Content marketing is a must-have for brands. In fact, it’s widely considered to be one of the best ways to market your product or service in this day and age — over 90% of marketers agree content marketing has been an effective strategy for their business.
But with every brand looking to push out their own content, how can your business rise above the digital noise? It’s simple: personalization. By catering your message to specific audiences, you can reach consumers on a more personal level.
Give your customers solutions relevant to their problems. Unlock insight into their specific scenarios. Make them feel like they’re part of a community. We dig deeper into why you need to use personalization in your content marketing efforts below.
What Is Personalization?
Personalization is the process of making content or products more relevant to the individual.
One of the most common use cases is sending out an email that greets the consumer by name. But with today’s technology, personalization is so much more. Think of TikTok, for instance. The brand has won over the attention of both younger and older generations with a carefully curated “For You” page, recommending every user snackable videos personalized to their interests.
When we talk about personalization, we’re not just talking about text. Other ways you can personalize your content include:
- Timing: If a customer visits a store after 5pm local time, they can receive an email thanking them for visiting that day with some incentive to come back tomorrow.
- Visuals: Personalization and visuals go hand-in-hand. Combining the two creates an engaging experience for every individual.
And it’s no secret that personalization works. McKinsey and Company, for instance, found that companies with an excellent personalization strategy earn 40% more revenue than those that don’t. But let’s dig into this a little more. Read on to see what other benefits personalization can bring to your content marketing.
Build Trust With Customers
Personalization is one of the best ways to help you connect with customers. By showing that you understand their needs, preferences and interests, it sends a message that you care about what they want.
And when customers know you prioritize their needs, they’re more likely to trust you. This can be especially important if your brand hasn’t been around for long. You want people to feel like they can trust that you’ll offer them something worth buying (or reading).
Just take a look at the insurance industry. An insurance customer who doesn’t trust their provider is 18x as likely to change carriers within the following 3 years as one who does. To build trust, be transparent as possible with personalization. Clearly explain every customer’s insurance policy, just as USAA did below.
Hiding key information in blocky texts of jargon can lose your customers’ trust. But a video like this does just the opposite, clearly explaining key parts of every viewer’s specific policy like their deductible, coverage limit and more. It takes the claims process from confusing to easy to follow, and consumers know they can trust you to be transparent.
Plus, personalization helps keep messages short and succinct — key for today’s customers who have shorter attention spans and want faster answers.
Boost Your Content’s Reach
Personalized content is incredibly shareable. Just take a look at Spotify’s “Wrapped” campaign, which takes social media by storm every year. Consumers love content about their favorite topic — themselves.
A great example is a personalized recap campaign, as shown above. These types of campaigns are a great way to surprise and delight customers — especially in gaming. It shows players new insight into their gameplay, like how many levels they unlocked or how they stacked up against the competition.
Whatever industry you’re in, giving your customers a piece of content that highlights their biggest wins and achievements is something they’re likely to want to show off on social media. Now, your customers are sharing your content for you to their friends, family and followers — and this kind of word-of-mouth marketing is key for attracting new business.
Increase Email Engagement
Increasing email engagement is a common pain point for marketers. Whether you’re looking to give a personal welcome to your company or send an exclusive offer, tailoring your email content reduces the chances users will skim your email and move on to the next.
Because your customers are getting a message specifically for them, they’re more likely to read through your email and engage with it — clicking through to a website or landing page or even replying with their input.
Even personalizing the subject line can increase your chances of success. A study by Yes Lifecycle Marketing shows personalizing your email subject lines can increase open rates by 50%.
Upgrade Your Content Marketing With Personalization
Personalization is key for a successful content marketing strategy, and you can’t tap into this strategy without customer data.
But even if your CRM database is looking sparse, there’s still a way to harness customer data and take your content to the next level.
With advanced video interactivity, customers input their own data and personalize your content to their liking. The upshot? Customers get a video that includes exactly what they want, while your brand can leverage that data to build upon future campaigns.
Interested? Let’s connect.
