Personalization Is a Long-term Commitment

When done right, personalization is about treating each customer differently, gently suggesting suitable products and offers based on collected data. Personalization is about the person, not about products or channels. At its core, personalization must remain customer-centric. This is true, even while marketers are constantly bound by specific long- and short-term departmental goals. It really is a delicate balance. How would marketers push their agenda, while pampering customers at the same time? In the end, isn’t every type of marketing effort about increasing revenue, not just being nice to our customers? The First Rule of Personalization: How to Not Annoy the Customer I am repeatedly emphasizing the customers’ needs, since too many marketing campaigns seem to be product- or channel-centric. After years of chanting the mantra of customer-centric marketing, the reality is that most marketing efforts are extensions of traditional channel marketing, with occasional sprinkles of customized messaging. Even the companies outwardly committed to such efforts are at the level of rudimentary—and reactionary—personalization. It’s as if the attitude is, “Let's push more of the same product that you just purchased down your throat at our convenience.” Does anyone really think that such aggressive and invasive messaging deepens fandom of your brand? Consumers are in charge now Consumers may tolerate such nuisances from giants like Amazon in the name of convenience, but not so much for other brands. Modern consumers, especially younger, more informed and technically savvy ones, know exactly what they want. And they will mercilessly sever relationships with any brand if they don't see any added benefits in exchange for the valuable information they allow marketers to collect and use. In this new world, the control is firmly on the consumer side. The sooner marketers realize this, the better off they will be. Marketers must pursue holistic personalization to maintain relevancy with their customer at all times—for the sake of their brands' survival. Commitment from the top Personalization should be a long-term organizational commitment. Holistic personalization is about customizing messages and offers most of the time, not just when it is convenient for the marketers. And that customization must be served to the majority of the target customers, not just a few that came with immediately usable data. If marketers continue their efforts to achieve this grand goal, not just a series of monthly marketing targets stemmed from the last century, they will end up with a more loyal and enthusiastic customer base in the long run. So, the question is, is your organization committed to such long-term efforts? There are already enough data and technologies around; it really becomes a commitment issue. And it must be a commitment from the top—as in from CEO or CMO. Why? Because holistic personalization isn’t something data or technology geeks can achieve on their own. It requires paradigm shifts on the marketing side, where sending 14 emails per week to everyone in the customer database with identical offers is frowned upon, not encouraged with a bonus structure based on the number of delivered emails. Indiscriminate bombardment of outbound messages will tank the response rate and increase the opt-out rate, as you may literally be training customers to ignore your messages. Such practices are the exact opposite of holistic personalization, but sadly, everyone's inbox is full of such examples. Firm commitment from the top is a prerequisite, as holistic personalization is a team sport. What good are all those segment definitions and model algorithms if everyone gets to see the same content? Even with so-called state-of-the-art display engines, the effort will fall short if there isn’t enough content for variety of distinct personas. Bringing techies and marketers together Content providers must be on board at the planning stage of personalized marketing, and they should see that maintaining diverse versions of creative is the norm now. Personalization sometimes doesn't even leave the planning stage due to lack of commitment from the creative side. And persuading them that various personas require their own kinds of content is not a job for data scientists or technology players. That job firmly falls on the shoulders of the head of the marketing department, if not the CEO. It calls for leaders who really see the big picture in the long run, not anxious executives who demand positive returns on marketing investments on the first trial run. Customer loyalty isn’t something that you achieve by throwing money at it sporadically, but by keeping at it steadily as a group effort among the data, analytics, technology and content teams. So, does your organization have necessary commitment from the top? Or, does your company treat personalization as just another passing fad? Do most members see it as yet another annoying assignment that forces them out of their comfort zones? Who will convince the big boss then?

Performance Marketing

Personalization Is a Long-term Commitment

Make customer-centric practices an organizational goal, not an occasional experiment

Stephen H. Yu

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Stephen H. Yu