Understanding Your Audience: The Key to Personalization
It appears to me that we have never been more obsessed with how our customers think. Data, statistics, tracking, monitoring - you name it. Implies That but to get ahead of the competition and make your brand stand out, personalisation is key - and i’m not talking about some basic email with your customer’s name on it (although that does help). Truly understanding your audience involves quite a bit of research and data gathering, but the trick is how you use that information.
You want to be able to anticipate your customer’s needs by analysing their buying history, what they’re browsing for, who they’re following, and so on. The more you know about them, the easier it will be to show them exactly what they want at the right time. Personalisation can take many forms: sending abandoned cart reminders, offering discounts on products previously purchased or browsed, celebrating special occasions, asking for feedback after a purchase or interaction with your brand or even just giving them early access to products in line with their buying habits. The more you tailor experiences based on data and feedback from your customers and potential customers, the better engagement you’ll receive.
You’re showing that you care about what they like and that can be as good as money in the bank. People are more likely to spend on brands that listen to them (whether that’s a desire for sustainable products or something as small as a reminder for an item they were looking at). Don’t forget though: there is such a thing as ‘overpersonalisation’ where people feel stalked and creeped out when you’ve analysed too much data.
While it’s important to address customer needs based on information collected about their behaviour (online or offline), personalisation should still feel authentic and human - because if it feels forced or robotic, people won’t respond well either.
Crafting Tailored Experiences: Strategies for Unique Journeys
It's funny how people often say, ‘I want something different’, but when it comes to travel, the first thing they do is jump on a packaged tour or visit an overhyped destination. It seems like the word unique has lost its meaning. I guess it’s easy to succumb to something already tried and tested than take risks with an experience that’s completely new.
Personalising travel experiences is a bit like tailoring a suit - you can only do it for the person in question. Because someone else’s idea of a unique travel experience might be skydiving and mine might be learning a pottery class from a local artisan. And this can’t be achieved by simply looking up trending destinations on social media or even worse, picking out something you saw someone famous do. For something to be unique, it must be significant, memorable, and authentic.
So when crafting personalisation journeys for customers, you’ll need to get to know them better. It isn’t just about birthdays and anniversaries but also about what ticks off their checklist of things they’d like to try - an adventure holiday in Africa or a spa retreat in the French Alps. It helps to have platforms that can record and analyse customer preferences, give them options based on their previous choices, and create packages that offer more than just pre-planned itineraries. There’s no reason why travel agents cannot offer personalised 3-day staycation packages for domestic tourists who are on work trips or have decided to holiday closer home but are looking for a break from the ordinary.
Personalisation journeys in 2024 will depend on how well tourism brands are able to leverage data insights and technology to connect with customers at a deeper level so that they can offer experiences truly tailored for them. It shouldn’t come across as yet another marketing gimmick or an attempt at selling more expensive experiences but rather building more meaningful relationships with your customers.
Leveraging Data for Personalization: Tools and Techniques
Most retailers have more data on their customers than ever before. That’s a good thing, or at least it can be, if you’re using this data to provide a more personalised experience. Of course, there are some privacy concerns with that, but as long as you’re being transparent with your users and gaining consent, there’s nothing to worry about.
There are so many tools these days that help with personalisation - product search and discovery platforms like Algolia and Segmentify, engagement platforms like Twilio and MoEngage, content management systems like Contentful and Bynder and customer relationship management (CRM) systems such as Salesforce and Zendesk are just a few on the market. Sort of. These technologies use customer data to create custom experiences for everyone visiting your website or social media pages.
But the real secret isn’t just having these tools - it’s how you use them. First things first - look at user behaviour on your website or app to suggest other products they might like. Create a custom dashboard for every user based on their past activity. Use location-based recommendations if they enable location sharing while using your app or website.
Reach out via email with birthday discounts. Show them what other users have bought along with the item in their cart or wishlist. It can be overwhelming.
But the trick is to view all of this through a customer-first lens. If you focus only on increasing conversions or boosting sales, personalisation will feel intrusive very quickly. When it feels intrusive, customers will start searching for the opt-out button instead of the checkout button.
Every touchpoint should show users that you understand them without making them feel creeped out by it - keep testing your messages, techniques and technology until you find what works for both parties involved.
