5 ways to personalize marketing communication for your ecomm

Why personalizing communication is worth your effort

Personalization of the message is one of the most important tools of online stores. Already 90 percent. managers working in the retail industry admit that they somehow personalize the message flowing from the company to the customer. The popularity of this marketing technique is not surprising given its impressive ROI. According to Liveclicker, every dollar spent on personalizing your message can result in up to $ 20 return.

The study conducted by Forrester can also testify to the popularity and effectiveness of personalizing the message. According to him, up to 50 percent. marketing managers intends to increase the budget for the content and techniques of personalizing the message.

5 tips on how to personalize e-commerce communication

In the case of online stores, the possibility of collecting huge amounts of data about users, both identified and anonymous users, who had the opportunity to visit the store's website for the first time, is a great help.

Hints based on previously viewed items

One of the ways to reach an anonymous user is to prepare hints on the basis of previously viewed items. This technique is successfully used, among others, by Amazon, and recommendation engines are available in many popular e-commerce solutions.

More advanced engines and tools analyze the categories and types of products that the customer previously viewed and on this basis assign them to previously created behavioral segments. Thanks to assigning to such segments, it is possible to personalize the message even to those customers whom the store knows practically nothing about.

Close fit to location

Another tool that allows you to reach customers whom the company knows nothing or almost nothing about is matching the message to the location of the device. This type of information can be used both for behavioral segmentation (described in the above point) and for changing the appearance of the website.

Stores operating in the omnichannel model can, for example, display information about the stationary stores closest to the user. If the customer uses a mobile device, it is possible to invite them to go to the store or service point immediately.

In some cases, it is possible to use regional traditions to more effectively encourage the user to buy. An example of such an action may be the use of an advertising creation with the participation of a "star" instead of "Santa Claus" for Poznań and the surrounding area.

Personalized landing

Many users are identifiable, whether through cookies they collect during their visits to the store's ecosystem or as newsletter subscribers. Using this knowledge allows companies to direct customers to personalized landing pages.

If the knowledge about the user comes down to cookies, the landing page may contain a personalized discount tailored to his shopping journey. A popular solution of this type is an incentive to complete purchases. Shopify's data shows that retargeting ads can reduce the cart abandonment rate by up to 6.5 percent and increase online sales by up to 20 percent.

In the case of newsletters, the limitation is primarily your imagination. Marketing specialists, in addition to discounts, can use information about the user's name or date of birth and invite them to special landing pages with a birthday discount. In addition to the discount, he will also receive wishes with a name.

Segmentation

Segmentation is another tool that already requires some knowledge about the user, be it a behavioral path, email address or purchase history. Depending on its scale of operation or needs, the company may create various segments.

The simplest segmentation is by gender, and the advantage is that you use the right language in your email messages and ads. However, depending on the needs, companies can use countless forms of segmentation. Examples include:

• Active customers
• Customers who haven't bought anything for at least six months
• Customers who buy a certain type of good
• Customers who live in a specific location
• Customers who advertised products
• Customers who have made purchases above a certain amount
• Customers who decide to buy only with a discount of a certain amount
• Clients active for more than two years

More advanced segmentations can be created using artificial intelligence. The use of automata allows you to scour the entire database for patterns too deeply hidden to be found by humans or too non-obvious to be discovered using traditional data research techniques.

The segmentations created by artificial intelligence are even more difficult to predict and less obvious than those prepared by analysts on the basis of a database.

Personalized email communication

In a situation where the customer leaves his e-mail address, the company has the opportunity to establish a long-term and more stable relationship with him. Thanks to newsletters, it is possible to collect additional data, both behavioral and demographic.

Behavioral data can be obtained by examining the customer's response to specific promotions and offers. Depending on the advancement of the CMS system used by the store, it may be possible to store other behavioral data, for example, the effectiveness of individual CTAs or creations in relation to a given user.

In turn, demographic data (and many others) can be collected through surveys and questions sent via email. These data allow for the preparation of even more precise messages. An example would be sending out special discounts or gift coupons to celebrate your child's birthday.

Thanks to the unified identifier, which is the email address, it is possible to collect almost any data in the CMS system. More advanced tools of this type allow you to collect data in many channels - for example, indicate which mobile equipment is most often used by a given user.

Summary

Online shopping seems almost completely devoid of interpersonal relationships - the user selects products on his computer and places an order, and the parcel is delivered by a courier or collected in a parcel locker.

In practice, however, the online shopping experience can be more personal than in-store purchases. Even for the most friendly and smiling consultant, the client remains anonymous. For an e-commerce system that uses data collected in CMS on the basis of identifiers, the customer can immediately receive hints of products that he needs and always buys.

If you want to know more about personalization in the e-commerce industry, please contact us!