Take It Personally
In an increasingly online focused world, personalisation becomes the key to customer engagement.
David Alexander, Digital New Business Manager at EHS Bran, discusses the increasing need for robust customer insight to inform brand marketing and, in particular, the relevance to digital marketing with the opportunities for personalised content the medium provides.
Consumers today are demanding more from brands before engaging with them. As the marketing domain becomes increasingly competitive, marketers need to work harder than ever if their investments in marketing collateral are to pay off.
As we are increasingly aware, the possibilities that the digital space affords marketing are seemingly endless. The opportunity to create hundreds of thousands of personalised variations make consumers’ online brand experiences unique, incredibly engaging, and therefore highly effective. Many marketers are diving in head first, taking on the digital challenge to increase their presence in an increasingly online-focused world.
Digital channels allow for personalisation in a way that no others can and this is what is so attractive to marketers. But you must go about it in the right way and in the right context. In truth, digital is the bridge between just talking about personalisation and actually making it a reality, due to the medium’s data capture capabilities, combined with the technical possibilities which can impress and encourage consumer trust.
The importance of an initial communication, such as a first visit to a website where an email address is put in, cannot be underestimated. It is from this first online contact that personalisation takes place. The information provided - name, email address and behaviour, for example what they look at on a store site, will inform all your communications going forward.
By being able to follow consumers, marketers are able to see exactly where they need to be, where consumers respond the most as well as what constitutes the main drivers to sales. The data acquisition possible through digital marketing not only makes it simple for consumers to relay correct and up to date information but also enables marketers to use this information immediately, making decisions in real time and giving consumers what they want, when they want it.
A government environmental project we worked on, The Act on CO2 Calculator, is a good example. EHS Brann was challenged to create a carbon calculator that would set the benchmark for carbon calculators, utilising government approved data to enable UK residents to calculate their CO2 emissions easily and accurately.
The dedicated campaign website used the latest governmental approved methodology and data, taking the user through 40 questions on household and travel activities, while offering visual carrots along the way to keep them interested. Based on their answers a complex series of calculations computed the tons of CO2 emitted each year, either by themselves specifically or their household overall. We were able to provide users with a service that interested and benefitted them, while gathering vital data along the way.
Being able to compile step by step data in this way also allows is for a greater transparency in customer behaviour, as we can establish exactly where they go and what they do. This information is priceless to a brand as it enables marketers to see exactly what consumers respond to, allowing for more effective targeting across the marketing campaign.
Whilst it’s great that so many brands are recognising the need to offer consumers more online, the fundamental rules of marketing must not be forgotten. With increased possibility to make a consumer experience personal, there is also an increase in the number of opportunities to get it wrong. The last thing we need is for digital marketing to be tarred with the ‘junk mail’ brush, with an increase in spam and the resulting alienation of consumers from the medium.
It is vital to avoid trying to look clever with amazing creative and personalisation if your customer insight isn’t completely up to speed. The truth is, there are some very clever digital marketers operating at the moment and those that don’t hit the mark in every area of their operations will stand out to consumers and industry experts alike, for all the wrong reasons.
The need to avoid mistakes is only exacerbated by the current economic crisis. Consumers are being more careful with their money than ever and it is going to take a well managed consumer relationship to encourage many to make purchases. But, in this climate, digital marketing comes into its own.
The truth is that no marketing tool is an island and an effective marketing campaign will have a broad reach across many channels. Customers are making contact with a brand at all kinds of different levels and at different times, so it is imperative to have a detailed understanding of these touchpoints to make marketing efforts as cost effective as possible. Any successful marketing campaign will have a 360 degree approach in order to take the customer on a journey, where the final destination is a long-term relationship and sales.
Digital communications are so important in this approach because they are the most responsive, able to allow for real-time marketing decisions and so give consumers the information they need, when they want it. A customer can wait two weeks for a catalogue they have requested to arrive through the post but an online shop tailored to that specific customer, with products aligned with the information that the brand has received can be provided immediately online. It is this ability to strike whilst the iron is hot that sets digital as a marketing channel apart.
The modern consumer has less time and less money so the rise of digital amongst customers is not surprising in itself. This enthusiasm for immediate brand engagement is being reflected by brands becoming more savvy in the digital sphere.