Customizing messaging for individual customers, also known as personalization, is predicted to be a major marketing trend in 2017. This is partly because it allows brands to provide exactly what consumers desire, potentially increasing customer loyalty. However, personalization has advanced beyond simply using a customer’s name. Today, it might involve creating unique web and mobile experiences for each user.

However, as Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben wisely said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” In other words, using customer information they are unaware of or without understanding their needs can backfire and alienate them.

This article explores how brands and marketers can learn about their customers and provide better, more personalized experiences without compromising their privacy.

While I wouldn’t call it the “Year of Personalization,” it’s significant…

And I’m not alone in this belief.

Jared Brickman, a senior technology marketing strategist at the advertising agency Centerline Digital, believes modern marketing personalization will involve dynamic, highly specific targeted experiences that go beyond simply inserting basic data like a customer’s name or address. This approach benefits both consumers, who enjoy a more tailored purchasing experience, and businesses, who see a higher return on their marketing investment.

However, according to Luke Rees, head of digital at the digital marketing firm AccuraCast, personalization is only effective when it is relevant and useful.

“People don’t mind being interrupted by ads if the message resonates with them,” he added. In 2015, “Gartner predicted that by [2016], 89% of marketing leaders [expected] customer experience to be their primary differentiator - this means being present at crucial moments and leveraging data to understand the desires of each customer segment.”

Douglas Karr, CEO of marketing and business consulting firm DK New Media, shared this sentiment.

“Personalization is a strategy for marketing departments to increase relevance and engagement, ultimately building trust and driving sales,” he explained. “It creates a valuable feedback loop from the customer, providing insights into their location, demographics, and motivations for engaging with the company. This information is invaluable for marketers, enabling them to improve offerings and communicate effectively with their customers.”

Via Customer Experience Matrix Jessica Moreno, social media and brand account manager at digital marketing company Active Web Group, added that consumers are bombarded with numerous ads daily, making most messages irrelevant. However, data-driven marketing allows brands to tailor messages for maximum engagement and efficiency across demographics.

What exactly are you personalizing?

Personalization opportunities exist throughout the customer journey, including communication channels, devices, and the optimal time for engagement. Brickman highlighted that brands can personalize videos, websites, emails, mobile app content, paid media messages, discounts, sale alerts, product recommendations, and transactional communications like invoices and shipping notifications.

Moreno added that brands are also personalizing customer service through social media and chatbots on their websites.

“Personalization involves targeted marketing initiatives based on consumer data to maximize ROI,” she explained.

However, Karr cautioned that poorly executed personalization is worse than none at all.

“Receiving an email with a generic salutation like ‘Dear %%FIRST_NAME%%’ is incredibly impersonal,” he stated. “It shows you’re not only disregarding the customer’s trust in sharing their information but also failing to validate the data. This sends a clear message that you don’t value them, treating them as just another target for a mass message disguised as personal communication.”

Tom Caulton, a digital marketing executive and SEO consultant at Dijitul, emphasized the “creepiness” factor, noting that consumers generally dislike being tracked online.

Mel Carson, principal strategy consultant at marketing and PR agency Delightful Communications, added, “The idea of a brand following them across the web, especially through intrusive retargeting ads for products they’ve already purchased, doesn’t sit well with consumers. While data remains crucial for personalized experiences, gathering anecdotal feedback from the target audience about personalization preferences can validate the data and improve storytelling.”

How to personalize without being creepy

This brings us back to the importance of relevance.

“Personalization is about delivering timely and relevant messaging, segmented by visitor traffic or customer personas, and maintaining consistency across all marketing channels,” Rees emphasized.

Brent Levi, senior manager of marketing automation at social advertising software firm Strike Social, offered the example of a brand tailoring website content based on a visitor’s likely interests.

Via Cara Harshman’s great Mozcon talk on personalization Karr agreed that effective personalization goes beyond simply substituting strings and involves providing relevant recommendations and options.

“For instance, a returning customer shouldn’t encounter a website experience designed for prospects,” he explained. “If they have specific industry needs or purchase history, prioritize those aspects during their visit. Develop distinct strategies and experiences for prospecting, customer retention, and upselling, empowering customers to manage their experience across all communication channels.”

Here are five tips for successful personalized marketing:

1. Data, data, and more data

It’s all starts with data. Caulton emphasized that brands utilizing personalization should collect extensive data to develop detailed buyer personas for enhanced content and targeted advertising.

“Brands and marketers need to create buyer personas that accurately represent their ideal customer,” Caulton explained. “Data analysis reveals their habits, behaviors, and expectations from brands like yours. This information enables the creation of more compelling content. For example, you can create highly targeted Facebook ads tailored to your audience’s needs. By leveraging personalization to deliver relevant offers, your brand will thrive online.”

Karr recommended developing a list of desired attributes and finding a balance in the number of questions asked.

“Bombarding customers with a 25-question form will only lead to frustration and abandonment,” Karr cautioned. “Instead, collect information gradually by asking a question here and there, consolidating it into a central profile.”

He also highlighted the importance of empowering customers to manage their data.

“Customers shouldn’t have to contact you every time they update their phone number or address,” he stated.

Furthermore, Karr advised establishing clear terms and conditions explaining the purpose of data collection and its intended use.

“Assure customers that their data is secure and won’t be sold to third parties,” he added.

Carson agreed, stressing the need for transparency in explaining how customer responses contribute to a more valuable and optimized experience.

