What are you doing to personalize your inbound customer touch point? - A question asked by Unica’s VP of Products, Elana Anderson during yesterday’s virtual conference, “The Future of Marketing: Technology Driven Personalization.” The virtual “microconference” featured 60 thought leaders in 60 minutes, offering insights around personalized marketing and how it is causing a profound shift in the industry.

The reality that potential customers are no longer wandering across websites is sinking in for a lot of marketers and it’s becoming more and more apparent that it’s personalization that is going to deliver in the present and the future. The “personalization revolution” is another industry shift for marketers, where one generalized message sent to all contacts isn’t going to hook the consumer anymore. Consumers want the trusted relationships with the corner grocery stores like they had in the past, along with the VIP treatment.

What is your company doing to make customer interaction personal, compelling, and engaging? Are you taking advantage of your customer relationship management (CRM) system? Are you leveraging marketing automation software?

We are moving into an increasingly digital world where the right advertisement that’s placed at the right time in front of the right person is going to get the sale. We’ve highlighted some of the key takeaways from the conference below. Use them to make sure your company is taking full advantage of personalized marketing to build brand awareness and increase sales.

25 Facts, Tips and Strategies for Personalized Marketing

1. The future of marketing belongs to companies that can become a part of the consumer's identity.
2. Less mass communication more mass customization.
3. “Product recommendations” is the 3rd most popular way to find items to purchase.
4. IP recognition software will provide a dynamic individualized experience on websites.
5. Location-based mobile messaging is the ultimate value for some and ultimate Big Brother "creepiness" for others. You better know your customer!
6. Content needs to be contextualized to the current conversation, not the last one. Consumers move very quickly.
7. Marketing messages are no longer about ads... they’re about content, authenticity and value.
8. Why get more personal? Because it makes your brand more memorable.
9. Are you asking the right questions? People want to share information about themselves if you just give them the chance. Get them to nominate themselves.
10. Use targeted landing pages to drive higher conversion rates.
11. Harness the power of tools – use listening tools and keyword searches to understand what customers need.
12. Educate – create compelling content and use different channels to distribute.
13. Engage – use social media tools and blogs to engage prospects and customers.
14. Make sure you’re targeting within the right context. Are you targeting your customer during work hours? During free time?
15. It’s not about privacy, it’s about value proposition. Customers will trade personal information for better service. Give customers the right value and privacy will be less of an issue.
16. The key to personalization is hard work. Answer your emails and look up people’s backgrounds - you’ve got to grind it out.
17. Personalization is about talking to people as persons. Focus on human emotions, worry less about technology.
18. Consumers trust reviews from friends before anyone else. Make sure you’re providing quality service.
19. Don’t forget the value of traditional marketing efforts as well. TV ads are becoming more targeted…two people could be watching the same show but different ads.
20. Intent-driven personalization is best because it is based on the intent here and now. Understand engagement and determine how the user is engaging on the site here and now.
21. Read the digital body language of your consumers. If they have visited your site multiple times, monitor their activity and adjust your offerings based on the data you have.
22. Strategize. Who are your top followers and fans? What are they doing? How can you sell to them without being annoying?
23. All marketing that matters begins on the web because the web is the medium for a two-way dialogue. Structure a dialogue so you can capture the consumer’s imagination. If you can get into the consumer’s mind, interests and emotions, then you’ll get a shot at their business.
24. Business is personal. It’s helping to create trusted relationships. People like meeting the people behind the brands. Likeability is the first step to a long-term relationship.
25. People expect what they get elsewhere. If you can have Caller ID at home, then why aren’t businesses using it to provide better service?

What are your thoughts around personalization? Do you feel it is revolutionizing the field of marketing? If you had one minute to share some insight, what would it be?

Contact Verndale if you’re interested in learning more about customer relationship management or marketing automation.