Path to Personalization

Context is queenIf content is king, then context is certainly queen. D

elivering tailored experiences at the right time is the key difference between simple personalization and enterprise personalization at scale’”and consumers can tell the difference.Marketers often personalize emails and web content, but very few deliver a continuous experience across channels by displaying personalized content at the right time in the customer’s journey, powered by the contextual information associated with the end-user.

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or instance, by suggesting sneaker cleaning products after a sneaker purchase, or by altering messaging and product suggestions based on the consumer’s device, the weather they’re experiencing, or local events.And no, contextualizing personalized content isn’t another luxury.

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n fact, an Accenture-led study shows that 81% of consumers want brands to understand them better, and they want brands to know when, and when not, to approach them.

Journeys, not momentsWith contextualized content in place, you can finally begin constructing the customer journey.Forward-thinking enterprises don’t see personalization as a series of disconnected moments for the end-user, but as a continuous lifetime journey.

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or instance, using the customer’s name every so often is useful, but the most it will do is give the customer a few moments of pseudo-personalization. B

y combining context marketing with an omnichannel presence, a brand can construct a customer journey map consisting of multiple stages. T

ypically, industry best practice dictates that you segment the customer journey into the following four key stages:

NeedEvery customer starts their journey with a need. F

or example, they want to purchase a new car.

ResearchThe customer looks broadly at different brands, models, price ranges, and online reviews along the way. O

ver a period of days, weeks, or even months, they slowly narrow down their options.

DecisionThey make a selection from a short list of possible brands, factoring in past experiences, reviews, and other online information.

CustomerThey end their buyer journey by purchasing a car. T

hen a new chapter in the journey begins, with the onus on the car company to provide a personalized onboarding and customer service experience.

A strong personalization campaign will have personalized content custom-made for each stage of the customer journey, with further tailoring of that content happening in line with the individual customer’s persona and past behavior.

Going omnichannelToday’s customers are expecting to be able to engage with you on whatever channel they want, whenever they want. I

f that wasn’t difficult enough, they expect you to remember who they are and personalize their buying experience accordingly. A

nd if you don’t do it, you can bet your competitors already are or are currently working on it.This is where omnichannel personalization comes in. O

mnichannel personalization is the art of developing a consistent and continuous personalized experience that encompasses all digital channels and touchpoints. T

his includes website content, mobile content, social media, email, smart speakers, wearable technology, digital signage, and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices. T

he goal is not just to enable the end-user to access your brand through various touchpoints, but to empower them to switch between any touchpoint at any stage in their journey without a hiccup’”and without a break in personalization.This strategy has the ability to collect information across the channels, amalgamate this information under a single unique ID that is associated with the user, and then it utilizes this information to deploy the most relevant and contextual experience to the end-user, no matter where the interaction is taking place.When you consider that 64% of consumers are willing to pay for seamless customer experiences, the value of omnichannel personalization becomes clear.

Alongside personas, marketers can also personalize based on historical behavior such as goal conversions, downloads, and form data. O

r they could leverage the user’s contextual state, like the campaign source, time of day, or the number of times they’ve visited the website or application. I

n Sitecore, there are dozens of out-of-the-box rules available for segmentation and, therefore, personalization.With your set of segments in place, you can begin creating content that’s tailored for each segment.

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nce that’s done, you have the content required to personalize experiences for whoever matches the criteria of the segments you built.Sitecore allows you to predefine personas and create content for each segment of your target market.

Typically, a customer journey map consists of the four stages mentioned previously; need, research, decision, customer. Y

ou may need to adapt or extend your customer journeys to suit your industry or website. M

oreover, you’ll also need to decide what these stages look like across channels. F

or instance, how will you know when a customer moves from the research stage to the decision stage when they’re using a smart speaker?We recommend mapping out customer journeys for each major channel, and figure out how those journeys overlap, so personalization can continue when the end-user switches from one device or channel to another.

Last but certainly not least, personalization should never be an afterthought. I

t should be the core focus of your overall marketing program right from the very beginning. S

tart with a strategic initiative early on, when implementing your personalization strategy, so that it eventually becomes a routine practice later down the line.Your personalization strategy should be deeply ingrained into all your marketing and sales funnels.

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hat means producing content purposely targeted for different personas, preparing customized CTAs, and showing or hiding content in line with factors such as end-user location, age, or demographic.Remember, you aren’t just tacking on functionality to your website, you’re building a new and improved way to engage with your customers across the world, giving them content that’s tailored for them throughout their journey.