However, brands aren’t limited to questionnaires.

“The more actions taken on your website, such as exchanging personal information for downloadable content, the more data the user provides,” said Yulia Khansvyarova, digital marketing team lead at marketing research software firm SEMRush. “The more effort required to navigate your website, the better.”

Marci Hansen, CMO of verification company SheerID, highlighted the valuable data customers willingly share online, providing brands with insights into their preferences and behaviors.

Caulton agreed, suggesting that brands should leverage big data platforms like Facebook for their personalization efforts.

“Social media platforms provide insights into your audience’s favorite brands, shopping habits, social media usage patterns, and preferred devices,” he explained. “Many marketers overlook the wealth of personal information people share on social media, making it a valuable resource for social insights. The more data you gather about your audience, the more targeted and personalized your ads become.”

Via Security Ledger Swapnil Bhagwat, senior manager at IT services and business process management organization Orchestrate Technologies, added that social networks offer numerous user profile data points like names, phone numbers, email addresses, likes, friends, interests, and locations.

“Social graph data is incredibly valuable for creating persona-based user experiences,” Bhagwat stated.

2. Develop customer personas

In essence, with enough data, brands can segment their audience based on various factors like age, gender, income, location, interests, pain points, and shopping habits, including purchase frequency, preferred incentives, and information required for decision-making.

“Start building personas by analyzing the demographics and firmographics of existing customers,” advised digital marketing consultant Leslie Handmaker. “Understand their needs and challenges. Create detailed profiles to establish a clear roadmap for addressing the unique requirements of each persona. This information directly informs content creation.”

Brickman added that brands should develop a comprehensive content library catering to the specific needs of each customer group.

Via Hatchbuck “Once marketers have a clear understanding of their personas, they can refine their messaging for both new and existing customers,” Handmaker explained. “This tailored messaging should address the needs of each persona, guiding them to the next stage of the sales funnel.”

Related: Explore buyer persona examples to guide your own development process.

3. Map your content

However, Mark Nardone, executive vice president of business development and marketing at marketing and PR agency Pan Communications, emphasized that content must be strategically mapped to the interests and needs of each persona to ensure visibility, engagement, and brand advocacy.

Brickman suggested using a diagram to map content interests to the buyer’s journey, ensuring each piece aligns with their needs and stage in the conversion funnel.

“Consider the content most relevant and valuable for nurturing leads at each interaction point,” Brickman advised. “For example, an e-commerce store selling cookware might notice a user browsing various cake pans. They might be interested in cake recipes or a stand mixer for easier batter preparation. This map serves as a guide for content planning, inventory management, and deployment.”

Brickman added that organizations might benefit from account-based marketing platforms like Marketo or Eloqua for content deployment.

“These platforms provide a centralized view of customer data and enable the deployment of personalized content across various owned and paid marketing channels,” he explained.

4. Create personalized content

This, in turn, allows brands to achieve their primary objective: delivering personalized content.

Email marketing is a prime example. Tink Taylor, president of email marketing automation platform dotmailer, highlighted a study by analytics firm Jupiter Research, which found that relevant emails drive 18 times more revenue compared to generic broadcast emails.

“Email marketing for e-commerce offers incredible personalization opportunities,” added Victor Ramirez, owner of digital marketing agency An Abstract Agency. “Platforms like MailChimp now offer automated tools for WordPress and Shopify sites that send personalized emails based on user behavior. For instance, if a customer abandons a spatula in their cart, instead of sending a generic product email, you can send one showcasing four different spatula models within a similar price range.”

However, email personalization isn’t limited to customers. Jessi Carr, digital marketing specialist at SEO company Inseev Interactive, emphasized its value in outreach for content promotion and building partnerships with journalists, bloggers, and influencers.

5. Personalize the entire experience

Prabhjot Singh, president of growth intelligence platform Pyze, introduced the concept of “experience personalization,” which involves tailoring web and mobile applications based on user behavior – a step beyond simply personalizing content like emails.

Andrew Hubbard, digital marketing consultant, agreed that customizing the website experience based on past behavior raises the bar for personalization.

Via Pardot “This means different customer personas encounter different content, offers, and sales messages specifically crafted for them,” Hubbard explained. “This might involve tagging contacts within the company’s CRM system based on their content consumption, tailoring future web, email, and sales content accordingly.”

He elaborated, “While there are varying degrees of implementation, a basic example involves a company offering a product suitable for both SEO specialists and paid traffic professionals. By identifying a lead’s persona through email tags based on their past behavior, the company can direct them to different sales pages tailored for each specialization. This level of personalization allows for targeted communication of the solution’s benefits, naturally boosting conversion rates.”

However, achieving this level of personalization requires the right tools. As Annabel Daly, group marketing manager for e-commerce personalization platform PureClarity, noted, “Personalization is only as effective as the data collected.”

Daly advised brands to consider several factors when evaluating software for their personalization efforts: the ability to upload historical data; real-time reporting and ROI tracking capabilities; the product’s own development roadmap; and its compatibility with potential website changes, such as multicurrency support or responsive design.

Additionally, Handmaker recommended analyzing customer lifetime value to determine the appropriate level of personalization investment.

“Conducting ROI modeling to understand the costs associated with personalization implementation, as well as the potential revenue benefits, can help determine the appropriate level of effort for these initiatives,” she concluded.