Would you like to have a personal stylist who helps you select clothes based on your closet, budget, and style?
That is also online.
Moreover, the brand ships hand-picked clothes to your doorsteps, let’s you keep what you want, and send the rest back.
Flattering?
Now give your imagination a break and think of the last time you offered a similar personalized experience to your customers.
We all know that a personalized experience increases customer loyalty and brings a big smile to customers’ faces. It keeps them attached to your brand even though your competitors spare no effort in catching their attention.
So when I planned my research on digital marketing, I knew that personalization is the topic I need to cover.
Not just basic personalization like including the first name of prospects in email, but something more like hyper-personalization.
What is Hyper-Personalization?
Hyper-Personalization is the use of data to offer highly personalized products, services, and content to targeted customers. For example, delivering customers their favorite coffee in the morning, at the office, to help them kick start their day.
In his book “The Tipping Point”, Malcolm Gladwell predicted that hyper-personalization will become the part of marketing in 2020 and turn into a requirement for businesses to keep the pace with evolving consumer trends.
We are already here.
You have all sorts of customers’ data to personalize your marketing.
But how do you insert hyper-personalized experience in your brand?
I found answers to your questions in seven hyper-personalization tactics that successful brands are using to deliver an unforgettable customer experience.
Here they are:
1. Talk with Users on Their Favorite Subject with Hyper-Personalized Chatbots
Who’s your favorite historical personality?
Let’s say it’s Albert Einstein. And you have spent a good part of your life researching on him.
Imagine if you could talk to him and know more about him personally.
Just ask Albert Einstein about his personal and professional life and get your answers as if you are talking with a friend.
Would you like that?
National Geographic installed Messenger bots on its Facebook page where users can start a conversation with their favorite figures like Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso.
National Geographic’s new TV show named Genius records a series of events, facts, and other data of popular personalities and turns them into Messenger bots. These bots follow the users’ conversation, inform them about the show, and discuss relevant topics.
How to Copy this Strategy?
Your users must be fond of something. Something that is dear to their heart. No matter what it is – something as big as Einstein or as small as marketing or productivity tips. You can create chatbots that answer to their questions in such a way as if users are talking with a person, sharing their problems, and getting solutions. In-between, you can slip your products as a part of the solution.
2. Bring Customers Back with Hyper-Personalized Mobile App Marketing
Starbucks fans are not only crazy for the coffees but also for the brand’s personalized loyalty program app. Starbucks has designed its app in such a way that each user feels like this app is made for them.
For example, if you regularly eat Turkey Pesto Panini at Starbucks, the app rewards you with points if you eat it again – a hyper-personalized, persuasive tactic to bring customers back.
By analyzing data like past purchases, preferred users’ tastes, and activities, Starbucks recommends products personalized for each customer.
How to Copy this Strategy?
If mobile app marketing is a part of your business, you have a great space to deliver hyper-personalized customer experience.
Collect data points of your customers and use them to recommend products that you know your customers are mad for. Use reward programs or freebies or discounts to firm their purchase decision.
3. Become Addictive to Your Customers with Hyper-Personalized Push Notifications
Netflix anyone?
Feeling the urge to check it out now and see what the app has in store for you?
Yes, only for you.
Netflix’s hyper-personalization marketing starts with its home page. As soon as you land there, it will recommend products that you are highly interested in. Once the brand collects your data, it’s push notifications will never allow you to forget Netflix. And those push notifications won’t be forceful. In fact, you would love to receive them and ask for more.
Here’s the tweet from one of the Netflix’s fans commenting on the brand’s push notifications strategy:
Netflix allows users to rate the content with likes/dislikes. The brand combines this data with the content’s stream count and individual user profiles to predict users’ favorite content. At last, Netflix uses this data to recommend hyper-personalized content in the form of push notifications. The recommendations are so relevant that users feel as if Netflix knows them very well.
How to Copy this Strategy?
