Consumers want a personalized experience. Whether they’re shopping in a mall, eating at a restaurant, or visiting a website, they want their experience to be personalized.
According to a 2017 MarTech Intelligence report, 75% of website visitors want a personalized experience. And now, with modern technology, it’s possible to deliver that experience to users.
Download MarTech’s full report here.
B2B Consumers Want Personalization More Than B2C Consumers
According to the MarTech report, B2B consumers want more personalized service and customer experiences than B2C consumers. When asked about how important personalized service is, 70% of B2B consumers responded that it was critical, versus 58% of B2C consumers. 75% of B2B consumers also stated that they expect companies to send them personalized offers, versus 55% of B2C consumers.
Companies, whether servicing B2B or B2C consumers, must increasingly provide a personalized experience to be competitive. Companies that provide the best experience will win the business; whereas, companies that do not deliver a personalized experience will see their customers migrate to competitors.
MarTech’s report also reveals that “personalization has become critical to the buyer’s journey and is now a key driver of brand loyalty. More than half of B2C consumers and nearly two-thirds of B2B buyers say they are likely to switch brands if a company doesn’t make an effort to personalize communications to them, according to State of the Connected Consumer, published by Salesforce.”
Personalized Experience Drives Customer Loyalty and Sales
Research by Forrester shows that 77% of consumers will recommend, choose, or pay more for brands that can successfully provide personalized service and experiences. This research illustrates the desire consumers have to relate more with brands. They don’t want to be treated like everyone else and will react in positive ways to brands that leverage personalization.
Personalization isn’t just about consumer preference and customer service. It has a material effect on digital marketing ROI because it can drive purchasing decisions.
59% of customers surveyed by Infosys stated that the level of personalization used by companies can directly influence their shopping decisions. Consumers are more willing to buy from companies that create a connection through digital personalization.
According to The Boston Consulting Group, personalization has driven a 6–10% increase in sales revenues. Brands that use personalization correctly are seeing a high ROI, while also managing to retain more customers than companies not utilizing personalization. Many top digital brands like Netflix, Amazon, and Alibaba have been personalizing their user experience for years, resulting in higher profits and more brand loyalty.
Customer loyalty can be directly affected by personalization. Companies have been using personalized customer experiences for years with a high level of success. Through an emphasized focus on building personal connections with customers and creating emotional responses, the company has secured loyalty from customers across the world. In 2017, Fortune magazine named Starbucks as the third most admired company in the world, in part because of results from personalization.
Automation is Key for Consistent Omnichannel Personalization
Most data collection is already automated. The addition of digital personalization tools, however, combines information from numerous sources to create complete customer profiles that are used for automated marketing.
The problem is that data fragmentation can result when people use more than one device to access a business’s online portal. Apps, email subscriptions, websites, and other digital pathways can lead to data being collected separately and not aggregated.
Marketing automation solves the problem of data fragmentation, by collecting information from all sources and aggregating it into relevant customer profiles. From there, automation can ensure that customers receive a personalized digital experience across all channels.
Today, 75% of companies engaged in personalization are optimizing online content for individual website users. While this can be an effective form of personalization, it may not be enough to drive sales and show a meaningful impact on a company’s bottom line. Automation is the key that can help marketers effectively use personalization strategies that result in a higher ROI and create more customer loyalty.
It’s not enough to collect consumer data. Companies must use collected data to deliver meaningful digital experiences for specific types of customers.
Internet Marketing Automation
Companies offering a suite of software solutions to automate internet marketing include SharpSpring, Infusionsoft, HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo, and Act-on.
Though the companies listed above are very good at automating internet marketing, their services can be out of reach for many small businesses. Fortunately, internet marketing automation has matured as an industry for companies to start providing website personalization services at a lower cost.
For example, Unless offers a revolutionary service allowing companies to personalize their website for as little as $9 per month, as the writing of this article. By using Unless, companies can personalize, test, and optimize their pages, offering each visitor a personalized experience. Which, of course, results in higher engagement and more conversions.
Take Away
Personalization is no longer an option, but it is a necessity to grow a brand and increase market share.
Fortunately, internet marketing automation has matured as an industry so that every company can provide consumers with a personalized experience.
For more information about how your company can take advantage of personalized internet marketing, please contact us for a free consultation.