The Role of Storytelling in Customized Travel Experiences
It's odd, but people seem to have more money than time these days. With a world so full of possibilities, many people feel like they have to make the absolute most out of every trip. Sort of. But making the most out of any vacation is difficult if you don't really know what you want to do or how to do it.
This is probably where storytelling comes in handy; a skilled travel agent will be able to listen to what your likes and dislikes are and help you plan a great vacation for yourself. A skilled travel agent (with a good memory) will be able to draw on their knowledge of different locations and hotels to weave a story for you about your vacation before you've even been on it. This helps you visualise and get excited about the places you'll visit and things you'll see.
Storytelling also comes in handy when you're trying to explain an experience or activity that's unfamiliar. Walking through a day in the life of a person who lives in the place you're visiting can give clients a sense of what they'll see and do without resorting to comparisons that might not do justice to their destination. A focus on storytelling will help clients develop empathy for their destination. The thing about storytelling is that sometimes it doesn't work.
If you're speaking with someone who can't imagine themselves doing something, they'll usually find it quite funny that you're suggesting they go hiking up a hill or visit an escape room. But this is often an indication that something's been missed in their brief - in these cases, it might be worthwhile asking again about things they've liked doing previously so they're happy with their vacation.
Building Emotional Connections: Personal Touches that Resonate
Something about seeing your name, right at the top of a message can make you feel seen. In the hustle and bustle of digital commerce, retailers rarely see you as anything more than a walking wallet, just another random number in a sea of numbers. This is why, when they throw you a bone in the form of an email that says ‘Hey, Pete. We’ve been missing you.
Here are some things that we think you might like’, you listen. It’s the norm for brands to send cold product recommendations to their target audiences through mass messages and emails - it’s just good business. However, for those on the receiving end of these messages - if they’ve shopped with or interacted with your brand before - having their names spelt correctly (first and last) and maybe even remembering their birthdays might make all the difference. Sort of.
My best friend receives birthday wishes from her favourite brands every year. Sometimes there are relatively perks attached and other times it’s just nice to be thought of - even if only by an entity for whom it takes nothing more than a second for a notification to be shot out using automation tools. The act stands alone and counts for more than most people realise. When someone is made to feel like they were specially thought of or remembered by any brand or person, chances are they’ll want to keep coming back time and again.
It goes beyond first names in messages and product recommendations though - if you've got the data to spare, try new approaches. Like Instagram’s ‘Memories’ feature where users can share stories from past years on the same date. This works very well because so many people love reliving moments that have brought them joy before. The next logical step here would be to get them to recreate these memories with your brand.
And then there is content that connects across demographics regardless of where they're at on their shopping journey - content that is human and relatable; stories told through personal anecdotes, non-salesy entertainment-driven engagement material, educational content tailored for specific categories based on historical data - people respond well to different approaches in personalisation because at its core it makes them feel closer and more connected to you which in turn ensures loyalty.
Measuring Success: Analyzing the Impact of Personalization on Sales
I have a sneaking suspicion that in retail, there's always a healthy bit of cynicism when it comes to change. Especially ones that are led by technology. Seems like as soon as something new is introduced - from personalisation to AI-based assistants - people everywhere begin wondering just how much of a difference it can make to sales, numbers, and the all-important bottomline. Personalisation has had quite the journey since its early days.
Most business owners seem to think of it as a basic value add, but that's underselling just how much research goes into personalising experiences for people. In fact, measuring the impact or even thinking about success with personalisation begins with understanding just how big an umbrella term it is. From email campaigns to AI-driven online stores, personalisation has seeped into almost every aspect of our lives and buying journeys. But here's the clincher - the impact isn't always immediate or easy to measure.
Because ultimately personalisation is slightly about building relationships based on trust and mutual benefit. And relationships take time. So yes, you can see success rates skyrocket over time when you've got enough data and some cutting-edge personalisation tools on your side.
But what's interesting is that these are still essentially relationships you're building. Some may be too shy, some may want more information, some need less information and some will probably ghost you for years only to appear randomly one day and pick up right where you left off. What we seem to forget when we talk about measuring success with things like personalisation in sales is that we're often talking about other people here too.