“Personalization” has become a bit of a buzzword in the world of digital marketing, and rightfully so. In the past few years, the whole concept of personalized marketing strategy has completely blown many ideas of old fashioned marketing out of the water.
Marketing is no longer a one-size-fits-all deal.
It never was, really, but now we have the luxury of modern technology and a whole lot of people who spend too much time online. The result: tailored online marketing strategies that get remarkable results, when done right.
We can take it a step further and say that the industry has evolved even further within the last year or two alone to the point of an even greater need for personalization. Why? The time has come when audience targeting takes precedence over even keyword usage. Don’t get me wrong, keywords still matter, but knowing your audience matters more.
Personalized marketing takes on many, many different forms–location, context, rhetoric, text, visuals, on-and-on–so there’s an intimidating amount of room to explore and learn. It is okay to take it in stride, but you have to start somewhere.
As a nudge in the right direction, here is a brief guide for getting started from us, Brown Creative Group, to you.
The 4 Cs of personalized digital marketing:
Categorization
A majority of categorization in the way we refer to it here concerns your target audience.
First, it is absolutely necessary that you know who your target audience is, not just in general, but for any campaign or project you put out.
Have you created a buyers’ persona? A buyers’ persona is, essentially, a very detailed character sketch of what your ideal customer looks like. Don’t be afraid to overdo it. What is their age? Interests? Career? Family life? Be so thorough that you can pinpoint who they are and what exactly they would want from you.
Now that you have developed a buyers’ persona, you can use it as a guide by which to compare your potential and current customers.
According to iMPACT, 57% of internet users are willing to share personal information if they can get a tailored experience from a company.
Utilizing everything you know and can find about them based on their relevant online presence and actions, you can categorize those customers and potential customers in a way that makes it easier for you to tailor your efforts accordingly.
There are many different ways to categorize. Interests. Engagement. Preferences. Whatever makes sense for your business.
Communication
Again, according to iMPACT, customer service will be the #1 factor in brand support in 2020, even greater than price, product, etc.
Internet users want and expect a personalized experience and a personalized interaction from a company online.
We know that you would love the opportunity to connect with your prospects on a personal level, and you can. It just takes a little extra effort, but it is so worth the time and energy invested. You will get positive results, guaranteed.
There are several ways to improve your communication online, but the first (and the easiest) should be to improve your presence on social media, especially if your data tells you that is where your prospects are–and most are.
Don’t shy away from direct communication and customer service activity on your social media. Be sure you are answering your messages and responding to comments. Not only does Facebook take note of things like response rates, but, believe us, your followers will notice.
Other ways to improve communication include chat options on your website, consistency in email marketing (such as newsletters), and even, if you have the resources, creating a social media ambassador program.
Content
Content matters.
Again, for good measure: content matters.
We’ve talked about communication on a personal level, but another form of communication is the content you are producing. Content can be text, visuals, videos, anything that you produce and show to the world.
Think of content as the message you are sending. It’s great to know who you want to send your message to (that’s where categorization comes in) and why, but it won’t matter if you are not sending the right message.
You want to make sure you are producing high-quality, upbeat, valid, and relevant content. It needs to grab attention and be useful. Remember, you have done your research so you know exactly what your prospects want from you… Give it them! That’s content at its finest. That is personalized content.
For more on content marketing and why it matters, read this.
Context
Context brings each of the other 3 Cs––Categorization, Communication, and Content––together.
Each of them require the right context on their own and each work together to form the right context for a conversion. Ideally, they should be a well-oiled machine, guiding people down the marketing funnel.
The best way we know how to describe context:
Right person. Right message. Right time. Every time.
Using your data, you know who to reach out to, what message to send them, when and where to send it to them, and you will get results.
Personalized marketing is no haphazard effort. It takes intentional actions. You lay the groundwork, set the context, and build on it. Once you get your start, it’s fun to see the results build!
Start small and simple. Do what you can now, even if it is only laying the foundation for a highly personalized strategy using the resources and information you have so far. It will take time, but if it happens over night, you’re doing it wrong.
Remember:
Start with collecting data. Know who you are going to reach and why, then figure out how to reach them.
Create that buyers’ persona.
Up your social game and general online presence!
Interaction is key. It’s time to get personal.
If you are a little unsure of what to do next and want some help with your digital marketing strategy, schedule a free consultation with us at Brown Creative Group today.
