When 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase if a brand offers personalized experiences, the importance of personalized marketing can’t be ignored. Businesses that hope to break through the noise and effectively connect with their customers are quickly learning that personalized content is the key.
We’ll share some personalization examples below to show you how this works in practice, but first, let’s set the foundation.
What Is Personalized Content?
Personalized content leverages customer data to deliver a brand experience that is unique to each consumer. A one-size-fits-all approach gets lost in the digital noise – 76% of consumers are frustrated when personalization is missing. This affects not just customer satisfaction but also conversion rates, as digital customers click away.
Your customer wants to be treated like a unique individual (which they are), not a number. Personalized content incorporates data specific to the individual customer, such as their name, past purchases, loyalty rewards, where they’re at in the customer journey and more, meaning it’s instantly more relevant.
Interested in how it works? Here are some real-world examples of personalized content plus inspiration for how you can use it with your audience.
8 Places To Find and Use Personalized Content
Personalized content covers all digital media — even video — and almost every industry you can think of, from the obvious ones (looking at you, retail) to the less obvious. (When was the last time your utilities provider provider sent you a personalized message).
While the lineup below isn’t an exhaustive list of every place you can find personalized content, it will give you a thorough introduction to where you can leverage content personalization to wow your customers.
1. Dynamic Social Media Content
One of the most popular sources for personalized content is social media. From Instagram’s Explore tab to TikTok’s For You page, most platforms have a function where they curate posts for each individual using an algorithm that analyzes user activity.
Some platforms even share personalized roundups for users, adding data points to quick videos to create unique (and shareable) compilations. Spotify Wrapped leaps to mind with its personalized year in review delivering your ultimate playlist.
With this kind of personalization increasingly common, users now expect personalized content online. They’ll hide or mark posts as irrelevant to optimize their experience. Scrambling to stay in front of their customers, brands have had to prioritize a personalized approach throughout their marketing efforts.
The good news is that as customers become more familiar with this type of user-led personalization, they’re more willing to share data with brands. New research shows 73% of consumers will share data with brands if it enables a more personalized experience. And you can use this to make their user experience better, including on social media. For example, advertisers can create Dynamic Video Ads customized to niche customer segments.
Here’s an example from O2, you can see how the video changes based on the user’s device and interest. Dynamic ads like these get up to 7x return on ad spend simply because they’re more engaging and more targeted for the individual.
Of course, targeted content on social media crops up in more than just advertising and curated feeds. Social media allows for direct interaction with the consumer, and what could be more personal than that? Take TikTok, for example. The stitching feature (here’s an example) has allowed countless brands to reply directly to their target audience with relevant content.
The big takeaway here is that social media is a great opportunity for leveraging consumer data to create more personalized experiences, but be sure to do it in such a way that adds value for the consumer.
Cadbury executed this perfectly with its Cadbury Glow campaign. They had customers connect their Facebook accounts to create Personalized Videos that incorporated photos and names pulled from their profile. The videos were then sent as mementos to friends and family.
This is just one example of a creative marketing campaign that let customers opt in to share their data to enjoy a more personalized customer experience.
2. Personalized Emails
Ever suffered from an overflowing inbox? You’ve probably noticed that marketing emails seem to generally favor quantity over quality. You’d spend all day if you were to read every single message. Plenty of users ignore them completely, but for those who do open, you have about 1.5 seconds to catch their attention.
That means you better make that limited time count. Personalization helps. It can be as simple as putting your customer’s first name into the email subject line. Experian found that, compared to other promotional mailings, personalized subject lines achieved:
- 27% higher unique click rates
- 11% higher click-to-open rates
- More than 2x the transaction rate
But personalized subject lines (or greetings) are more of a baseline. Everyone’s doing these now. The content of the actual email can also be optimized with customer data. For instance, consider an email that highlights a player’s gaming stats and invites them back to beat their record would be much more effective than a generic reminder to play.
Retailers like Amazon have been leveraging customer data for more personalized emails for years. They often send recommendations based on past purchases. Not only does this guarantee that the message is relevant, but it also encourages the customer to trust the brand’s messages.
But this happens in other industries too. We’ve helped several insurance companies leverage personalized content via video email marketing, such as a video reminder for their upcoming renewal (to cut churn). Phone carriers reach out with personalized upgrade offers and self-service options. And utility providers sometimes send personalized email videos to give customers tips on saving energy.
Ultimately, including information that’s meaningful to the recipient is what will increase metrics like open rate and click-through rate. Over time, your email subscriber will grow to expect personalized content from you and be more inclined to open and read your emails. That’s what you want.
Dedicated tools like HubSpot’s content personalization platform will make this process a little easier. You can automatically create personalized emails and website content by pulling customer data directly from your CRM. This makes it super easy to create subject lines that attract attention and body copy that converts.
Remember: It’s not just the subject line that influences open rate. The sender (your brand) matters too. Make sure your subscribers know you always include relevant content just for them.
If you want your customers to pay attention to you, you need to show that you’ve paid attention to them as well.
3. Video Personalization
Businesses have long used video to communicate with their customers. From TV commercials to social media content, the medium has been an effective way to show a brand’s message versus just telling it.
