Today the world has become a small place. All the information that customers need is now accessible instantly via smartphones. The digital transformation of businesses has changed enabled them to finetune their offerings with the evolving tastes and preferences of customers. Brands nowadays know the garment sizes of customers, the food they order the most, and customized content related to customers’ specific needs keeps flashing on their social media feeds every day. Clearly, personalization is the new buzzword in marketing.
The growing relevance
The rate of digital transformation is growing leaps and bounds in 2021, enabling brands to curate information that strikes the perfect chord with their target audiences. Long story short, the biggest personalization trends of 2021 point to a future wherein customized content will rule the day. When being made to feel special with offers and recommendations relevant to them, a whopping 91% of consumers are sure to hit the ‘Proceed To Buy’ button. The following stats stands testimony to the power of personalization in marketing.
- 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that provides personalized experiences. - Epsilon
- Consumers are 2.1x more likely to view personalized offers as important versus unimportant. - Salesforce
- 59% of consumers say personalized engagement based on past interactions is very important to winning their business. - Salesforce
- More than 70% of consumers felt that content on YouTube made them feel a deeper human connection, grounded in personal experience.
Just how much personal are we talking about?
Looking at the recent trends it is pretty much clear that consumers are searching for content that is characterized by the following.
- Speaks directly to who they are
- What they stand for
- What they care about
With myriad varieties of information available online, it is easy for people to find very custom pieces of content.
And that’s where trouble brews.
So how do brands offer niche personalization?
It is all in the smart packaging
Speaking of online content, video remains the largest consumed media. Consumers today wish to avail information in a concise yet interactive video format at the right time. And what could be a better source than the mega video library of YouTube? Brands need to take advantage of this huge library of millions of videos that their audiences engaged turn to for the information they need to make informed purchase decisions. Compelling content with attractive visuals and value addition never fails to work wonders!
Learn and give what they want
With the pandemic no signs of abating and keeping the world indoors, people are spending their time in upskilling themselves. And those who usually shied away from the digital world found themselves with no choice other than to embrace it, making them realize what all and how much they had missed! This has stirred a heartening change where people are finally concerned about their life and income, seeking to learn new skills. In fact, 75% of YouTube visitors came to learn something new, develop a skill or get smart about a topic. Brands can leverage this opportunity to help consumers enhance their skillsets, while carefully positioning their offerings.
Communication is the stronghold
Companies have been quick to realize this trend with around 40 percent of businesses adding a new support channel, 53 percent adopting messaging a move that’s actually been paying off. Be it interestingly nicknamed chatbots or popular channels like WeChat, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger, messaging creates more convenient and personal interactions by allowing for casual, ongoing conversations between consumers and brands. Say hello to the fastest resolution timing and higher CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) levels.
Constant communication is the key to ensuring business success in today’s competitive business environment. Marketing automation has made it a lot easier for brands to do this.
Privacy still matters
Personalization, like all other new trends, is not without its areas of concern. The personalization-privacy paradox will continue doing rounds until brands are ready to be upfront as to why and how they would like to capture customer data both to build trust and comply with regulations. According to the Cisco Data Privacy Benchmark study, companies reaped nearly double the returns and strengthened brand trust for every dollar they spent on data privacy. This was reported as the direct result of increased privacy.
#LevelUpWithAModernPC campaign
Technology is playing an increasingly critical role in consumers’ lives, and one of the key gadgets they use to achieve success in their lives is a PC. Consumers are looking for PCs that are lightweight, portable, fast and have long battery power to help them do what they are good at better, faster, and smarter. Here’s how our campaign encouraging talented individuals to level up their skillsets with a Modern PC drove maximum engagement levels and sales numbers for Redington Gulf.
Cloud Champions 11
The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the pace of cloud adoption among SMBs. The need of the hour for Microsoft was to enable its Cloud Services Partners to tap this opportunity and achieve phenomenal business growth. Here’s how we helped Microsoft launch a highly successful rewards and recognition program for their cloud partners, which empowered them to achieve unprecedented YoY growth from their SMB customers.
Personalization is directed by what your target audience wants and how you adapt your marketing strategy to fulfill those demands. An in-depth understanding of the pain points of your target audience and solving them with the right messaging, offerings, and engagement programs can go a long way in ensuring business success in today’s evolving marketing landscape.
