Busy customers want a direct, easy path to finding products and services. This guide offers a roadmap to personalization that can help lead to more satisfied customers and e-commerce transactions.
Today’s busy customers want a direct, easy path to finding products and services when browsing online. E-commerce sites need to intuitively serve up items that fit each customer’s interests and needs at that moment while making the experience fast and smooth.
Whether selling products, services, subscriptions, or anything else, personalized experiences are a key factor in converting items in a cart into completed purchases. Buyers spend more when their experience is personalized, according to 80 percent of business leaders in a 2023 global survey by Statista. In addition, 62 percent said that personalization has a favorable impact on customer retention.
Blending all aspects of an e-commerce transaction into a seamless, supportive experience is critical. At Venti Digital, we have a deep knowledge of customer behavior, plus the ability to design and implement the technology that drives loyalty and repeat business. This guide offers a roadmap that can help lead to more successful e-commerce transactions.
GATHER DATA
Data insights are the engine behind effective personalization. You can pull data from many sources, such as website analytics, social media listening tools, customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, customer feedback, loyalty programs, surveys, promotions, and third-party research.
One factor that significantly improves the effectiveness of personalization is letting customers opt-in and self-identify their needs. They feel a greater sense of partnership and loyalty when they choose you.
PERSONAS AND SEGMENTATION
Your marketing budgets are already stretched. Use data to refine and extend your efforts. Advanced and proven personalization techniques help you reach the most promising customers in ways they are receptive to and with messages that spur purchases.
Different people will use the same products in various ways. They also will have different ideas of the most important features and benefits. How do you know what to say to whom?
To maximize your marketing dollar and reach the right people with the best messages, you can build personas—profiles of different targeted customer categories. Start by using data to map your broad target customers by traits, needs, motivations, frustrations, and other essential factors. Then, refine these insights into distinct personalities that reflect actual customer groups.
These steps will help you create personalized content that aligns with your messages, motivates buyers, and maximizes your investment.
CONDUCT PROACTIVE OUTREACH
Provide consistent, informative content based on the personas you developed to keep your business top-of-mind. Effective proactive email and social media outreach campaigns can keep current, prospective, and former customers aware of—and interested in—your products, whether they are your traditional core offerings, new products, accessories, refills, or new uses for products.
Offer valuable tips, ways to save time and money, or ways to improve their skills related to what you sell. Then, intersperse marketing messages into your email marketing. By anticipating customer needs and building excitement and knowledge, you become a trusted partner and reliable source when they are ready to purchase.
PERSONALIZE GREETINGS
Your home page is a great place to show customer appreciation and build their confidence that they have made the right decision to browse your site. Make them feel your excitement and that they are part of a bigger team. You can personalize the welcome message based on their previous interactions—for example, by providing a new customer offer or recognizing them as a valued repeat visitor. You can suggest deals of the day, trending products, or seasonal specials.
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Once visitors have logged in, offer recommendations based on their past searches and purchasing history. Personalization also applies to accessories and related items. For example, if someone is browsing soccer shoes, your site should render pictures and info about socks and shin guards.
Keep the conversation active through check-out. Provide more product recommendations based on past purchases. For example, when customers bought product X (e.g., soccer shoes), they also bought product Y (e.g., soccer-related T-shirts or water bottles).
CREATE WISH LISTS AND REMINDERS
Wish lists are a powerful bridge between research/browsing and purchasing. They allow consumers to bookmark items for further review and consideration, especially if they don’t need the item immediately or if they earmark it for future use or an occasion. At the same time, wish lists provide valuable insights your company can use for marketing, branding, and product development.
Wish lists can have various names, such as “favorites” and “lists.” There is a lot of demographic research on who uses wish lists and how they like to use them, but the main benefit is your ability to customize messages to consumers. You also need to have a strategy for how (and how often) to remind consumers of their wish list items—with no reminders, they may forget about the item, and with too many reminders, they may become annoyed.
VENTI DIGITAL IS HERE TO HELP
Personalization allows your company to stand out and break through the clutter in a world where people are overwhelmed by countless choices and constant chatter. It’s simple: personalization helps you give customers exactly what they are looking for when they are looking for it.
McKinsey research shows that 71 percent of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interaction. Personalization marketing has real advantages for companies: it can reduce customer acquisition costs by as much as 50 percent, lift revenues by 5 to 15 percent, and increase marketing ROI by 10 to 30 percent.
Venti Digital is deeply experienced in all facets of e-commerce personalization. We will help you determine how to maximize your efforts and expand them to new heights.
Contact us to see how we can help you implement the benefits of e-commerce personalization!
