Consumers want brands to personalize
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — More consumers than ever before want–and expect–companies and brands to deliver a personalized experience tailored to their needs, expectations, and interests, according to a recent report from Salesforce.
Tailoring messages can be a complex process, but the numbers show it’s important, says Nelson Spade, the general manager of WISH-TV’s sister company, Circulus Digital Media.
“Seventy percent of consumers expect brands to know something about their needs and wants. And in that same report, 90% of respondents say they’re okay getting personalized messages,” Spade said. “Brands use things like past purchase behavior and browsing history to make those decisions on behalf of the consumers.”
Creating a tailored experience can be a challenge, in part because customers have different levels of comfort when it comes to the personal information they choose to share, according to Spade.
“It’s about the type of data and also a generational effect. So, historically, email addresses are easier to obtain; phone numbers are more difficult. Gen Z and Millenials are quicker to give information about themselves, but Baby Boomers are some of the more difficult.”
Personalization is very difficult from a marketing standpoint, Spade says.
“In another study, two-thirds of companies thought they were doing a good job. Customers said about one-third of companies do a good job. And that’s because it’s difficult,” Spade said.
Marketers must take into consideration a customer’s behavior and attributes and the way they’re looking to be communicated to, Spade adds.
“The more you know about your customer base, the more information you’re gonna have to make the right decision.”
Spade expects personalization to get harder, not easier, in the future.
“It’s gonna be more difficult for two reasons,” Spade said. “How, as marketers as business owners, we obtain data and are able to access data. It’s evolving. We’re in a kind of a transformational period. There’s a lot that’s going to happen in the next one to three years. The other challenge for marketers is that media consumption is more fragmented than ever before.”
To commit to personalization, Spade says businesses and marketers must “must combine all communication channels and data to make the best decision on behalf of your customer.”
To watch the entire segment, click on the video.
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