Personalization is the key to the consumer's heart
As technology has advanced and opened up new possibilities, consumer expectations have also grown. Those who fail to deliver personalized customer experiences will quickly fall behind in the fierce competition of e-commerce. Alexander Handcock, Senior Global Marketing Director at Selligent Marketing Cloud, explains why personalization is now considered the key to winning over consumers.
In the Internet Stone Age, being able to automatically insert a customer's name into an email subject line seemed phenomenal. Basically, that was only a few years ago, but technological progress has accelerated exponentially since then. People love it when someone takes note of them as unique individuals. No wonder "customized" products are so popular. Even the simplest personalization concepts, such as the Coca-Cola bottle labeled with first names, have proven to be a huge success. In online retail, top dogs such as Amazon and Zalando set the standard in terms of personalization, by which even the smallest retailer is measured by the customer.
Those who have slept through the trend should wake up quickly
A study by Accenture shows that over 75% of consumers are more likely to shop with a retailer that knows their name and order history and can provide personalized messages on this basis. 52 percent tend to turn their backs on brands that do not offer personalized communication.
Personalization is the key to the consumer's heart. Those who understand this and take the right measures are on the road to success. Those who miss out on the trend will fall by the wayside, such as the former toy giant Toys "R" Us, which had over 1500 stores worldwide and fell victim to the so-called "retail apocalypse". Like many other failed companies, Toys "R" Us made a crucial mistake: the high demand for a personalized customer approach in the digital space was either not recognized or recognized too late.
Fortunately, it is now possible to implement personalized marketing with the right tools. Customer data platforms (CDPs) play a central role in this. The industry for automated marketing will grow by almost ten percent in the course of 2019, while more than half of companies are already using corresponding technologies.
Into the future with AI
Traditional methods are no longer sufficient to fulfill the wishes of the modern consumer. The key technology par excellence in terms of personalization is artificial intelligence (AI). Engines that have been specially developed for marketing requirements are extremely powerful. They automatically analyse consumer data and generate personalized messages for the customer based on the insights gained.
A brand that wants to survive must be able to put itself in the customer's shoes. It has to find out: What are their individual preferences? What have they ordered in the past and when? Where are they currently located and what do they need in their current situation? If you can answer these questions, all you need is the right tool to offer a contemporary customer experience.
* Alexander Handcock is a content marketing expert and has been with Selligent Marketing Cloud for six years.
