of these are a product of a complex algorithm that analyzes search and purchase history.
How to Be Like These Brands
You can follow the lead of the most innovative brands by taking actionable steps to replicate their success. Here are some to get you started…
1) Use Data to Boost Experience
Data is the foundation of any personalized marketing campaign, so begin by identifying the most useful data for tailoring the shopping experience to suit your customers.
The best data to use includes demographics, behavior, and the context of their interaction with your website or brand. With access to data like this, you can tweak your messaging to improve how your offerings are delivered to your customers.
Moreover, making use of the data available to you can help in delivering a stellar customer experience overall.
2) Personalize Your Emails
Email is one of the top revenue drivers for successful brands because it’s the easiest way to get in front of your audience. But personalizing your emails is about more than just including someone’s first name. The key is to make sure you’re using targeted emails to identify what offers and products you recommend based on their interests.
Email is a highly personal form of communication. Make this permission count by offering your customers exactly what they want and need.
Tip: Don’t just apply personalization to your marketing emails—apply it to your transactional emails too.
3) Personalize Your Sales
Personalizing sales can be tricky. And many brands wind up getting it wrong. However, this is one aspect of the customer journey that requires personalization the most. After all, people won’t buy something that’s not relevant to them.
Know your customers’ pain points and challenges and make them feel valued in your sales approach. This will empower them to make a buying decision that favors your brand.
4) Use Social Media
Forge relationships with your customers through social media. Let them connect with the human side of your brand. Communicating with your audience through social media allows you to maximize the opportunity to engage with and get a pulse on your customers’ needs in real time.
5) Offer Context-Based Support
Context-based support is all about knowing your customers’ concerns and providing the support they need. When you know the context of your customer’s issues and provide solutions in a timely manner, you can avoid wasting their time (and therefore win their hearts).
Final Thoughts
Personalization is no longer a buzzword. It is the present and future of marketing, and it’s easy to see why: A customer-centric approach fosters trust and loyalty. The rise of personalization will only continue, which means you need to get in the game.
When successfully implemented, the most innovative brands can experience a boost in revenue, reduced acquisition costs, and improved marketing efficiency. Plus, your customers will have more fun engaging with you, so they’ll want to return.
Want to find out what you’re doing well and what you could be doing better? Request a FREE marketing audit today!
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