WHITE PAPER THE CASE FOR PERSONALIZATION Make a lasting impression by being more human with your marketing 1 The Demand for Personalization As humans, we all want depending on your point of view) for this transformation in to be recognized and consumer expectations. Every remembered. These day, brands are creating new, desires are very real to us innovative, and personalized experiences. Netflix has taken this for personalization, for meaningful as consumers, too. That’s to a new level, experimenting with experiences, and for relevant why out of almost 1,000 interactive programs like “Black engagement. Customers will align consumers, 92 percent Mirror: Bandersnatch” that offer themselves and purchase from brands a choose-your-own-adventure that recognize them as individuals at say they would stop viewing experience to individualize every step of their journey, and brands purchasing from a brand the direction and outcome of the that make experiences as simple and after three or fewer bad storyline. As these kinds of advances convenient as possible. occur, personalization becomes customer experiences. second nature for us as consumers 26 percent of those – and we expect similar experiences Personalization is no would stop after just one wherever we go and whenever we shop. longer an option. It’s bad experience - all this the key to keeping according to Gladly’s Research bears this out. According to your customers 2019 Customer Service an Accenture study, over 75 percent of consumers are more likely to engaged – and Expectations Survey.1 purchase from retailers that know spending. their name and purchase history and We appreciate being offered provide recommendations that are personalized recommendations for appropriately on-taste.2 Another study Here’s the reality for retail marketers products or content that is relevant to from Infosys reveals that 74 percent today: personalization is no longer us as individuals. In fact, we’ve come of customers feel frustrated when a an option. It’s the key to keeping your to expect this kind of service from website’s content is not personalized.3 customers engaged – and spending. brands. As consumers become more and Brands that get it right stand to gain more acclimated to getting what they a lot. Those who don’t, lose. Consider We have companies like Amazon want, their expectations from retail some of the major retailers that have and Netflix to thank (or blame, marketers have never been higher: failed in recent years. 1 “2018 Customer Service Expectations” Gladly. June 27, 2018 2 “Consumers welcome personalized offerings,” Accenture, October 13, 2016 3 “Rethinking Retail” https://www.infosys.com/ 2 newsroom/press-releases/Documents/genome-research-report.pdf?_ga=2.167083318.949342403.1548705248-1828553468.1548705248 RETAIL APOCALYPSE: A Few Key Casualties from 20181 Toys R Us 881 stores CLOSED Walgreens 600 stores CLOSED Sears/Kmart 462 stores CLOSED One major common denominator among these retail Marketers are casualties is this: they each failed at some level to adapt to escalating consumer demand for digital experiences and beginning to recognize personalization. artificial intelligence (AI) as the game As a retail marketer, you need to put your customers’ individual preferences, histories, and current state at the changer they’ve been center of every interaction they have with your brand. The waiting for. brands that do so, with the capability to deliver hyper- personalized messages on the right channel at the right time, for. AI engines developed specifically for the needs of will be first-in-mind for today’s entitled customers. engagement marketers can boost personalization and individual relevance by automatically turning consumer The good news is, tools exist today that allow marketers insights into on-taste messages – and they can do it at a to personalize and hyper-personalize at a level previously scale that is beyond the wildest imaginations. AI is unlocking unseen. Forward-thinking brands are already spending major the hyper-personalized future of marketing. Not only is it dollars on marketing technology for personalization and satisfying the demands of today’s entitled consumers, it can the data it requires. Demand for customer data platforms also save you a lot of money: according to an August 2018 (CDPs) continues to grow, as retailers and organizations survey of 400 retail executives worldwide by Capgemini, AI move towards building a single, 360-degree view of their could save retailers as much as $340 billion annually by 2022.4 customers.2 And marketing automation is expected to grow by nearly ten percent in 2019, with more than half of companies It’s pretty clear that the time has come for retailers to get more surveyed using some form of automation already.3 personal in their marketing efforts. In this white paper, we’ll take a closer look at personalization, sharing key findings and In addition, marketers are beginning to recognize artificial vital insights to help you understand how to be more human in intelligence (AI) as the game changer they’ve been waiting your marketing efforts. 