By: Lindsay Bennett, Media Analytics Executive
Whether it’s through mobile apps, algorithms, or physical campaigns, brands are moving towards personalized advertising to tailor their content to customers’ interests. Recent research from the Global Web Index suggests that 3 in 4 adults are purchasing products online each month, opening the door to new marketing values through online shopping. With such a high proportion of online shoppers, targeted marketing is not only expected, but valued with consumers.
Personalized marketing describes a strategy by which companies aim to deliver individualized content to their customers through data analysis, segmentation, and technology. While this may sound intense, we encounter personalized marketing every single day.
Three Techniques for Personalized Marketing:
1. Utilizing Algorithms to Reach Targeted Audiences
TikTok’s algorithm made headlines with the growing popularity of the app, as it’s users were amazed by the specificity of content recommended to them, but TikTok’s algorithm is just one example of how social media platforms create customization. Facebook, Instagram, and even LinkedIn have similar algorithms to TikTok, which use engagement levels, cross-app tracking, and user behavior to determine which content to show you. Beyond social media, shopping websites like Amazon utilize an algorithm to recommend products to its users which, when first introduced, resulted in a 29% sales increase.
2. Creating Loyalty Programs to Create a Custom User Experience
While algorithms work behind the scenes to create a customized experience for users, mobile apps and brand loyalty programs overtly provide an individualized experience through tracking users’ shopping behaviors. Starbucks and Chick-Fil-A have two of the most popular loyalty programs which are hosted on their mobile app and provide incentives to users for their business. The obvious incentive, Starbucks’ “stars,” allows users to earn rewards by accumulating “stars” through purchases, however, the mobile app also made buying easier and quicker and provided users with a view of new products ahead of their launch. The mobile app served as a digital marketing tool and increased Starbucks’ revenue by almost $2.65 billion.
Chick Fil A’s reward program follows a similar incentivized approach with an added tier system. On the mobile app, users can enter different tiers based on the amount of money spent at the restaurant. Each tier offers more free food, which launched the app to the top of the iTunes charts when it debuted in 2016. The incentives in both the Starbucks and Chick-Fil-A reward programs combined with the efficiency of the mobile app not only place the companies levels above their competitors, but provide users with a personalized experience to dining and makes them feel like part of a community.
3. Running Physical Campaigns with Unique Elements
Lastly, and certainly the most well-known, physical campaigns give consumers an emotional, personalized experience because of consumers’ perceived individualism. Perhaps the most famous campaign, ‘Share A Coke,’ persuades consumers to purchase Coke products with their names on them. Consumers feel personally inclined to purchase the product when it is so customized to them, physically using their name. Similarly, but not as apparent, Lays’ ‘Do Us A Flavor’ campaign invites consumers to create their own flavor, which later results in a physical bag of chips based on consumers’ votes.
All three of these personalized marketing techniques increase the company’s revenue by creating a welcoming user experience.