Despite personalization being lauded as a best practice principle for years, many brands still struggle with the implementation. Recent research conducted by McKinsey revealed that just 40 percent of personalized messages actually feel personal to the recipient. This isn’t surprising as personalization is complex, and businesses are complex. Most importantly, brands are just at the starting gates of personalization.

However, any savvy marketer will agree that, in the age of the hyper-connected consumer, delivering a personalized experience is the key to bridging the gap that is growing between a customer’s expectations and the customer experience reality that brands can deliver.

With that in mind, many businesses have successfully set up the basic hygiene factors and dynamic profiling for personalization. In addition, they have been able to run a few campaigns. The challenge is now getting fully up and running and successfully maintaining personalization.

The latest Maxymiser Customer User Forum tackled this very subject of how to achieve personalization in 2018. Kate Loren, Consulting Services Manager, and Steven Coulomb, Consulting Services Manager, Oracle opened with this question, “Given we are all customers, why do marketers find personalization so hard?”

What we learned? As marketers, we think in segments and channels and want customers to generate revenue. As customers, we don’t care about segments and just want an easy and relevant experience.   

What it all boils down to is emotion and connection. In fact, a quote from American poet Maya Angelou sums it up well; "I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

As customers continue to grow in digital maturity, the customer experience gap will get wider So, it is imperative to focus on how to achieve personalization now. And it is all about the ability to align people, data, and processes.

During the forum we heard from industry experts and speakers on how they have implemented personalization and aligned people, data, and processes. And here are some of the key lessons and out takes.

Abby Francis, Online Marketing Manager, Carphone Warehouse Online Solutions

• Challenge yourself to make personalization something that drives ROI rather than just another marketing buzzword.
• Some customers don’t want to know you are monitoring their behavior ,so you need to ensure the experience you create is natural.
• Test small experiences to see the effect. If the results are positive, you can see the potential impact on the bottom line. If the results are negative, you can showcase the revenue saved by testing rather than conducting a formal roll out.

Terry Rydzynski, Head of Optimisation (CRO), Camelot

• Reassess the current measurement model. Most businesses will have the measure learn loop model. Ask whether your business should evolve this or change it completely.
• Build KPIs on a macro and micro level to ensure you are truly measuring all levels of personalization on the business.
• Use GDPR as a reminder that marketers are responsible for delivering relevant content.

Abdul Hamid Ebrahim, Associate Director, Transformation Services, Oracle

• Personalization cannot be truly successful unless it transforms the business. Change management is required. And start with the small ‘t’ – “Incremental improvements in an organization’s digital marketing efforts driven by the adoption of particular technologies that significantly impact the achievement of its goals.”
• Whether you know it or not, your senior leadership is talking about personalization. So, take the chance to be proactive and engage wider business to get their buy in.

The forum ended with the question, “What are you most excited about over the next 12 months when it comes to personalization?” The answer really focused in on unlocking data and linking it together so you can truly see that personalization is making a tangible difference to the bottom line. To do that, success in a new era of personalization requires marketers’ to plan, structure, and align around the customer.

There is nothing more important than creating exceptional customer experience to help rebuild trust and build a strong brand reputation. Download Customer Experience Simplified: Deliver The Experience Your Customers Want to learn how to craft an outstanding experience for your customers​.