How can you make personalisation a success in e-commerce? The key take-aways below are based on recent marketing research. This publication will explain how they were created.
- Personalisation should never be an end in itself. It is essential to set up personalisation based on the benefits for the consumer and not to start from the business.
- Personalisation is a very good driver for conversion, as the Spotler Activate cases show. It is a marketing technique that generates euros.
- Segmentation and personalisation go hand in hand. Start with segmentation. The deeper you segment, the closer you get to personalisation.
Customers appreciate personalisation
The most recent 2023 Bluepaper from ShoppingTomorrow shows that 33% of respondents prefer an online environment that is tailored to their personal needs. This is an increase compared to 2022, when 27% said they appreciated this. So from a consumer perspective, personalisation is certainly a growing desire.
However, it turns out that customers are reluctant to create accounts. A minority of consumers say they create an account when checking out. Although visitors value personalisation, simply sharing data with a company is a reason for hesitation.
Win the trust of the consumer
So, how do you as a company cleverly respond to this need for personalisation? Your potential customer is hesitant to share data due to a lack of trust. They don’t know what they’re getting in return, but if you as a company can clearly communicate what you’re offering in exchange for sharing data, visitors are more likely to share their personal data. For example, you could offer a discount for creating an account, or offer a free product for registration. This plays on the persuasion principle of Reciprocation, whereby someone is more likely to do something in return (buy something) when they receive something as a gift (discount).
Before you start to collect
When you want to start collecting customer data, you first need a tool to store and organize it. A CRM system works well to get an idea of who is visiting your site, but not what that person is doing exactly. A data platform can help with this. It can match the data together, so that you can link it to social media channels, CRM and ERP systems, ESPs and webshop software. This is a form of data enrichment, which means that you are not only relevant to your loyal customers, but also to visitors who are not yet customers. For example, you can base your recommendations for these visitors on the search behaviour of profiles with similar characteristics. Because third-party cookies are being blocked, this is a necessary tool for every company. Do you want to make sure that you map out everything as completely as possible and that you can use these insights directly for your marketing? Then choose a combination of both a DMP and CDP.
Using personalisation successfully
When you have implemented the above correctly, and are therefore collecting and organizing the data completely and purposefully, you can start personalizing the content for the user.
The customer journey is divided into three different phases when using personalisation. The awareness phase, in which a customer becomes aware of a particular product or service. This is shown on the screen. A possible option would be to adjust the banner for newsletter subscriptions based on previously searched destinations. This resulted in 50% more registrations at NS.
In the consideration phase, someone actually considers this same product. In this phase, HEMA uses different forms of personalisation. After click behaviour, “Especially for you” will be shown, after viewing articles this will be “Viewed by you”, with personalized recommendations based on the profile and preferences of the visitor, “Popular at the moment”. The recommendations after click behavior resulted in a CTR increase of 172%, and a conversion increase of 77%.
If the product meets the requirements, the visitor goes to the purchase phase. Jumbo uses a “forgotten groceries” pop-up here, just before checkout. These suggestions are based on the preferences and profile of the visitor.
Are you curious about how our customers have successfully used personalisation? On our client cases page you will find various customer cases in which the implementation and results are explained and discussed.
Potential in personalisation
There is enormous potential for every company in the field of personalisation. The implementation can be simple to start with, start with substantiated and proven tactics and build on that. The chances are that you will gradually move through the different stages of personalisation and end up with One-to-Moment, where your personalisation is largely driven by artificial intelligence.
The 5-step plan that guarantees success
1. Create support and set goals
Ensure measurable goals, based on satisfaction scores or your turnover figures. A/B testing is very valuable for this, for example, because you can compare the new situation with the old one, or test two different methods against each other.
2. Take the GDPR into account
Determine what data you really need and how long you want to keep it. In addition, consult with the legal department within your organization to present this and see if all your privacy conditions are in order.
3. Map which data you have available
Because many companies have collected their data in different places, it is smart to map all of this and combine it where possible, so that you have a single source of truth. It also helps to build consistency in your data, because it is not stored in the same way in every system.
4. Determine at what moment in the customer journey you want to jump in
Each campaign has different deployment options and are not equally useful in every step of the purchase process. Therefore, carefully consider which form of personalisation you want to use when, and to whom you want to show it under what conditions.
5. Start with segmenting
Because you can’t put all your visitors in one pile, it is important to segment your prospect or customer base. You can consider demographics, geography, behaviour and psychographics. The deeper you can segment, the more personal the message becomes. Ultimately, if you have implemented all of the above correctly, you can address customers personally as individuals.
Everything you need in one data platform
Are you ready to take the next step with your business? Do you want to capture customer behaviour of both anonymous and known visitors, without having to set up a DMP or CDP yourself? Let Spotler Activate help you!
The Spotler Activate Data Platform stores visitor data in a fully AVG-proof manner, and without the use of third-party tracking cookies. It is possible to recognize your website visitor as a person, like in a CDP, but with the advantages that a DMP brings. You can bring both your anonymous and known visitors together in one overview. The best of both worlds. With our software, you can be sure that all marketing channels seamlessly connect to the wishes and needs of different visitors, by personalizing the offer. You will also receive tips on marketing campaigns, so that you always show the right campaign at the right time.
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