Personalize Or Succumb
While many companies are trying very hard to give a personalized experience to their consumers, there’s a clear gap between what they claim v/s the reality. 85% of businesses say they are providing a somewhat personalized experience to customers, but only 40% of consumers agree with that. In my view as a consumer, I’d have to say 40% feel a bit high to me, I feel like about 30% of what I get isn’t even close.
91% of consumers say they are more likely to shop with brands that provide offers and recommendations that are relevant to them – Accenture.
80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that provides personalized experiences. – Epsilon
71% of consumers feel frustrated when a shopping experience is impersonal. – Segment
70% of millennials are frustrated with brands sending irrelevant emails. – SmarterHQ
74% of customers feel frustrated when website content is not personalized. – Instapage
Personalising The Customer Experience With INKIT SAP Emarsys
In today’s digital age, majority of companies strive to provide a ‘personalized’ touch to their consumers. Let’s rewind on the concept of personalization by first understanding a basic dictionary meaning of ‘personalization’ :
“The action of designing or producing something to meet someone’s individual requirements”
There are several ways to action the above: by creating products (or services) to the set of similar personas/buyers, by messaging the consumer on what they might buy depending on their past purchase history, or creating content depending on seasons/festivals, or just having a basic expectation of remembering their preferences, location, sentiments etc etc.
In a recent survey done by McKinsey & Company, 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions & 76% get frustrated when this doesn’t happen. Companies that excel at personalization generate 40% more revenue from those activities than average players.
Even with the personalized emails, Instagram ads for things I’d possibly like, Google recommendations on some level of personalized news, and Netflix providing some personalized recommendations on shows I’d like to watch on a given night, I still wouldn’t say there are many brands that really know me – who can send me offers for just what I need at the right time through the right channel. In other words, there is light years difference, between creating content that agrees with someone & providing them with a personalized shopping experience.
If you’re a business trying to keep up with customer expectation, what do you do?
- Act on data: The biggest oversight companies make today is buying expensive tools to deliver shiny things and assuming the new tool will do all the magic within no time. Having a right set of data model with core data governance rules are essential housekeeping activities. These cannot be ignored even once.
- Invest in real time data which is accurate: Your consumers would like to see an offer which is relevant to them now and not one month later, even 48 hours is too late to lose a purchase. Giving a right personalized offer when they are in game will tremendously increase your chances. 90% of consumers are willing to share personal behavioral data with companies for a cheaper and easier experience. – SmarterHQ
- Invest in rapid activation capabilities powered by advanced analytics: Predictive analytics learns customer behavior by factoring in every action — or lack of action — to determine when and how to preempt their next move. Accurately predict when customers are about to churn, become inactive, or intend to make a purchase, and engage with them to maximize their value to your brand.
When customers receive transparent ads based on their activity on a site,
the revenue of the product grows by 38%.– Harvard Business Review
