“It’s not what you sell that matters as much as how you sell it!” – Brian Halligan, CEO & Co-Founder, Hubspot
In the modern marketplace, hundreds of companies sell similar products and services, making it difficult to get the eyeballs of their audience and survive the competition. Hence, businesses need a marketing approach that fosters a connection with their target audience and makes them stand out from their rivals.
That’s where personalised marketing comes into play. It helps businesses understand the needs of their target audience, connect with them at a deeper level, and establish long-lasting relationships with customers. This leads to improved engagement and enhanced brand loyalty, which drives more conversions.
In this blog, we will delve deep into personalised marketing, exploring its definition, examples, key components, and benefits.
So, let’s get started:
2. What is Personalised Marketing?
Personalised marketing refers to the strategic customisation of marketing messages and campaigns to align with customer behaviours, preferences, and needs. It includes analysing browsing history, purchase patterns, demographic information, and social media interactions. This approach enables businesses to reach the right audience with the right message at the right time.
Personalised marketing utilises data-driven insights, advanced technologies, and customer segmentation to deliver customised content, product recommendations, and promotional offers. The key objective of this approach is to create a more meaningful and valuable relationship between businesses and their customers.
Here are a few examples of personalised marketing –
Personalised Email Campaigns:
This can include segmenting email lists to deliver relevant content, using the recipient’s name in the subject line or body of the email, and integrating product recommendations or promotions based on past purchase history or browsing behaviour. By personalising email content, businesses can increase open rates, click-through rates, and overall engagement, thereby improving the performance of email campaigns.
Tailored Landing Pages:
Personalised landing pages may include custom messaging, targeted offers or promotions, and specific call-to-action that address the specific visitors’ desires or pain points. By creating tailored pages that address visitors’ unique requirements, businesses can enhance the user experience and establish trust. As a result, this approach significantly boosts customer satisfaction and increases conversion rates.
Product Recommendations:
By understanding the target audience’s preferences, requirements, and purchasing patterns, businesses can present relevant and tailored product suggestions on their website, in email campaigns, or through personalised advertising. These recommendations can help customers discover new products, enhance their shopping experience, and increase the likelihood of purchasing, thereby boosting sales and revenue.
Social Media Advertising:
Personalised social media advertising on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook channels involves creating custom ad copy, images, or videos that speak directly to the interests or pain points of the viewers. By delivering such relevant ads, businesses can capture the attention of their target audience, increase click-through rates, and drive conversions through social media channels.
Now that you know what personalised marketing is, let’s explore how it differs from mass marketing –
3. Personalised Marketing vs Mass Marketing
Personalised and Mass Marketing are contrasting approaches to reaching and engaging with customers. Here are the key factors that separate the two:
| Key Differentiator | Personalised Marketing | Mass Marketing |
|---|---|---|
| Targeting | Personalisation involves targeting potential customers based on their preferences, demographics, and behaviours. Hence, increasing the likelihood of conversions. | This involves a one-size-fits-all approach to target as many potential customers as possible. It aims for wide brand exposure, which often results in lower conversion rates. |
| Message Customization | Personalisation emphasises delivering customised and relevant messages to the target audience. It involves leveraging customer data to create custom marketing narratives that appeal to the target market. | On the other hand, mass marketing relies on a standardised message intended to reach as many people as possible, with limited customization or relevance to individual recipients. |
| Relationship Building | By understanding customer preferences and delivering personalised experiences, businesses can establish trust, foster loyalty, and build long-term customer relationships. | Mass marketing, by its nature, has less focus on individual relationships and aims to generate awareness and reach a larger audience without necessarily establishing personal connections. |
| Scale and Efficiency | Personalisation requires effort and resources to gather customer data & create tailored marketing experiences. However, advancements in technology and automation have made personalised marketing more scalable and efficient in recent years. | Mass marketing techniques were effective in a time when information was less abundant.Today, the era of online cookies and social media has reshaped the marketing landscape, rendering traditional mass marketing less scalable and efficient. |
| Example | Sending customers a personalised thank you email for purchasing while also giving discounts for future orders. | Sending a standard thank you mail to all the customers without any personalisation and giving discount options till a specific date. |
In a nutshell, personalisation involves putting the customer at the centre of marketing strategies and focusing on delivering meaningful experiences. In contrast, mass marketing utilises a one-size-fits-all approach and delivers the same products or services to all customers.
4. Key Elements to Incorporate Personalisation in Marketing
When implementing targeted marketing, there are several key elements to consider. Here are some essential components to keep in mind:
Data Gathering & Analysis:
To incorporate personalisation in marketing, gathering relevant customer data and analysing it effectively is essential. This involves collecting data from various sources such as search engines, purchase patterns, social media, surveys, etc.
