March 14, 2020
A few decades ago, the huge buzzword of the day was “personalization.” Every marketer was talking about changing customer expectations and how technology could play a role in the shift. The need to customize messaging is not surprising at all…what is, is the lack of brands doing it.
Despite everyone recognizing that the evolved consumer needs to be addressed more personally, not many organizations have truly figured it out. People are actively seeking information and making informed decisions before they buy. The internet makes this possible. They are no longer placing trust explicitly with brands.
Think about the last time you purchased a product or service. Did you not go online first? Everyone does. It is a societal behavior pattern. Today’s consumer is heavily reliant on peer reviews, user-generated content (UGC), nano/micro-influencers, and other more refined forms of critique. They certainly aren’t listening to big influencers or large corporations. The more focused, the better.
And now? The trend is tightening even more. This is why a company needs to start looking at creating custom and hyper-personalized experiences to retain consumers. If you fail to do so, they will move on to competition that will. It’s that simple.
This is the next step in personalized marketing and takes full advantage of technology. HP leverages real-time data and artificial intelligence (AI) to supply more relevant content to a consumer. This, in turn, helps to provide personalized products and services as well.
One example you are seeing right now is all the subscription-based makeup companies. Users fill out a survey that hyper-personalizes a monthly selection for the consumer. Each kit is like no other. This type of marketing makes a customer feel like they are the only buyer in the world. It’s highly effective.
Another example would be Netflix. Anytime a user watches content, the algorithm shifts and alters preferences. Then, the system will show viewers exactly what it thinks it wants them to see. This is another example of hyper-personalization.
So, what’s the real difference between the two? Is there any? Just as it sounds, hyper-personalization is just a more “hyper” or focused form of marketing.
Personalization incorporates transactional and personal information like name, title, organization, purchase history, etc. into your messaging. Hyper-personalization takes it a step further by using behavioral and real-time data to create hyper-contextual messaging that has a high amount of relevancy.
For example, sending an email with a user’s first name is an example of personalization. Hyper-personalization would track the user’s browsing behavior then send a push notification with that data.
Did you know a message only has 8 seconds to capture the attention of a user? If a message doesn’t get noticed within that time frame, your brand missed out. There is too much clutter in people’s inboxes today to expect them to click on generic messages. You must remain relevant to make a sale.
Unfortunately, user engagement with content has drastically gone down by over 60%. People are being inundated with information to the point where they are shutting down and simply logging off. That is the end game you do not want.
The ultimate takeaway here is that the more focused you can get with prospects and customers, the more you will catch their eye. 75% of consumers will be more likely to purchase from a brand with personalized offerings than one without. Think about that before the next time the marketing team hits “send.”
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