Give users an option to like and dislike your content/product/services via an app or website. Combine this data with users’ past history and send them hyper-personalized push notifications to make them addictive to your brand.
4. Grant Users’ Wishes with Hyper-Personalized Emails
If you are a consistent Amazon shopper, you must have realized, at some point, that Amazon is watching you each moment. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be receiving those Amazon emails with deals on the exact products you looked for recently.
For example, recently, I purchased a book titled “The Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown from Amazon. I know it’s too late, but I finally read it.
Anyways, after three days, I received an email from Amazon with a list of more books in the same series from Amazon.
Amazon has complete access to users’ data like their name, search queries, average time spent on searching, past search and purchase histories, time of purchases, the average amount spent, etc. Using this data, Amazon creates each user profile to craft a highly personalized email highlighting products that you recently searched for (or might have purchased something from the same brand)
How to Copy this Strategy?
You need four customers’ data points to design hyper-personalized emails:
- Customers previous purchase history
- Abandoned shopping cart details
- Customers returned back from the pricing page
- Rated and liked products
Using the details above, you can send emails of highly relevant products wrapped in undeniable deals and discounts.
5. Upgrade Your Users’ Knowledge with Hyper-Personalized Content
You don’t need to go anywhere to check out how this works.
Open Google on your smartphone, and you will get the answer.
Yes, I am talking about Discover, which I have grown addicted to.
As soon as I land on Google, a topic catches my eye, and I dive deeper to explore more. Forgetting about my own research. Google’s Discover is no less than a social media site for me. I can’t stop myself from scrolling through its content.
Let’s just say I am a big fan of Disney and Google Discover knows it well to deliver updates for the same.
As you know, Google knows everything about your searches. Discover use this data to predict your interested areas and level of expertise on particular topics. It helps you develop those interests by delivering relevant content. For example, if you are planning your next trip, Discover offers you an article on the best places to visit. At the same time, Discover saves three months old article for your next visit to upgrade your knowledge.
How to Copy this Strategy?
Deliver your users’ favorite content via your app, email, or push notifications. Keep track of what they have searched recently relevant to your business and deliver the same or upgraded, engaging content as soon as possible. It makes them feel like you care for them.
6. Build Your Brand’s Community with Hyper-Personalized User Generated Content
Ever took a shot on iPhone and became a part of #ShotOnIphone campaign?
Those who do are feeling like a part of the community and are happy to click shots from their iPhone. In exchange, Apple is getting good exposure in terms of branding and marketing.
Image source: Apple
Apple is running this #ShotOnIphone campaign since years. It motivates consumers to click shots from iPhone and share their best moments. This campaign is one of the many reasons why Apple never runs out of trend.
How to Copy this Strategy?
Build a campaign where users can share something with the world. Stories, pics, videos, or anything. Share their stories in your circle to make them feel like a part of the community. As you grow, your users will be willing to share more.
7. Make Users Invest in Your Brand with Hyper-Personalized Features
One way to keep users attached to you is to make them invest in your product or services.
Spotify is not only a music streaming app. It encourages customers to create their own playlists and make their way to building an entire music library on their account. Over the months, users generally end-up creating hundreds of playlists with tons of tracks that they can’t imagine ditching for any other music app. They have invested ample of time into Spotify and now are locked into paying a premium – happily though – to take care of their playlists.
Image Source: VentureHarbour
Spotify’s playlist is designed to keep users engaged and consume their favorite music without putting much effort.
How to Copy this Strategy?
Allow users to build something their own within your app. Say something like the list of articles or even better snippets they liked the most. Let them store it like a treasure and give them easy access to open it any time.
Time To Go Hyper-Personalized
By using the examples and strategies above, you can bring prospects together in meaningful ways, without forcing them. Not only this, you can go further in keeping them attached with your brand as long as you desire. Businesses of all types are gaining a lot from hyper-personalization marketing. They are successfully building long-term relationships with customers and paving their way to grow the list.
Now it’s your turn.