Segmentation & Targeting:
After gathering data, businesses can segment their customer base into distinct groups based on demographics, firmographics, psychographics, geography, and behaviour. This segmentation provides a clear understanding of consumers’ needs and allows for more targeted marketing efforts.
Customer-Centric Approach:
It involves putting the targeted audience at the centre of marketing strategies and focusing on delivering meaningful experiences. For example, a fitness brand can engage customers by posting health-related topics on social media.
Automation Tools & Technology:
Incorporating personalisation at scale often requires using automation tools such as email automation platforms, marketing automation tools, etc. These tools enable businesses to automate personalised marketing campaigns, deliver dynamic content, and tailor customer experiences in real-time.
Testing & Optimisation:
Personalisation is an iterative process that requires continuous testing and optimisation. Through methods such as A/B testing of narratives and landing pages, and multivariate testing of page elements, organisations can refine their efforts and enhance the overall effectiveness of their marketing campaigns.
The above-mentioned elements help create more relevant, engaging, and tailored experiences that drive customer satisfaction, loyalty, and business growth.
Now, let’s quickly go through the benefits offered by personalised marketing –
5. Benefits of Personalised Marketing
5.1 Maximises Conversions and Drives Sales:
According to a study by Accenture, “91% of consumers say they are more likely to shop with brands that provide offers and recommendations that are relevant to them.”
The above statistics suggest that when customers feel understood and receive customised recommendations, they are more likely to purchase. Personalised marketing allows businesses to tailor their messages, offers, and recommendations to individual customers based on their preferences, behaviours, and purchase history. By delivering relevant marketing content at the right time, they increase the chances of converting prospects into customers and driving sales.
5.2 Enhances Customer Engagement & Satisfaction:
When customers feel that a brand understands their preferences and provides tailored solutions, they engage more and are satisfied with the overall experience. By delivering content that aligns with the target audience’s pain points and requirements, businesses can capture their attention and keep them actively engaged. As a result, personalisation aids in enhancing customer engagement, increasing loyalty, and promoting positive word-of-mouth.
5.3 Increases Repeat Purchases & Cross-Selling Opportunities:
Personalised marketing increases the likelihood of repeat purchases by recommending additional products that customers may be interested in. To achieve this, businesses can analyse consumer data such as purchase history and browsing behaviour to gain insights into their interests and preferences. For example, a beauty brand can recommend a skincare range to existing customers who previously purchased beauty creams (cross-selling) or an anti-dandruff kit to customers who recently bought anti-dandruff shampoo (upselling).
5.4 Strengthens Customer Relationships & Boosts Loyalty:
Personalised marketing helps build stronger connections with customers and boost their overall satisfaction with the brand. By showing that a business values and understands individual needs, this custom marketing approach fosters trust and a sense of exclusivity among its customers. For example, a fashion brand can use buyers’ purchases and browsing history to recommend products that align with their styles and send tailored emails and offers on special occasions to cultivate lasting relationships and boost loyalty.
5.5 Reduces Wasteful Marketing Efforts and Optimises Cost:
“Personalisation can lower acquisition costs by up to 50%, improve revenues by 5 to 15%, and enhance marketing spend efficiency by 10 to 30%” – McKinsey
This targeted marketing strategy allows businesses to focus their marketing efforts and resources on their target audience’s most relevant and valuable segments. Moreover, by gaining insights into customer data, companies can optimise their marketing campaigns, reducing the likelihood of wasted efforts and inefficient spending. For example, an online electronic retailer can cut marketing costs by segmenting the customer database and targeting each group with personalised ads instead of showing same ads to all the customers.
5.6 Provides a Competitive Advantage in the Market:
Personalised marketing enables companies to share highly targeted and relevant content at the right time with the right audience. As a result, businesses can stand out, capture attention, and create a memorable brand experience. Additionally, this tailored marketing approach also creates barriers for competitors to replicate the same level of personalisation, establishing a unique selling proposition in the market. Hence, targeted marketing gives businesses a competitive edge and positions them as industry leaders.
Now that you know the benefits of personalised marketing, let’s explore how a digital marketing agency can help you implement the same.
6. How Can a Digital Marketing Agency Help?
A digital marketing agency plays a significant role in helping businesses integrate personalisation into their marketing efforts. They leverage data, technology, and expertise to help businesses implement targeted marketing strategies across various channels. They can help develop personalised content such as targeted emails, blog posts, social media content, and website copy that addresses the specific needs of different audience segments.
Growth Ganik is a full-stack digital marketing agency enabling you to implement a targeted approach by collecting and examining customer data. We use these insights to segment the audience into specific groups and target each group with tailored marketing messages and campaigns. Our expert professionals regularly monitor the performance of personalised campaigns to optimise initiatives and ensure desired results.
Ready to elevate your marketing efforts with personalisation?
Schedule a 45-minute consultation with our experts to get a business-specific solution.
