Personalization: The Next Frontier in Digital Marketing

With customers spending more and more time on digital platforms, creating a personalized experience is the way to capture someone’s attention

Do you remember the movie Minority Report with Tom Cruise?  It was the 2002 science fiction thriller directed by Stephen Spielberg and based on a short story by Philip K. Dick.

Of course, the premise of the movie focused on a new type of technology – with the assistance of three psychics or “precogs” – that allowed law enforcement officers to predict and stop a crime before it occurred.  It was truly a fascinating study on the ideas of free will, privacy, and the nature of politics and law enforcement in a technologically advanced world.

The reason we mention Minority Report here, though, is not for the themes of the film.  Rather, Minority Report , like many sci-fi movies over the last two decades, presents a vision for what the world might look like in the not-too-distant future.   And part of that vision was the type of marketing that may exist 40 or 50 years from now.

If you recall, as Tom Cruise’s character, John Anderton, was running away from bad guys during a chase scene in a shopping mall, he passed by a number of 3D hologram-type advertisements.  What was striking was that when his eye was scanned, the salesperson/hologram would speak directly to him, even addressing him by name.  The hologram would even know particular facts about him, like how long he had been a member of American Express.

All of this background is a long way of saying that Minority Report , a film that is now almost two decades old, was on to something.  That something was that personalization is the future of marketing.  Just like the holograms that addressed Tom Cruise’s character by name, you want to personalize your digital marketing to get the best results with your audience of potential customers.

Personalization at Every Stage of the Customer Experience

The key to success in marketing, given the kinds of technology and customer information now at your disposal, is in having your message hyper-targeted and focused on personalizing every customer interaction.

The days of mass emails and impersonal advertisements are going the way of the dodo.  What separates the wheat from the chaff in marketing nowadays is your ability to build a personalized connection with potential customers in away that beats the competition.

Let’s take a look at some statistics.

It was recently reported that potential customers are willing to allow companies to provide a better customer experience by using the customers’ interests and behaviors for the following reasons:

Moreover, personalization results in a great ROI:

Finally, in that same Evergage survey, marketers report that personalization has led to a:

Those numbers point to the inescapable fact that personalization will result in significant gains for a brand.  All you need to do is focus your digital marketing with personalization in mind.

So, let’s now discuss some ways to use personalization in your digital marketing that will engage and resonate with your potential customers.

1. Look to a Customer’s Persona and Behavior

It is not enough to look at market segments.  And it is not enough to brainstorm on the typical types of customers to which your brand will speak.  The real customer-focused approach will employ information about the customer’s persona and behavior.

In that vein, experiment with various types of digital customer experiences through the entire sale funnel, and keep track of your results.  Oamii, the South Florida digital marketing agency on the cutting edge of marketing trends, is the kind of company that can help you to do just that.

2. Use Technology to Understand Your Customers

The advances in artificial intelligence have ushered in a new capacity for “deep learning technology.”  The enormous amount of data that people generate through the use of social media, Internet search engines, and e-commerce platforms is generally unstructured.

Deep learning technology is a new way in which to process all of that unstructured data and attempt to find patterns, which will ultimately result in relevant information about customers’ desires and behaviors.

3. Think of Your Company’s Organization in Terms of the Customer“

All too often, companies structure themselves by function – marketing, sales, billing, etc.  Having a function-centered approach may lose the customer in the mix.  You may conclude that it is time to design your organization with a customer-centered approach.

For instance, have all functions work together in one specific product that your company produces.  That way, the customer (or potential customer) for that particular product will be able to seamlessly interact with all facets of your company within that one product type.

To conclude, as the movie Minority Report presaged, personalization in marketing is the next frontier.  To get the benefit of personalization, and to outpace your competitors, it makes sense to start bending your digital marketing towards the personalization goal now.

While the information above can get pretty technical, you do not necessarily need to get into the nitty-gritty.  Now that you know that personalization will be the name of the digital marketing game moving forward, get an expert to do the personalization marketing for you.

Oamii, South Florida’s leading digital marketing agency , has the ability to handle the type of personalized digital marketing that you need to succeed.  Call one of our South Florida digital marketing agency professionals at 561-228-4111 , or fill out our online contact sheet today.