Personalisation for Beginners
One of the big marketing buzzwords throughout 2017 and continuing into 2018 is personalisation. This is an advanced marketing technique which can seem daunting to many, so let me help by explaining what personalisation is and how to get started.
Personalisation can mean a few things depending on how advanced your technical capabilities are, but as long as you are collecting some analytical data & own a tool to target your users (e-mail, CMS or, ideally, optimisation software) then you can begin to personalise your website and e-mails to your customers.
Definition
So what exactly is personalisation? Well, at the basic level it means targeting content to users based on information you know about them. This information could be broad, eg. location, gender, referrer (did they come from Facebook or google), or it could be more specific like an item they’ve added to cart, past purchases or watched videos.
This data teaches you about the user and you can then make educated assumptions around their likes and dislikes. For example, a female shopper is more likely to be interested in female clothing items then menswear, or a user located in another country might want to know about international shipping.
Segmentation
Segmentation is the first step to personalisation. This involves splitting users into larger groups based on basic information such as whether they are a return visitor, or their location or device. Most analytic solutions allow you to segment your users so you can learn about their behaviour. You may discover trends or problems you never knew existed which can be improved upon for that audience through personalising content. Mobile device users are less likely to convert, but you can use analytical data to research where in the funnel there are sticking points and work on improving those areas first.
Examples of segmentation:
- Offering more detailed shipping information based on a customers location
- Simplification or hiding of content for mobile users to streamline their experience
- Offering first time visitors promo codes
- Changing featured adverts based on gender — showing women’s shoes to females & mens shoes to males.
Advanced Personalisation
More advanced forms of personalisation involve collecting more data on your user and their behaviour. This data can be obtained through analytics & cookies (storing their previous searches or purchases) or through surveying your user directly (asking them what their goals are on your website.) In order to accomplish this level of data collection, you’ll likely require more advanced tools (Adobe Target, Optimizely, Qubit, Monetate, to name a few). These collect and process data on your users, and then allows you to create experiences and target them specifically. Some tools will even use AI to suggest segments you might want to focus on.
A good example of mid-level personalisation could include homepage shortcuts to categories the user had already expressed an interest in, addressing the user by name, or resurfacing a customers basket when they return to your website if they did not previously convert.
The white whale of personalisation is recommendations. Many big name brands already offer this advanced level of personalised content (Netflix, Amazon, YouTube). Much of this technique is powered by AI and requires much thought and research, advanced software and a well structured back-end system. However, more and more companies are moving towards recommendations to help drive conversion as the ROI can be great.
Conclusion
Personalisation is not simply a buzzword, it’s a fantastic marketing strategy and a trend which is not going to go away. Today’s customers expect a higher level of service and personalisation offers us a way to preempt their needs and ensure they feel valued, in turn driving up conversion and customer loyalty.
If you’re interested in getting started with personalisation, I am now offering my expertise as a CRO consultant and would love to help optimise your business’s website. Please get in touch to find out more.
