Omnichannel Personalization: Why You Need It, Why Your Customers Want It & How to Make It Happen

Does it feel like it is near impossible to convert customers to raving fans? To keep up with the competition? The sheer amount of marketing and sensory overload that customers face  from social or TV to walking down the street, creates an increasing focus on cutting through the noise – and the best way to connect is with hyper personalized product and marketing efforts.

Hyper personalized omnichannel brand experience takes into account the wants and needs of customer preferences to serve them relevant content at each part of their journey with a brand. It is creating a 1:1 relationship with the brand, the customer and evolving the experience to meet the individual vs the masses. By creating a 1:1 relationship, the brand can foster a sense of community beyond a transactional relationship.  

But how?

The key to creating personalized journeys, content and fostering a 1:1 relationship with the customer lies in the data being collected. Data unlocks the ability to market with intention, by using both past and predictive techniques to build holistic profiles of the customers. 

Utilizing a customer data platform is foundational in collecting customer data. Capturing not only the heavy hitting key performance indicators like revenue, frequency, bag size etc., but also the behavioral elements of the customer like preferences and wants. 

For example, we could know or infer a customer is gluten free based on her past purchases of only gluten free items. Once we know this, we can then use predictive modeling to show her relevant content regarding gluten free meals or new news in the gluten free world. As she continues to engage with the brand, we cater her experience on the site or app to quickly present to her the best gluten free options for consideration – driving a seamless experience for her and causing the customer to shop more frequently with the brand and ultimately increase spending habits. 

The business benefit

Shifting away from a transactional relationship with the customer helps drive long term customer engagement, increases the propensity of the customer to convert, and shop more frequently with your brand. 

Not only does a hyper personalized marketing journey and product drive revenue, but the customer is also now expecting a brand to know who they are and serve them relevant products and content. This starts with their first interaction with the brand all the way through post purchase touchpoints. Personalization involves marketing content, but also the features within a site or app and how the customer navigates catered to their preferences. 

No matter what step of the personalization journey a company is on, there are small steps to start utilizing the data currently being collected and drive personalized touchpoints for the customer. Striving to make 1:1 connections and create lasting relationships leads to improved experiences and growth to the topline.   

What's next?

It's important to get started now. The outlined example uses past behavior to personalize an experience for a customer and group customers into cohorts/ segments of likeminded needs and wants. But as data collection evolves, personalized marketing tactics will shift from past behavioral tagging to predictive learning and anticipate the needs and wants of the customer truly leading to a 1:1 relationship between brand and customer. At that point, earning your customers brand love and keeping up with the competition will be even more complex than it is today.