When you think of personalization or the core term personal, what comes to mind? You think of something near and dear, a close bond, intimacy, and ultimately all about your needs and desires. Now, apply this concept to marketing and customer service. Personalization is essentially a brand’s ability to advertise and sell its products and services in a manner that’s efficient, easy, convenient, and accommodating to a customer’s specific needs.
No matter what industry you work in or how many customers you have, personalization must be a part of your marketing and customer service strategies. As every customer, client, and patient is different, businesses must invest in practical solutions to ensure that each one feels special. When a consumer believes that a company understands who they are and what they need, they’re more inclined to make a purchase. As a result, your reputation excels, referrals increase, and your business grows.
How To Incorporate Personalization
If personalizing your marketing and customer service efforts hasn’t been a priority in the past, it’s time to make a change. Today’s consumers prefer to do business with brands that care beyond making a profit. They want to purchase products and services from companies that know what they need and are willing to go the extra mile to ensure they’re satisfied. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of ways to incorporate personalization. Continue reading to learn more.
Organize And Use Consumer Data To Your Advantage
Collecting data ranging from names and addresses to purchase history and support tickets is invaluable to your business. These details enable companies to learn a lot about their potential and existing customers. Something as simple as adding a name to an email or sending promotional offers for products they’re interested in a lot easier to accomplish. If managing data from various digital platforms is time-consuming or tedious, develop a master data management strategy that makes analyzing and storing consumer data more efficient.
Relevant or Predictive Advertising
Your target audience may have shared interests and needs, but they’re individuals. Consumers no longer want to receive generic advertisements; they’re interested in getting information on products and services specific to their individualized needs. Whether they’re shopping online, reading an email, or at the store, consumers want to receive recommendations that help enhance their shopping experience - not someone else’s.
When you keep track of what products they buy, which pages they spend the most time on, or even the blogs and social media posts that interest them most, you can enhance their experience. Armed with this information, you can make better predictions about offers and recommendations that are meaningful to the customer.
Multiple Communication Channels
Customer service is essential to the overall experience. When a customer has a question or concern, needs assistance with a product, or even wants to complete a call to action (place an order, make an appointment, etc.), they need a point of contact.
While stopping in a store or making a phone call were options in the past, modern technology has expanded communication channels for businesses. Ensure that your customers can reach you by phone, email, via text, or on social media platforms. That way, they can use the most practical channel for them and still get the same quality service.
Trained Employees
Employees are another essential element to customer experience. These are the first points of contact and representatives of your brand. If they are not adequately equipped to handle each customer and their needs with care, it creates an unfavorable encounter that could hurt your business.
Everyone from your greeters and cashiers to call agents and supervisors should be trained to incorporate personalization into their customer service efforts. Things like calling the customer by name, apologizing for wait times, offering specific (and not general) advice, resolving issues promptly, and making relevant recommendations make a customer feel important and cared for.
A company can only grow if it can continue to accommodate the needs of its target audience. Modern-day consumers want more than great products at affordable prices. They want to do business with brands that see them as individuals and invest the time, money, and energy into accommodating them personally. By incorporating personalization strategies like those listed above, you can improve customer experiences and grow your brand.