Why Getting to Know the Customer Matters

Personalization is nothing new. It started with targeted ads on Gmail and Facebook, along with product recommendations on Amazon. But with technology becoming more sophisticated, it’s important for companies to personalize their messages to consumers and provide them with one-on-one customer service.
“The more you can personalize and have a relevant conversation, the better your chances to engage and create brand ambassadors,” writes ClickZ’s Sundeep Kapur.

The more people are treated as individuals and have their specific needs met by companies, the more they will feel loyal to the brand.

Kapur highlights the personalization tactics of HDFC Bank in India, where tellers begin “financial interactions with its customers by addressing the consumer by their name, in their preferred language, and with a question (usually asking if they would like to repeat their last transaction). This recognition and relevance helps save time that is appreciated by the consumer and it also shows the consumer that the bank knows who the consumer really is.”

This type of specific customer service pays off for the company. “HDFC boasts conversion rates of above 21 percent, with more than 70 percent of its consumers paying attention to the messages,” he writes.

A 2011 survey by Group and MyBuys concluded that “46 percent of consumer respondents would be more likely to buy from retailers who personalized their experience with that brand and 66 percent of consumer respondents expected a more personalized experience if they were part of a loyalty program,” according to Mobivity.com.

The study gauged how personalized text messages contributed to the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

As Jeanne Hopkins points out, despite all the advances, good marketing has to inherently be personal and relate to the consumer. “Never forget that the key to great marketing is having an in-depth understanding of users,” she says. “No matter how much technology changes, that never does.”

Image courtesy of renaissancechambara/flickr