May 6, 2015
We are all aware of the latest marketing buzzword – personalisation – and the notion that brands now have the ability to follow users every “internet” step to ensure they get a 360 degree understanding of their customers. This, in theory, allows brands to personalise messaging, offers, new product announcements, and so on. However, are brands getting personalisation right? And if not, what are the consequences?
In March 2015, a survey from YouGov asked UK internet users what types of content would make them like a brand less.
The first response was obvious – intrusive content. However, the second response should encourage brands to take extreme care when personalising messages and avoid making any type of assumptions – content that assumes things about me. 43% of respondents cited this as a bad type of content.
Going back a few months, in November 2014, a study conducted by Redshift Research for Terradata and Celebrus Technologies supported this notion. This time, when users both in the UK and Germany were asked why they disliked personalised messages, one of the most popular responses among the UK residents was that they were targeted with things that were of no interest to them (41% of respondents).
So are marketers getting personalisation wrong?
Personalisation itself is not the problem, it’s the assumptions made around it that are putting customers off. Marketers are still choosing to fill the gaps themselves, rather than using the tools and data available to them and interpreting it smartly. It is clear there is still a long way to go to build relationships and getting the right messaging targeted to the right segment and whilst brands figure out the best way to capture and interpret the data. The stats above should act as cautionary warning to markets making assumptions and if the above doesn’t stop marketers in their tracks maybe the stat below will.
According to Havas Media, in Europe and the US, people wouldn’t care if 92% of brands disappeared.
So, if personalisation is a key component of making customers happy and giving them exactly what they want, brands should ensure that, when they do decide to use this to their advantage, their data, messaging and targeting is 100% accurate.