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As an entrepreneur struggling for market share in an increasingly competitive online environment, you must pull out all the stops to make your product or service stand out. Personalizing the customer experience is, in my opinion, the at least what you can do when it comes to differentiating your business and improving lead generation.
Although my years as a business owner have proven it, the stats here back it up. According to an Epsilon survey, 80% of consumers want personalized experiences from retail providers. If one thing is undeniable about entrepreneurship, it is that if you cannot provide what the consumer demands, you will not be successful.
Because of this, it’s critical that you personalize your customers’ experience to make their experience feel like it was made just for them. Basically, we all want to feel special and worthwhile – personalized experiences do just that. Here’s how.
See also: Five actionable steps to using personalization to increase sales
What are personalized consumer experiences?
A personalized consumer experience refers to any interaction, product, or service that is specifically designed to meet a shopper’s unique individual wants and needs. There are many ways this can take shape in practice, including but not limited to the following:
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Using a customer’s real name in the subject line of an email
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Reminder emails sent to prospects who haven’t cleared their cart or visited recently
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Customized discount codes that include the prospect’s name
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“Welcome back” messages on the home page of a website
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“Thank you” offers and offers for loyal regular customers
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Remembering the consumer’s size and style (for fashion retailers)
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“Recommended for you” ancillary products or services
These are just a few simple ways you can tailor your marketing collateral to each end user. Though mostly small gestures, they go a long way in building rapport and loyalty with your buyers.
Also see: 4 Marketing Personalization Tips for Digital Businesses
How to personalize consumer data
Don’t be afraid to use your customers’ or prospects’ data to offer personalized experiences. According to 57% of online shoppers who willingly agree to the exchange of personal information in exchange for customized discounts and offers, it’s a fair compromise.
Here are some of the ways you can safely and ethically collect consumer data that can be used to provide desired marketing materials:
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Geolocation Data Requests
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Opt-in requests for email newsletters
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Offer Google or Facebook based customer profiles
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Track cookies on your website or mobile app
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Use ethically sourced third-party data aggregators
However, ensure your data collection methods remain GDPR compliant to ensure the privacy rights of EU buyers are respected.
Also see: 3 tips for using consumer data to create more personalized experiences
Personalized products and services: real brand examples
Below I have compiled a short list of some of my favorite personalized experiences, products and services offered by top global brands. You can get inspiration from these campaigns to design your own:
1.Starbucks — Mobile App Giveaways:
Seattle-based coffee retailer Starbucks has one of the most popular apps out there. In fact, as of 2019, more consumers are using the Starbucks app to make purchases than Google Pay and Samsung Pay combined in the USA
Part of the app’s success is due to the fact that the company consistently offers free products like coffee and baked goods to customers who use the Starbucks app to check out. Simply remembering your customers’ purchase history and offering incremental rewards to loyal customers is a simple and effective way to personalize your customers’ experience.
2. Amazon – Personal Shopping Assistant:
If you’re an Amazon shopper, you’re probably familiar with the e-commerce giant’s incredibly streamlined buyer journey. There are very few hiccups or obstacles, and everything is designed to speed up the buying process.
But what really sets Amazon apart is its unique ability to remember its customers and tailor their prospects’ shopping journey to them. For example, Amazon supports the customer throughout the shopping experience by offering the following features that act as a kind of personal shopping assistant:
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“Recommended for you” products
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“Repurchase” Products
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“Pick up where you left off” notifications
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“Continue shopping” notifications
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“You might like it too …”
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“Inspired by your Wishlist…”
All of these familiar prompts combine to deliver a highly personalized shopping experience that makes the consumer feel respected and cared for.
3. Grammarly Usage Reports:
As a longtime content marketer and writer, I’m a huge fan of Grammarly. I use it every day to compose and copy (mostly) perfect emails thanks to its spelling and grammar checking features.
What I appreciate most about the Grammarly user experience is that they send me weekly reports to show me the various ways my writing has improved or deteriorated compared to the previous weeks. They also show me what I should pay more attention to when writing, such as clarifying antecedents or correcting sentence fragments.
I owe much of my marketing success to Grammarly’s unique efforts in customer personalization. Experienced business owners would do well to reproduce the level of detail and care that Grammarly puts into their personalized product.
Personalization pays off
The most successful entrepreneurial projects of tomorrow offer tailor-made solutions for the individual consumer. In fact, we’re already seeing it today with high-impact campaigns from brands like Starbucks, Amazon, and Grammarly.
Gone are the days when you were successful with boilerplate solutions and cookie cutter services. There’s just no question Yes indeed, your business should embrace personalized experiences if it wants to remain competitive in tomorrow’s digital economy. Digital transformation starts with personalization. As an entrepreneur, neither you nor I can afford to ignore this crucial first step.
