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Fed up to the back teeth with hearing about the benefits of ChatGPT? Looking for a better, faster (and dare we say old fashioned) way to reach your customers that’ll help your business stand out? Then personalised marketing could be the philosopher’s gold you’ve been searching for.
But what is personalised marketing and how can your business use it to get heard in a world increasingly driven by artificial intelligence?
Let’s dive right in…
Okay you’ve piqued my interest – what is personalised marketing?
Sometimes a scatter gun approach is okay. Let’s pretend you’re in the coffee business – selling a wide range of filtered products to customers across the globe. Pretty much everyone likes a wake up shot of caffeine to the system. And this means your marketing can be a little less targeted.
But what if you wanted to hone in on a specific demographic? For example you might decide to launch a coffee sub-brand called Power Cup aimed at gym-goers, students burning the midnight oil, and hardcore gamers.
This sounds like a great idea. On it’s own though, that isn’t enough. Any such tactical move should be supported by strong data. If the patterns aren’t there your target audience probably doesn’t exist.
Inserting customer names into emails isn’t personal enough
If you’re confident a need exists it’s time to start spreading the good word. Addressing your target customers by name is a start but it’s unlikely to win their hearts. The dialogue needs to feel unique – as if you’ve singled each customer out exclusively.
What is personalised marketing like this going to achieve for your business? Messaging delivered using the right words at the right time will strike a human note – differentiating you from the automated and impersonal messaging littering your prospects’ inboxes.
Three types of personalised marketing that work
If you want to get closer to your customers…
Send them an email
Believe it or not people read emails. The average open rate, according to Mailchimp, is 21.33% – so there’s more than one in five chance your message will be read.
The trick? Your subject line needs to be:
- Time critical, creating a sense of urgency
- Directed, so people know what to do
- Short so people don’t lose interest
- Intriguing to arouse curiosity
Don’t try and do all of these things. Instead, focus on one or two and monitor open and click through rates.
Why not send two emails, each deploying a different methodology to see which one works best.
What does personalised marketing look like in video form? This is an opportunity to give your brand not just a voice but a face too.
Whether you choose to enlist an influencer to do the talking or brave the cameras yourself this approach is sure to garner interest.
People love video because it’s easier than reading. Perhaps that’s why the medium has a 92% audience penetration rate.
Video alone won’t generate leads. So make sure your stories are data led, fully addressing the needs of the target audience identified in your research.
Follow your prospects
By which we don’t mean stalking them. Instead identify customers who fit the persona you created at the start and follow them on social channels. Like their posts. Comment in their feeds. Share their content and tag them into your posts too.
And then, when the time is right, drop a soft DM asking to connect – and whether they’d like to catch up on a video call. No pitching. No Ts or Cs. Just an ice breaker to build rapport.
Want to get ultra specific?
Then account based marketing is the way forward. This involves taking personalised marketing to an extreme level by targeting a small group of people – or even a high net worth individual.
This approach is expensive and won’t work for all business models. So the return has to be worth it.
Examples of account base marketing might include:
- Inviting someone to a VIP dinner, webinar, or closed door event
- Sending the target a custom gift based on their interests
- Crafting and sending tailored messages to them via email
What is personalised marketing going to achieve for your business?
- Stronger customer relationships. Your audience will feel recognised and valued. In turn this will lead to better engagement and brand advocacy.
- Powerful customer experiences. Finding a brand that ‘gets you’ feels great, transforming the buying experience into something meaningful (and even fun).
- Better Return On Investment (ROI). Generalised targeting is less effective than personalised marketing which can increase sales by up to 10%.
Ready to up your marketing game?
Now you know what personalised marketing is it’s time to lift your brand above the mundane crowd. Contact us to discuss how our experts can give you
