Infographic: The Problem With Personalized Marketing

I love Old Navy. It’s one of the few brands I let into my personal inbox, and I often open and read the company’s messages. Emails with subject lines like “Nicole, Your Shopping Bag Has Abandonment Issues” remind me to decide what items I’m going to buy in a way that’s clear and playful, which makes me happy to do so.

However, Old Navy also recently sent me an email with the subject line “Still Thinking It Over?” that I archived without reading. It’s a shame, because it turns out that email contained links to three cute dresses that Old Navy thought I would like, based on my shopping history. But “Still Thinking It Over?” didn’t quite communicate that information in a way that felt specific to me. I had no idea there was a personalized recommendation inside, so I missed the brand’s attempt to market clothing that I might have been interested in.

A new infographic from Forrester Consulting and SAP Hybris takes a closer look at the issue of personalized marketing—an area where many of us could improve. Although 66 percent of marketers state that their personalization efforts are “very good” or “excellent,” only 16 percent of them are actually able to provide behavior-based marketing in real time across multiple channels.

Meanwhile, 37 percent of consumers delete the majority of marketing emails they receive without reading them, and 40 percent feel like the promotional emails they receive don’t include interesting offers. Clearly there’s a disconnect here—just because marketers are focusing more on personalized marketing doesn’t mean they’re doing it well.

Take a look at the infographic for more useful information on how to get better at contextual marketing. After all, if you’ve got a new dress for me to buy, I want to make sure I open that email.