The importance of personalisation in marketing: From an individual approach to an effective strategy

In today’s increasingly competitive marketing world, businesses need to find new and innovative ways to attract and retain customers. Personalisation is one of the key factors that determine success in this area.

What is personalised marketing?

Personalised marketing is a marketing strategy that aims to create close ties with users, a unique and individual experience for each, taking into account their preferences, behaviour, interests and other personal data. This strategy is based on the idea that each consumer is unique, and providing them with an individual approach helps to improve brand engagement, increase customer trust and loyalty.

The main characteristics of personalised marketing include:

• collection and analysis of information;
• audience segmentation;
• personalised recommendations;
• personalised communications;
• dynamic content;
• marketing automation.

In general, personalised marketing helps companies build closer relationships with customers, improve their brand experience and increase the likelihood of repeat purchases. It is an effective tool for attracting new customers and retaining existing ones, as well as increasing overall conversion and business revenue.

How to collect and analyse customer data

Some steps to help you collect and analyse data:

Determining what information is needed

Before you start collecting data, determine what exactly you need. This may include information about a person’s purchases, interests, behaviour on the website or in the app, contact details, and other relevant characteristics.

Use analytical tools

Google Analytics (GA) is the most common analytical tool for tracking user actions on a website or application. With the help of GA, you can get information about which pages users visit, how much time they spend on the site, what products they view, etc.

Use CRM systems

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems help to collect and store information about customers, their contact details, purchase history and interaction with the company. As a result, effective customer relationship management is possible.

Surveys and questionnaires

To get the most “true” feedback from users, you need to conduct surveys and questionnaires. These questionnaires will help you better understand what is important to customers and what can be improved in the product or service.

Use of cookies and tracking

Cookies (files stored on a user’s device) allow you to track user activity on a website, which helps you to gather information about their behaviour and preferences. However, it is essential to provide users with the right to refuse tracking of their actions and generally comply with privacy rules.

Using information from social media

Using information from users’ social media profiles gives you a better understanding of their interests and demographics.

Data processing and storage

All the data received must be structured, unnecessary data removed and analysed. Compliance with the GDPR and other personal data protection regulations is mandatory.

Information analysis

Analytical tools are needed for the analysis. Choose effective methods to analyse the collected data and identify trends, behavioural patterns, and user preferences. This approach will allow you to make more informed decisions and create personalised marketing strategies.

Why personalisation is so important for business?

Personalisation has a number of important business benefits that make it a necessary and valuable strategy. Here are some of the main reasons why personalisation is so important for businesses:

• Improving the customer experience. Personalisation allows you to create a unique and individualised experience for each user, taking into account their preferences and needs. Improved user experience increases customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
• Customer acquisition and retention. When a brand provides personalised offers and recommendations, it captures the user’s attention and increases the likelihood of a purchase. In addition, personalisation helps to retain customers because they feel that their needs and interests are taken into account.
• Increase conversion and sales. When a user sees an offer that exactly matches their needs, it increases the likelihood of making a purchase. Personalised marketing increases conversion, which leads to more sales and revenue.
• Creating long-term relationships. Personalisation helps build deeper and stronger relationships with customers. When a brand understands and takes into account consumer preferences and interests, it creates a sense of mutual understanding and care, which contributes to the formation of long-term loyalty.
• Efficient use of resources. Personalised marketing allows companies to optimise the use of resources by focusing on the most promising customers and target audiences. This helps to reduce advertising and marketing costs, making campaigns more effective.
• Competitive advantage. In a world saturated with various offers, personalisation can be a competitive advantage. Companies that offer customised solutions and

How to use personalisation to attract customers

Ways to use personalisation to engage users.

• Create personalised content on your website or blog. Taking into account the interests and preferences of your target audience, you can use recommendation algorithms to show articles or products that may be of interest to a particular visitor.
• Sending personalised email campaigns based on the user’s behaviour on your website or purchase history. Using the name of customers in the message and offering special offers or discounts based on their interests.
• Using personalisation in advertising campaigns, on social media or search engines. For example, customising an advert to be shown to a specific audience based on their interests and demographics.
• Use of dynamic web pages that change their content depending on customer preferences and behaviour. For example, show customers the products they have previously viewed or added to their shopping cart.
• Creating a personalised landing page that displays information about the product or service that is of most interest to a particular customer. This will help to increase the likelihood of attracting and retaining their attention.
• Organise a lead form for customer feedback through surveys and forms. This will allow you to better understand their needs and preferences, and use this information to improve personalisation.
• Offer personalised gifts, discounts or promotions (for users’ birthdays or important events in their lives). This will create a positive experience and strengthen the connection

Challenges for personalisation

The benefits of personalisation in marketing have already been described above, but let’s look at the challenges of this strategy below.

• Data protection and confidentiality. Collecting and storing personal data requires strict compliance with data protection rules and laws. Violation of the rules can lead to negative consequences for the brand and the company.
• Reliability of information. Effective personalisation requires accurate and reliable information about consumers. Incorrect or outdated data can lead to false offers and negative user experience.
• Audience segmentation. Correct audience segmentation and defining personalisation criteria are challenging tasks. Incorrect identification of customer segments or preferences can lead to ineffective personalisation.
• Technical challenges. Implementing and using personalisation requires the preparation of appropriate technical infrastructure and systems. This may take time, resources, and IT and marketing specialists.
• Lack of resources. Smaller companies or companies with limited resources may have difficulty implementing personalisation due to limited data collection and processing capabilities.

Despite the challenges, personalisation remains an important tool for business, as it helps to increase the level of trust and loyalty of potential customers, which contributes to sales growth and market success.

Conclusions

Personalisation in marketing is a key tool for improving customer experience and increasing the effectiveness of marketing efforts. It is based on the use of data about a person and their behaviour to create individual and relevant experiences for each individual.

The main benefits of personalisation in marketing include:

• improving the user experience;
• increase conversion and sales;
• increase in loyalty;
• optimisation of resources;
• Gaining a competitive advantage.

However, personalisation also faces challenges:

• including data protection and confidentiality;
• data reliability;
• difficulties in audience segmentation;
• technical challenges and resource constraints.

Overall, successful implementation of personalisation requires a combination of the right tools, technologies and strategies, as well as compliance with data protection laws and regulations. However, the prospects that personalisation offers make it necessary and valuable for businesses, as it helps to attract, retain and satisfy customers, which contributes to the success and growth of the company in the market.

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