Path to Personalization

Any marketer worth their weight in leads knows the benefits of personalization—and yet, a surprisingly large number of companies have not fully embraced this strategic tactic.

Typically, senior marketing professionals see personalization as a double-edged sword. On one hand, there’s no doubting that consumers and end users value personalized experiences and tailored recommendations across channels.

On the other hand, it’s assumed that the prospect of building out those unique digital journeys by creating the content required and managing the data to fuel the entire process seems far too complex.

The good news? Industry-leading brands are showing that the opposite is true.

Since the turn of the 21st century, the flame of brand loyalty has wavered in the winds of the internet. According to a Forbes Insight study, only one in four business leaders believes customers are loyal to brands, while 62% say the concept of loyalty is now close to obsolete. The study, which surveyed companies with at least $1 billion in annual revenue, also revealed that developing a customer-focused environment and delivering personalized marketing has become a strategic imperative.

The reason is simple: customers now value the experience more than they value the brand providing it. If your competitor offers a faster, more convenient, and more personalized customer experience, you can’t rely on the aging concept of brand loyalty to rescue you. We as marketers all have to adjust to the new reality that brand loyalty is dead.

While personalization isn’t a switch you flip on or off, there is a straightforward process you can follow to launch a future-proof personalization program that’s data-driven, generates brand loyalty, increases conversion, and is ready for any new device that emerges on the market. This guide offers a comprehensive outline to help you differentiate your digital experience. Depending on your industry, the stage of your customer’s journey and potential audiences, some of these steps will be more important than others. All are essential ingredients to help you differentiate from your competition. Now, let’s get started!

The harsh reality that brands must face is that if you are not able to do basics in personalization right now, then you won’t be ready for the more advanced personalization techniques later down the line.

We’re already seeing more people using voice search and shopping bots, and these people are expecting a personalized experience through these channels. And as more companies are trying to remove any latency from their personalization process, they’re investing in machine learning and consolidating into platforms like Sitecore. Otherwise, your brand will continue to fall further behind the competition the longer you delay implementing a personalization strategy.

Marketers can no longer afford to view personalization as a pipe dream. The behavior of consumers across industries indicates that end users don’t just expect personalization—they demand it.

Explained

AgencyQ harnessed all aspects of personalization to deliver for DOE. AgencyQ architected a custom technology solution using Sitecore, Coveo, IBM Watson, and Find-it-First (AgencyQ’s proprietary technology tool). First, we automated the analysis and tagging of high volumes of historical content and set up a process for new content to be uploaded, automatically evaluated, and tagged on an ongoing basis. With better tagging and organization, users receive better search results.

The solution allows DOE to track habits of users that come to the site, determine their persona type, and serve them relevant content in their search results. Furthermore, when users perform a search, the presentation of that content dynamically adjusts based on their persona type. This makes the content AND its presentation best suited for the individual’s needs. For example, a third-grade teacher might see results materialize as a classroom ready visual with suggested homework assignments, while an astrophysicist might see charts ready to add to a research report. The site is widely used to help scientists in all roles find their next breakthrough.