Historically, marketers have seen video as part of a time-consuming, costly production process. And that meant video content was designed to appeal to as many people as possible.
Today, it’s different. Companies can easily personalize videos for each of their unique customers, merging CRM data and other data sources with video scenes so they’re dynamic.
With Personalized Video, you can have one master video with millions of variations, adding in new scenes or data points (or removing them) based on who will be watching.
Like with most things, it’s easier to show than tell. Here’s an example from the game Assassin’s Creed.
This campaign included 18 million Personalized Videos so each player could have their own custom showreel.
A bonus to this kind of personalized content? Shareability! People love sharing videos, especially when they’re in the spotlight. We often do campaigns like these, and they’re incredibly effective at boosting customer engagement and brand reach. (If you want to see some more examples of personalized recap videos, check out our best year in review tips.)
4. Personalized Offers
Offers — discounts, deals, gifts and more — that strategically use customer data are also examples of personalized content. Brands have turned to personalized offers because of how much more effective they are at getting results. It’s not surprising consumers are more responsive to offers that are tailored to them.
A popular form of this that you’ve probably seen is birthday offers or gifts. By acknowledging such a personal event, the brand strengthens its relationship with the customer while also boosting engagement and sales.
Here are 2 of the most common ways brands use personalization in their offers.
- Basing it on customer activity: “Here’s a coupon for that item you had in your cart!”
- Referencing loyalty: “Thanks for being a member for 3 years! Here’s an exclusive deal just for you.”
This example from Foxy Bingo encourages Maria to claim her reward. Note the other personalized content details throughout the video. It’s similar to our gaming example above but has a personalized call to action as well.
5. Online Quizzes and Calculators
Personalized content and interactivity often go hand-in-hand. After all, what’s more bespoke than something you’ve interacted with or customized yourself?
Online quizzes and calculators that allow customers to interact and input their information are also a helpful way to collect valuable first-party data. Those insights can then be used to create a more personalized experience for the customer.
Product recommendation quizzes are a common form of this that you may have seen. Brands typically ask customers a few questions about their needs and lifestyle and then recommend products best suited for them.
Online calculators follow a similar concept and work particularly well for businesses that offer custom solutions and prices. Interested consumers can input their data to receive a custom quote or information with a click of a button.
Check out the mortgage calculator below, which generates a new video in real time based on data provided by the user.
By adding a level of interactivity, brands not only provide customers with a fun and engaging activity, but they’re able to gather insights that will ultimately improve the customer experience going forward.
6. Apps
Apps are another common channel for personalized content. There’s a reason so many of them ask you to make an account in order to use it. In contrast to a mass of anonymous users, apps that can identify unique users can design more personalized experiences for customers.
Social media platforms, as mentioned above, are experts at this, but other kinds of apps use personalization too. Personal finance apps often analyze spending patterns, creating personalized reports and offering advice for saving and investing. Travel apps may send out tips and recommendations for customers who have trips planned.
Wellness apps can use personalized data to help customers, surfacing valuable insights with at-a-glance simplicity.
Even something as simple as a photo storage app can create personalized content. Google Photos does this with activity-based personalization (which users can toggle on or off) to remind you of special moments and even send an annual recap. In this way, the app delivers memorable content to users that’s relevant, engaging and shareable.
7. Customer Service Resources
According to Salesforce, for 80% of customers, the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services. So it’s not surprising that customer service can elevate the customer experience. While it’s not the most exciting example of personalized content, customer service is a common use case for personalization that drives real ROI.
For a customer with concerns, the most helpful resources are the ones that address your situation perfectly. Generic introductory how-to or FAQs are good to have, but they also lack the personal details and human element that can turn a bad customer service experience into a positive one.
That’s why companies are turning to personalized for better customer service. This onboarding video by SelectHealth shows how customer data can be used to provide more helpful content.
By including only relevant details, the insurance company was able to deliver a much more personalized and informative welcome, starting the relationship off right.
Bonus: Effective digital customer service solutions also ease the load on customer service representatives. We’ve seen Personalized Video drive down call center volume as much as 73%.
8. Microsites and Landing Pages
Websites are another place you’ll often find personalized content. Microsites and landing pages, in particular, lend themselves to customization for a specific audience or purpose. This makes them great places for hosting personalized content.
Often used in combination with the channels mentioned above, the possibilities with microsites and landing pages are endless. You could send an email link to a microsite that makes purchasing personalized recommendations easier or create a landing page that displays an exclusive offer.
Of course, these pages can also host Personalized Videos. A university, for example, could create a unique landing page for admitted students that displays a fun, personalized acceptance video like the one below, along with important personal details that the student would need to know.
Where Personalized Content Fits Into Your Business
So there you have it. Personalized content can show up all over the web and connected apps, from social media to email to video. It’s a great way to capture attention and stir emotions, adding a personal touch to the brand-customer relationship.
Want to reach your customers — personally? We help brands add personalization to immersive video scenes that have increased conversions by 8x and engagement over 10x. You can repurpose video content, take advantage of our AI to create on-brand videos in minutes and more. The important part is to communicate with your customers in a way that’s effective, and that’s what our Next Generation Video Platform does.
We can walk you through all the ways personalization combined with video can amplify your business. Contact us today for a free demo!
