Five steps to personalized web content

CONTENT MARKETING To improve customer loyalty and acquire new customers, companies should provide personalized content on all digital channels - whether in the B2C or B2B segment. Acquia shows how companies can proceed in five steps.Many companies already use content marketing to draw attention to their products and services. Ideally, they want to provide all visitors to their website with the right information at all touchpoints of the customer journey and retain customers in the long term. In practice, however, this has so far only been achieved in exceptional cases. Acquia, the Digital Experience Company, presents the most important steps in developing and implementing a strategy for delivering personalized content.1. define personalization goalsThe first step on the road to personalization is to set goals in order to be able to measure success. Possible goals are Increase conversion rates, shorten sales cycles, increase revenue or improve customer profitability throughout the lifecycle. Providing personalized web content on all digital channels is not an isolated project. Personalization requires organizational changes and improved, continuous collaboration between business departments and IT. Only then can the goals be achieved.2. collect data on visitors to the websiteBased on the defined goals, companies can start collecting data on the individual visitors to a website and store it in a standardized customer profile: What device does the user use to access the website? Which individual pages does the visitor navigate to? What information was downloaded? Did the user leave personal data and their e-mail address and can they be contacted directly? This turns anonymous visitors into approachable prospects.3. analyze the collected data and segment website visitorsThe next step is to evaluate the collected data and - if possible - combine it with existing customer data. By combining the data of website visitors known by name with information from the CRM system, a customer history can be determined, which can then be gradually expanded and refined into a 360-degree customer profile. Once the visitors to a website have been identified, they can then be assigned to specific segments. Visitors who have common interests are grouped together here. For the website of a magazine for beauty, fashion and lifestyle, "fashion and trends", "nutrition and fitness" or "sports enthusiasts" are possible segments. Personalization then means that each individual visitor to the website from a specific segment receives information that is precisely tailored to them and the context in which they are currently located.4. create a personalization programThe definition of segments forms the basis for a personalization programme. This includes, for example, documenting all activities for users at every stage of the customer journey - starting with awareness of a particular offer, through consideration and testing, to the actual purchase decision. A personalization program also determines which images, texts and content are presented in the individual segments. An important part of the personalization program is formed by hypotheses that describe what ultimately prompts a visitor to make a purchase. These assumptions can be tested for their validity as part of the implementation of the personalization program.5. implement the personalization program and evaluate the resultsOnce all the preparatory work has been completed, companies should implement the personalization programme and monitor its effectiveness in detail. The hypotheses about the expected behavior of prospects and customers can be tested in reality and those responsible can determine what works and what does not. Delivering personalized content is an iterative process whose effectiveness must be continuously tested and adjusted.