A roadmap for marketers to improve personalisation

Personalisation is a major part of digital that has evolved rapidly with the rise of marketing technology. It’s more than a trend or a buzzword; it’s a pivotal way to reach and engage consumers. Personalisation is spoken about extensively by CMOs, practitioners and technology vendors alike and will continue to be a top priority for Marketers. With brands increasingly implementing personalisation strategies, it’s time to start measuring the impact of these initiatives. How effective is personalisation with today’s consumers?

To find out if this data is being applied in a smart way, DEPT® launched the study ‘What Do Consumers Really Think of Personalisation’ (published on 30 August 2019). The aim of the research was to assess how consumers feel about brands changing and tailoring the online shopping experience, based on individual needs, preferences, and data. And ultimately determine if data is being applied in a smart way, that’s meeting objectives for personalisation strategies.

Key takeaways from the study

From a brand perspective, research participants referred to positive examples from new entrants who disrupt industries by introducing a direct to consumer business model and are heavily reliant on data. Netflix and Spotify were often referenced for their groundbreaking approach to personalisation, and rightfully;. no two user interfaces are the same on either of their platforms.

Starbucks has also done a great job with its loyalty app alongside plenty of others; Dollar Shave Club (acquired by Unilever), Tide, Transferwise and Bloom & Wild or Spoke. These businesses represent different scale and services, yet take the same direct approach to personalisation with tailored customer experience at the heart of their ventures. Although these are aspiring examples to many marketers and brands, we feel there is so much untapped opportunity with personalisation for brands to develop their strategies.

When the consumer panel was asked what they would like to see from brands, answers were twofold with respondents wanting more customised offers and in the same breath mentioning this approach is too salesy. Additionally, a common theme was people wanting the ability to control personalisation themselves with a feature similar to an ‘on / off switch’ to control when their data is available to retailers, especially when browsing through an online shop. Consumers also want more insight and transparency for what their data is used for. And overall, people felt personalisation wasn’t seamless and wish it could be more intuitive and helpful.

Most consumers that we interviewed also indicated, they feel personalisation does not make them more loyal to a brand. That is a big disconnect since brands aim for their personalisation strategies to deliver greater customer loyalty. This is likely as a result of:
Personalisation being executed as a solo project.

Tactics seem out of place. It is confusing for consumers to encounter a chatbot when it does not relate to their main objective for visiting the website or add value.
Customers are sceptical. When the value of any marketing initiative is unclear to customers, it makes them not want to interact with it and discourages them from buying the product or service.
Data is being collected but it is not clear what brands are doing with it.

At DEPT® we take a pragmatic approach towards the challenge of personalisation and have created a simplified outline that brands to use as a starting point when re-thinking their personalisation strategy. It’s designed for businesses to address opportunities, friction points and build a roadmap towards improving their personalisation. The actions below act as a valuable exercise to carry out on a regular basis:

Personalisation will continue to evolve and should be treated as a core element in a brand strategy to differentiate from competitors and succeed in an evolving digital landscape. Otherwise, if brands just continue to replicate recommendations in the check out processes, they may continue to trade on par with the competition but not seize the opportunity to assert themselves by improving their customer experiences. Technology has evolved so rapidly that there is no longer an excuse to deliver personalisation that is only short term focused or solely the interest of increasing sales. Customers expect more and brands have the ability to deliver, it’s a shame to fall short in the execution.

The use of customer data platforms, for example, can help any established brand to aggregate various types of structured and unstructured data. The time is gone to claim legacy systems are holding you back. It is more a change program that has to be initiated requiring executive support that will make initiatives successful.

Personalisation has great power to enhance customer experiences. It has already altered the way brands and consumers digitally interact on a daily basis and have been instrumental in eliminating common frustrations. It’s also introduced a pathway for more established brands to compete with emergent Direct to Consumer businesses.

Let’s rethink personalisation!