According to the research firm McKinsey, 76% of consumers say that receiving personalized communications is a key factor in prompting their consideration of a brand, and 78% say that personalized content makes them more likely to purchase from the brand again. That’s a powerful incentive to put time and effort into getting personalization right.
“Personalization” doesn’t have to mean using dozens of data points in a complicated layout, either. Personalization can be as simple as segmenting your audience into “like” buckets and using a few key data points to create relevance. Ultimately, relevance establishes that sense of feeling understood and valued. If you pick the right one, that can be done with a single data point.
But where do you get the data to create these targeted, relevant communications? You could purchase a list from a third-party data house or gather the information by getting to know your audience. Either way, you need to know what data to obtain. To know that, as in any relationship, the process starts by asking questions. You need to learn what makes your customers tick.
To figure out the data that will motivate your audience to action, here are some questions to ask before purchasing any data or conducting any surveys:
• Are you targeting the right audience?
• What defines this audience?
• What matters to them?
• What motivates them?
• What interests them?
• Where and when can you reach them?
• What are their perceptions of your brand?
• What does their purchase journey look like?
• What are the touchpoints that matter?
• What trends can you identify?
These questions go beyond age, gender, and location to include lifestyles, attitudes, and values. Once you have this information, you can obtain the necessary data to create highly targeted audience segments. You can also layer on true personalization to create an even more powerful recipe for driving sales.
If you have a way to go in this area, don’t fret. This information can be obtained through profiling, purchasing additional data, conducting print or email surveys, and various other techniques. (We can help.)
Give us a call, and let’s create a plan for getting to know your customers better!
