Personalization has always been a part of marketing even before the digital age when a salesperson would recommend styles and colours similar to what his customers would have in mind. With the adaptation to the digital era and the concept of online shopping, personalization has taken to be a more technology driven strategy that is now accommodated through various tools that utilize the shopper’s data.

‍“Personalization is a process of creating an individualized shopping experience and interaction.”
- Lipsa Satpathy, Digital Lead for Technology Driven Marketing at Aditya Birla

As a digital marketer it is vital to understand that each individual customer has different needs, wants, tastes and selections when they shop online. In order to identify this, a marketer also needs to be aware of the type of data that needs to be captured, have a clear idea on the enrichment goals that need to be achieved through the collection of data, how to cleanse the data, while also understanding the accuracy of it. Deep diving into understanding the customer behavior and their historical data can equip the marketer with the relevant information to devise a successful marketing campaign for any given customer segment.

Personalization cannot be done at random and instead it is more efficient to segment the customers through factors such as geography, demography, and behavioural patterns. This helps to identify when, how and with what the brand needs to target their customers at the point they are most likely to make a purchase. Thereafter, the marketer may choose a technology or platform such as SMS, social media, WhatsApp, web push or email to market the products through, in the form of media dynamic website content, unique promotional offers, product recommendations, new events and product launch to name a few. Furthermore, RFM (recency, frequency, monetary) can be utilized to identify the behavior of past customers to run campaigns using the data that has already been collected from them.  

Through Aditya Birla’s experience with their retail brands, it has been made easier to learn and identify the impact personalization can have on a brand and its overall sales. 92% of their shoppers get converted through the influence of the recommendations that are shared with them, 80% of their consumers are likely to purchase from brands that offer a personalized communication or experience, and 63% of consumers avoid the brand if the personalization does not match their last shopping experience, expectations or behaviors.  

With access to the internet at their fingertips, it is essential to understand that the customer is already well informed and self-educated about what they want to purchase, what the other brands are offering and what their friends are purchasing. Customers can also be very fast paced and switch from one shop or brand to another depending on where the higher discount is offered. Marketers need to be aware and updated on these factors to be able to effectively convert your target audience.

Why You Should Leverage Data and Personalization

Here are some benefits Lipsa highlighted during the webinar:

• Increased customer experience – showing the customers that the brand understands them from their initial interaction, and encouraging engagement can create unique experiences.
• Higher conversion rates – if the business creates a great experience for the customers through identifying information such as their preferred method of communication and directing their efforts to communicating through those channels, it can boost their likeliness to make a purchase.
• Reduced cart abandonment – providing the right product recommendations to customers at the right time, or facilitating a smooth check out process through the data collected during their previous purchase can make it easier for the customer to complete their purchase.
• Increased order values – building a great relationship with existing customers increases the likelihood of them spending more. Further, through identifying their purchase history, the brand can show them the type of products they usually purchase. This can influence them to buy more than what they initially came for.
• Customer loyalty – when a customer finds a specific brand that caters to their exact demands, and there is consistency in these efforts, the brand has the ability to fulfil their needs and wants whenever they arise as it has won the trust of its consumers.

As much as each marketing strategy has its advantages, they have certain drawbacks too, and as a marketer, these should create new opportunities that give the brand a chance to recalibrate its strategy. For example, if a brand has been communicating with a customer for a long period of time without having any response, the efforts and budget will be wasted to keep at it. Instead, the brand needs to switch to a more effective mode of communication or try a different approach such as offering a coupon or incentives that might help to win the customer back. Likewise, when a marketer identifies a campaign that does not give the anticipated outcome, that campaign needs to be addressed in a creative approach.  

Key Takeaways for E-commerce Businesses

• Try to understand your customers and use personalization in a unique way. All the other brands are making the same efforts you are making, so consider what more your brand can offer to ensure that it stands out from the competition.
• Your customers are volatile, and self-directed. Our generation of shoppers go to whichever brand that offers them the best deal, bear in mind that the customer is aware of what they want and what the market has to offer them.
• Research and integrate relevant tools that will make your personalized campaigns more effective and efficient.

In conclusion, a marketer can identify and implement the most favourable optimization strategies to their business by practicing personalization through the guidance of data.