B2C Marketing, Customer Acquisition
Welcoming new customers into the fold requires skill and a willingness to know your customers on an intimate level. In short, personalization is key.
AnnMarie Wills, CEO and founder of Leverage Lab, a tech-enabled service firm specializing in personalized marketing, talked to us about how personalization impacts the consumer journey, what influence brand personalities have on customer decisions and how personalization offers a simplistic approach to customer engagement.
Personalization drives acquisition
Personalization is the act of creating tailored marketing content that specifically caters to the needs and wants of your audience. An existing relationship with the customer is almost always necessary to know what material would resonate best. Previous purchases, research history and wishlist content are gold mines for brands looking to create a more personalized customer experience.
But when a consumer is first introduced to a brand, their experiences are limited — and so is the data the brand has to create personalized content for that customer. However, all hope isn’t lost. Thanks to your customer base, you still have a wealth of knowledge about what consumers like.
“If you think about your brand and the folks you already have relationships with, they’re the people that have already bought into your brand and represent who should be focused on, in terms of acquisition,” Wills said. “Lean into what you already know about your customers and use that insight to create look-alike models for your acquisition efforts.”
Where are your current customers most likely to find your information? How do they spend their time? What products are they interested in? Being aware of this can give you an idea of where potential like-minded customers might be.
While you use data to find customers who are similar to those already in your base, customers can also look at your brand and use it as an indicator of whether or not you'd be beneficial to them in their customer journey. One way they'll do this is by referencing your brand personality during their decision-making process.
Brands have personalities just like consumers do, and if your brand persona aligns with the characteristics of a customer, it’ll be much easier for them to view you as a trustworthy source. Brand personas also help aid in feelings of brand love and loyalty. Brands that showcase human-like personalities may be looked at like a friend or someone the customer might enjoy spending time with.
“If we’re using our first-party data to understand what consumers want, then being able to articulate that back is highly valuable. How a brand communicates to its prospects and customers can make the shopping experience feel much more personable,” said Wills.
And personalization doesn’t stop there. It also appears in the content consumers receive and how easy it is for them to navigate your brand in-store or online.
“I have shopped and spent a lot of money with specific brands over the years, and yet many of the marketing materials I get are not informed with any of the experiences I’ve had as a consumer. It is: ‘Here’s what we’re promoting in the email we’re sending you,' ” said Wills. “When a brand sends a customized marketing message and it’s coupled with simple tactics like showing shipping times up-front, it shows care.”
Attracting new customers starts with showing them you have the capability to best serve their needs. Personalization marketing allows brands and consumers to determine which relationships are worth cultivating.
