Personalization continues to be a hot topic because it’s essential for companies that want to win and retain customers in the “era of customer experience.” Related trends covered in previous posts, leveraging data to improve the customer journey and the maturity of the IoT, go hand-in-hand with real-time personalization.
While this trend is not mainstream yet, the possibility is just around the corner. According to our colleagues at Adobe:
Consumers only welcome personalization when it’s done deftly and in ways that are meaningful…and they seek brands that are authentic and act on their promises. Consumers expect genuine value and transparent, helpful communications.
There are certain consumer brands, such as airlines, hotels, and retailers, who are getting personalization right. Here’s what the experts from our Adobe consultancy practice have to say about the topic.
Trend #6 – Real-time personalization is no longer an aspirational goal
The top consumer brands are increasingly getting better at personalization – moving beyond basic recommendations to creating individually tailored experiences in real time or near-real time.
The types of personalization strategies run the gamut from simple, contextual personalization to more advanced journey-based personalization. A majority of companies are aiming towards providing contextual personalization in near-real time because it addresses masses of people coming to websites and is easier to achieve.
Marketing platforms offer capabilities for mastering segmented personalization and can advance it to the point of automated, real-time personalization. However, trying to achieve real-time personalization is cost-prohibitive from a number of angles including software investment, having people with expertise to analyze the data, and creating a variety of content to support this level of personalization.
What’s the takeaway?
“The thing companies need to keep in mind about personalization is that it’s not just a blanket you throw on top of your existing marketing; it’s about finding the opportunities to provide value to customers,” says Dan Klco, Adobe Digital Marketing Solution Lead, Perficient Digital.
We will see more companies evaluating near real-time personalization and creating the agile infrastructure to respond. This requires your company to use data in the most intelligent way possible, gather the necessary insights, and have a solid understanding of consumers to be able to provide them value.
Download our latest guide, Top Six Digital Marketing Trends for 2017, and learn how to make these trends a reality for your business in the new year and beyond.
