How to Build a Personalized Marketing Strategy

• Updated on: 2020-07-23
• Read original article here

Personalized marketing is marketing that’s targeted to an individual customer’s needs. This strategy goes beyond inputting a buyer’s name in your email software. Instead, it’s meant to follow your customer through each stage of your sales funnel.

Consumers respond well to personalization. That’s because personalized marketing helps potential buyers feel seen and understood by your brand. In a world full of choices and noise, the brands that notice their customers will be the ones to stand out.

So how can you build a personalized marketing strategy for your brand? It all starts with data.

First things first: personalized marketing is driven by data. Collecting user data will help you better personalize your marketing. This data can include:

Data gives you a glimpse of where each customer lands in the buyer’s journey. It helps you to expect their future needs and actions. Additionally, it allows you to better customize your interactions with them.

Using data can also help your software and automation programs remember the steps your customers have taken. That way, they don’t get asked to repeat those same steps more than once. Most importantly, you want to make sure that everything your customers are getting from your brand is relevant to them.

Personalized marketing is adaptable to the buyer’s journey. Each touch point in the journey should be able to shift as needed. The buyer’s actions, needs, and intent shape your strategy.

For example, if a user has already subscribed to your newsletter, they might double opt-in again later. Your email automation software should be set up not to repeat the initial welcome sequence they got when they signed up.

You can automate your sales funnel to adapt to a buyer’s behavior. Here are a few ways to make this happen:

You can collect this data using software, analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and deep learning tech. The idea is to incorporate this information into all areas of your marketing and online presence.

Your end goal should be helping your customers have a seamless experience. You want customers to receive content, engagement, outreach, and recommendations tailored to them.

Content that’s personalized to each customer can come in many forms. You can customize your email automation, lead magnets, media, apps, social media interactions, and your website. Email segmentation delivers the appropriate content for each user. Ideally, you content should meet the user right where they are.

Your website can be set up to remember each visitors’ last action and whether they chatted with the messenger bot on their last visit. It can then tailor their next website experience as a seamless move to the next appropriate step.

If you have an e-commerce store, you can set it up to remember what a customer last bought. It can display those products for re-order on their next visit. Target, Publix, Amazon, and many other stores offer this service.

Personalized marketing includes custom engagement. This can happen in real-time on social media or a messenger platform. It can also happen via a call with a customer support associate.

Respond promptly to your customers’ comments and messages on social media. Doing so could make all the difference in their buyer’s journey. Taking the time to respond and help your customers get what they need makes an impact. That could lead to a long-term relationship and repeat business.

Having representatives from your brand (or you, depending on the size of your business) reach out one-on-one with customers is the ultimate in personalized outreach. This can be done by phone, email, or chat app.

Both B2B and B2C brands can benefit from custom outreach. Nurture warm leads by following up on actions they’ve taken or questions they’ve asked. Additionally, do research before reaching out to cold prospects. How can you or your team connect with a potential buyer on a more personal level?

Custom recommendations are a highly effective piece in a personalized marketing strategy. Companies like Netflix, Spotify, and Amazon monitor user behavior and deliver targeted recommendations based on consumer behavior. For example:

Many companies offer personalized products based on each customer’s needs. Buyers love the personal touch that comes with a custom product.

Here are some of the companies that are absolutely smashing personalized product development:

Personalized marketing can help your brand make a more authentic connection with potential customers. Data helps brands to customize the marketing experience for each buyer. Additionally, it’s important to deliver personalized:

Does your brand use a personalized marketing strategy? We’d love to know more! Leave us a comment and let us know.