Today’s consumers are largely desensitized to generic, one-size-fits-all advertising. Instead, they appreciate customized approaches, and they’re often more inclined to buy from companies that personalize their outreach.
While it is clear that personalization is key to a successful campaign, the truth is, it also requires more effort. Here, 15 members of Forbes Agency Council weighed in on how to personalize campaigns without sacrificing efficiency. Follow their recommendations to produce more tailored content that actually converts.
Forbes Agency Council members discuss ways to personalize marketing campaigns without sacrificing efficiency.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Collaborate To Build A Strategic Foundation
Personalizing campaigns without sacrificing efficiency depends on strategy and collaboration, hands down. In order to elevate a campaign, as opposed to just executing one, you have to build it on a solid strategic foundation. However, trying to craft a campaign around that strategy without having your best brains around the table is an exercise in futility. Build on strategy and break down silos. - Becca Apfelstadt, treetree
2. Gather All Client Information Up Front
Gather all information from the start so that you can be efficient. You need to get all information about a client and their goals up front. Have a kickoff call that sets expectations of deliverables, results and weekly goals for a campaign. The more information you have about a client, the more you can personalize. - Peter Boyd, PaperStreet Web Design
3. Use First Names And Discover Interests
No one wants to feel like a number in a campaign. Use first names and take an extra few seconds to research someone’s social media page or website to find at least one thing about them or something they’re interested in. Who knows? Maybe you and that person have a common interest, which can then be used in the initial outreach conversation. This will massively help bridge the gap! - Ryan White, Social Revelation Marketing
4. Use Technology Or Grouping
If the distribution platform is digital, such as email or social media, you can use tech to change elements depending on who sees it. You can even geofence IP addresses to change the language. If this isn’t a digital campaign, you can group target audiences together and adjust materials by location or interest to limit versions and creative effort. - Marc Becker, The Tangent Agency
5. Leverage Advanced Automation
The best way to personalize campaigns without sacrificing efficiency is to adopt technologies using advanced automation such as deep learning to accurately predict consumer behavior and find the optimal way to drive conversions in near real-time. Since deep learning algorithms improve over time, marketers can maintain a high level of efficiency and personalization, even at scale. - Jeremy Fain, Cognitiv
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6. Clearly Define Messaging Priorities And Audience
Many companies vastly underestimate the effort behind personalization because it takes time to be thoughtful in your messaging. You need to create multiple versions to match each target persona. The only way to be more efficient is to have well-defined messaging priorities and a clear understanding of who your audience is. It’s a matrix; if you have four different personas, you have four times the messages. - Tom Hileman, Hileman Group
7. Build A Strategy Around Existing Assets
Don’t get caught up trying to be Amazon or Target right off the bat. Most brands can start personalizing campaigns and overall user experiences with what they have at their fingertips. By building a simple, straightforward strategy based around existing assets, you can start learning and growing as you continue to build out additional data segments, tailored content and personalized campaigns. - Russ Williams, Archer Malmo
8. Reverse-Engineer The Outcome
The holy grail of personalization—right message to the right target at the right time—needn’t be predicated on starting fresh each time. Rather, marketers can reverse-engineer this outcome: Have a range of relevant messages at your disposal, and then trigger them in the moment through a smart combination of insights and tech-driven dynamic content customization. - Greg Salmon, Agent3
9. Analyze Website Visitors’ Digital Body Language
First-party intent signals are critical resources for personalizing marketing campaigns without sacrificing efficiency. By understanding your website visitors’ digital body language, you can home in on their intent and motivation. These first-party intent signals can then guide your offer and creative assets for a more relevant customer experience. - Lori Paikin, NaviStone®
10. Maintain Databases For High-Quality Output
Personalization begins with high-quality data, and that means databases must be maintained. Third-party providers can make removing, correcting and replacing inaccurate records a highly efficient process. For third-party prospect data, we recommend modern approaches, such as identity graphs and intent monitoring, to enable stronger personalization through more effective and efficient targeting. - Paula Chiocchi, Outward Media, Inc.
11. Incorporate The Word ‘You’ Into Your Content
Consumers like to feel as if you’re speaking directly to them. Addressing them as “you,” instead of speaking in generalities such as “our customers” or “our clients,” allows you to personalize your message without alienating parts of your consumer base. - Hannah Trivette, NUVEW Web Solutions
12. Supplement First-Party Data With Second- Or Third-Party Data
Leverage digital platforms to personalize campaigns at scale. To begin, use the first-party customer or prospect data that you have available for personalization. As you build out your data strategy, consider supplementing first-party data with second- or third-party data to complete your customer profile. You can then use data such as interests or location to provide truly relevant messaging. - Stephanie Shreve, PowerChord
13. Let Influencers Personalize Your Campaigns
They engage with their followers on a daily basis, so they already have a close relationship with them and know what they like and respond to. If your target audience is the same audience as an influencer’s, partnering with them is an excellent way of reaching personalization without losing efficiency. - Maddie Raedts, IMA - Influencer Marketing Agency
14. Automatically Populate Important Metrics
Leverage technology to populate some of your important metrics for personalization. For example, many tools automatically populate a company’s number of employees, location, revenue and more. This data can be used to personalize your content, assign sales leads and update your database. Think about tools that can help you efficiently gather this data first to alleviate the manual process. - Elyse Flynn Meyer, Prism Global Marketing Solutions
