The road to 1:1 personalization is paved with data

The customer experience is becoming more personalized and the only way to do it is to know enough about each customer. Customer knowledge comes from the collection and analysis of customer data, which is why data is so important to 1:1 personalization. 

The data you collect enables you to better understand your customers' needs and expectations, make faster and more informed decisions, and provide your customers with the personalized experiences they crave. The road to 1:1 personalization is indeed paved with data—do you know how to use that data to achieve your strategic goals?

Key takeaways

• 1:1 personalization delivers a unique experience to each customer
• You can personalize pricing, products, offers and more for each customer
• 1:1 personalization requires robust collection and analysis of customer data
• Many companies use a digital experience platform to deliver 1:1 personalization to their customers

What is 1:1 personalization?

The phrase "1:1 personalization" refers to delivering a unique and uniquely personalized experience to each customer. 1:1 personalization enables marketers to target personalized content, products and offers to specific customers. 

The extensive use of customer data makes 1:1 personalization possible. The more information a company collects about a given customer, the more that company knows about that customer and can construct a 1:1 personalized experience just for that individual. Without adequate data—or if the data is not properly analyzed and utilized—it's virtually impossible to offer a 1:1 personalized experience.

What can you personalize?

You can personalize virtually everything! This includes:

• Greetings
• Emails
• Offers, deals and coupons
• Product recommendations
• Services
• Pricing
• Landing pages

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Using email marketing as an example, marketers can employ a variety of personalization approaches in their email campaigns. Marketers can:

• Include the customer's first name in the message or subject line
• Tailor the message or promotion to individual customers
• Recommend specific products to individual customers
• Trigger emails based on customer behavior

Naturally, other approaches to personalizationapply to other media.

What is omnichannel personalization?

In today's market, 1:1 personalization applies across all channels, in what some call omnichannel personalization. Customers expect the same personalized experience no matter how and where they touch your company, brand and products—and for that personalization to carry across all channels and devices they use. When customers receive a consistent omnichannel experience, they will purchase more and more frequently. 

Why is 1:1 personalization important?

1:1 personalization is important because customers are coming to expect a personalized experience no matter how they interact with a company. According to McKinsey's Next in Personalization 2021 Report, 71% of customersexpect companies to provide personalized interactions—and 76% of customers get disappointed when personalization isn't offered. 

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Delivering on consumers' expectations of personalization produces positive results. According to Researchscape International's 2020 Trends in Personalizationreport, 97% of marketers saw improved business resultsdue to their personalization efforts. 

Conversely, negative customer experiences produce negative results. PwC research reveals that 32% of customers will walk away from a brand after just one bad experience. In other words, personalization is good for customers and good for business—and lack of personalization is bad for all involved.

How does data enable 1:1 personalization?

Enabling 1:1 personalization requires intimate knowledge of what individual customers want, need and expect. How do you gain that knowledge? By collecting and analyzing relevant customer data. 

What data do you collect?

Most companies today collect a lot of information about their customers. It's likely that, as part of the sales and marketing process, you collect customer data such as:

• Location and contact information
• Demographic information (age, gender, education level)
• Purchasing information
• Website browsing information

You may also collect data about other ways customers interact with you. For example, you may harvest data from comments on social media, ratings on review sites, use of mobile apps, interactions with customer service and more. All of this data is relevant and useful in developing detailed customer profiles. 

How do you develop customer profiles?

The data you collect about each customer helps to describe what that customer is like. You use that description to create a profile for each customer. 

You can build your customer profile on common data cross-indexed for greater insight. Each customer profile should tell you:

• Where that customer lives
• What that customer likes to do (interests, hobbies, etc.)
• What that customer likes to shop for and purchase
• What devices and channels that customer uses and frequents
• Where that customer finds product information
• Where and how that customer prefers to shop and purchase

The more granular the customer profile, the better you can understand what makes that customer tick. It's not enough to know that a given customer is middle-aged, has a college education, lives in the suburbs and likes to spend time on Facebook. You need to understand what motivates each customer and what influences their buying behavior. That requires robust data analysis which is only possible when you aggregate data formerly stored in separate silos or databases. 

(The following video describes how to create customer profiles.)

How can customer profiles help you deliver a 1:1 experience?

The goal of developing customer profiles is to determine what makes each customer tick. You need to understand customers' needs and expectations, so you can create products and services that meet their needs and an experience that meets their expectations. 

Ideally, you can segment customer profiles based on shared characteristics and behaviors. It's a more sophisticated segmentation than traditional demographic segmentation—you need to move beyond whothe customer is to whythey behave the way they do. 

The more insight you have into customer behavior and motivation, the easier it is to create a 1:1 personalized experience for each customer. 

How can a digital experience platform help you deliver 1:1 personalization?

The most efficient way to deliver 1:1 personalization is via a robust digital experience platform(DXP) such as that offered by Optimizely. A DXP combines a variety of functions—customer relationship management, content management, data analysis and more. 

A DXP not only analyzes customer data, it uses that analysis to customize the experience for each customer. You can then deliver personalized content via a variety of channels, including websites, social media, email and newsletters, for a true omnichannel experience. 

Let Optimizely help you deliver 1:1 personalization to your customers

When you want to offer your customers 1:1 personalization, turn to Optimizely. Our Digital Experience Platformhelps you turn customer data into a personalized digital experience across all possible touchpoints. Our team of experts will help you get the most from your data and create a competitive online experience for your valued customers.

Contact Optimizely today to learn more about how our DXP and 1:1 personalization.