1 Weekly Store Openings and Closures Tracker 2018, Coresight Research, November 2, 2018 2 “Seven Marketing Tech Trends for 2019,” eMarketer PRO, December 19, 2019 3 “How AI Is Driving Marketing Automation” (https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/326228) 4 “Will AI Transform Retail,” e Marketer, January 8, 2019 (https://www.capgemini.com/research/building-the-retail-superstar-how-unleashing-ai- across-functions-offers-a-multi-billion-dollar-opportunity/#) 3 The Case for Personalization The era of the entitled consumer sets a high bar for retailers to get communications right every time. Delivering the personalization and relevance that customers demand may feel like an impossible task. But it’s an absolutely critical one. Consider these consumer facts: 91% are more likely to shop with brands that recognize, remember, and provide them with relevant offers and recommendations1 3 out of 4 expect companies to treat them as individuals, not as members of a segment (like “millennials” or “suburban mothers”) 52% are more inclined to change brands if a company doesn’t offer personalized communication2 1 “Making it Personal,” Accenture study, reported on Forbes.com: Answering Consumers’ Needs Without Relying On Third-Party Data, January 9, 2019 4 2 Salesforce 2018 State of Marketing report, reported on Forbes.com: “5 Ways Artificial Intelligence Can Improve Your Marketing, January 20, 2019 What is Personalization & How Did We Get Here? There was a time when inserting a first name into an As we’ve noted, the current level of customer expectations email subject line was considered revolutionary. Now, is the result of increasingly personalized service experiences personalization as a tactic and as a marketing concept from top brands. Remember when Starbucks started to let has evolved much further. Today, personalization is customers customize their coffee drinks, served with their an imperative; one driven by skyrocketing consumer name on the cup? This opened up a new path to where we are expectations and advances in technology. So what do we today. Along the way, customized sneakers, automobiles, and mean by personalization today? even prefab houses became the norm. Siri and Alexa offer custom-tailored information and shopping services by verbal Personalization is a method or strategy by which a marketer command, right in our homes. uses audience analysis and data to meet the individual needs of a consumer. This is done by collecting and processing But the quantum leap towards customized experiences left information on customers’ interests, demographics, and personalized marketing messages trailing behind. Sure, email behaviors to create more relevant content that provides more marketing has come a long way from simple batch-and-blast value. The more a marketer can accomplish this, the greater approaches with generic salutations and irrelevant content. the consumer’s likelihood of repeat visits, purchases, or But now, many retail marketers are struggling to make the shift engagements. from low-level personalization, to truly contextual marketing – customer-initiated interactions that are triggered outside of campaigns. ON BEING HUMAN: HOW TO MAKE IT PERSONAL Getting personal with your customers starts with being human. While that sounds simple, it’s easy to overlook. As Steven Van Belleghem explains in his award-winning book, When Digital Becomes Human, companies need to not only successfully implement the digital relationship, but transform their customer relationships on a human level. “The successful customer relationship of the future will... be built on both the rational (digital perfection) and the emotional (the human touch),” Belleghem writes. “Combining a digital and a human customer relationship is the only way for the vast majority of companies to survive.”1 1 “When Digital Becomes Human” – blog post, Steven Van Belleghem, October 21, 2014 5 Be Human in How You Collect Data and Request Permission Being Human Data Sharing & By being human about the way data is collected, you are more likely to in Your Trust build customer trust and permission. Being human implies behaving Communication Being more human in your marketing across the customer journey as you In addition to being more human in begins with establishing trust: the would if you were talking to the your data collection and sharing, it’s basic human belief in the reliability or customer face-to-face. This builds important to consider your marketing truth of someone or something. It’s trust and the emotional connection communications: how you actually also a prerequisite for any long-term, that encourages data sharing. Think talk to your customers. According trade-based relationship. It’s not a about successful sales people: they to Forrester Consulting, if a brand’s one-off, rational decision, but an naturally inquire and listen; then they communication is seen as “human,” emotional connection built up over adjust their approach based on what customers are 1.6 times more likely to time.