To be able to connect is one of the most important thing to get a meaning out of something. In business, being "connected" to consumers means that you know what they want. There are many businesses, even big players in the industry aren't still able to get their methods right in reaching their consumers. The result is a growing concern in which companies realize that they couldn't totally understand what their consumers want.
Being disconnected from consumers is the very least you want when faced with the challenges of selling things online.
Online personalization for users is still far from perfect. Many companies are still struggling to get their applications right. But having the ability to give a personalized online experience, despite its imperfect form, is still far better than having none at all.
Every consumers need the ability to have a personalized experience that is dedicated to each of the individuals. This is becoming a requirement for companies to stay relevant to their loyal consumers. In order to to this right, companies have to make use of consumers' data to tailor that wanted experience.
There are numerous online tools that can aid companies in personalizing their user experience. The outcome if cone right, is a better understanding of each individuals so companies can give a better personalized web experience that translates to more successful sales.
On the web, most people don't know each other, in contrast to physical shops where the sellers can meet and greet their buyers in person. The goal of web personalization here is to get "close" to consumers no matter where and who they are. As almost everyone on the web are strangers, personalization is the key of a successful approach.
Below are the three personalization that can lead to a better consumer experience on the web.
Customer Profile
When your consumers are visiting your website for either contacting you or just needing for more information, customer profile starts as the very first interaction your consumers can get. With the data you have about your consumers, you should be able to create a personalized experience in which each of your consumers are getting unique contents crafted just for them and none others.
Both registered members on your website or just anonymous wandering visitors, are both consumers. You should be able to get most of what they want to be able to make successful sales. And one of which is by getting as much data as you can about them.
Showing the most relevant information is only possible when you're able to get accurate insights about your consumers. If they're already a registered member, data can be retrieved from your consumers' real name, email address, home/office address, nationality, country where they're visiting your from, and so forth.
For example, your website that is selling online goods may have visitors coming from countries far away from you, a soccer enthusiast that is searching for cosmetic products. Without the ability to get as much information aboutthem, you will definitely miss the opportunities to share relevant contents you have on your disposal to them.
Since most of your consumers may never complete their online profile on your website because maybe typing on the fields you've given aren't their point of interest. And as most of your web visitors are non-registered member, there is less chance of you to be able to target relevant contents. To overcome this situation, you need other data to support missing ones. Demographics such as age, locations, gender and income you get from online marketing tools, for example. As well as interests, hobbies, lifestyle to devices that your consumers are using. All the data you can get are indeed valuable.
With all the data you have about your consumers, you can get an approximate guess about what they're actually like; what they actually need; what they possibly want; and why they're interested in your products/services.
Getting to know more about your consumers is a constant work that never stops as long as your business is still running.
Contextualization Contents
Getting to know your consumers is one, and having the ability to meet their demands in real-time is the second. Both are the keys of a successful sales. To meet the two requirements together this is where contextualization comes to play.
Contextualization means the ability to know where, when and why your consumers are interacting with you. And with it, you should be able to provide information about the situation tailored specifically unique to different consumers.
If your consumers are coming from countries with Winter season, for example. It won't do any much good if your site is showing products about Summer clothing. And vice versa, you won't get much success when you're trying to sell adult clothing if your visitors are mostly teenagers.
Because your website can be accessed from anywhere on the globe by anyone at anytime, analyzing consumers as well as your context are getting more important for e-commerce websites. Modern technology can aid you to create a better contextual contents to appeal consumers better, and this ability should be integrated within your core.
By having the ability to give relevant contents to consumers, you're able to give contextual information that actually "connects" them. This will appeal consumers, praising your brand as reliable and understanding.
Transparent With Clarity
Having the ability to know who your consumers are without having to know them in person, is indeed a gift of technology. With great personalization and powerful contextual content targeting, sales should come easy, shouldn't it? Is it that simple?
Beside appealing web design, great SEO and good detail description, the answer is no. The more people are aware of technology invading their privacy, the more they are "closing the doors" to companies, the lesser the ability you can target them.
The more you know about your consumers by using personalization, the greater the skepticism you'll get from your consumers regarding the data you're collecting from them. This is largely due to the growing privacy concerns on the web.
As some people are willingly giving personal data to strangers (companies/websites they've never heard of) on the web, others are taking this seriously. Not everyone is that open, and there will always be people who aren't willing to give what you ask no matter how polite your are in asking.
As online personalization efforts become more and more sophisticated, personalization will evolve from empowering to creepy. Personalization should feel like a service, not a violation. To some people, personal data is the least they want to give. To tackle this problem, you need to be transparent.
You have to give your consumers the information regarding what data you're collecting, how much you're collecting them, why you're collecting them, what they look like and to what/who/where you're sharing the data with.
People visit your website, become a member, or just subscribe to you, because they're interested in you. If you want more from them, you need to tell them. This will eliminate the chances that your consumers feel manipulated as if they're an object of your possession. Being clear and transparent will make them feel safe.
Being transparent will benefit all parties involved. From your consumers, yourself, and your third party marketing efforts if you use any. This is the best scenario to make everyone feels happy.