You’ve heard the old saying that it costs more to bring in a new customer than to keep an existing one. In the world of digital marketing, however, that saying isn’t entirely true. In fact, customer retention strategies are generally better off focusing on customer lifetime value than the initial cost of acquisition.
One vital strategy involves creating personalized marketing content. This is content created based on characteristics identified through data collection.
In this article, we look at how to create personalized marketing content and why it is an essential element of a good marketing strategy.
Personalizing Marketing to Segmented Audiences
To create personalized content, you first need to understand your audience. This involves collecting data to analyze information about your customer base. That information includes…
- Demographics
- Interests
- Location
- Purchasing Habits
Data collection such as this can generally be done cheaply with an “awareness” focused campaign via social media platforms or Google Display and shopping campaigns. Once that data is collected, sort the data into identifiable segments like the segments above.
Let’s say you’re a small running shoe seller. You might find that your ads resonate well with individuals of a younger age and interest in outdoor sports. Personalized ad content in this case could include a photo of a younger couple going running with your shoe on. The caption could read, “the perfect shoe for serious runners.”
This personally targets individuals in two ways. First, you have a young couple which resonates with the young people engaged with your ad. Second, you make sure to note that this shoe is for serious runners. That advertisement is thus personalized to the specific demographic you are targeting. That demographic is now more likely to engage with your ad and identify your brand with one that meets their needs.
Automation as a Personalization Strategy
Automation has opened the door to many new forms of marketing in general but allows for some great personalization options. It can be as simple as offering a birthday coupon to an individual on your email marketing lists, or as intricate as targeting individuals who take certain actions on your site.
For example, Google Ads allows you to target individuals that visit certain pages on your website. You can target those audiences in specific ad groups built to accomplish certain goals.
Take the shoe store example. Let’s say you’re selling an expensive new running shoe. You’ve decided to make this shoe the focus of a dedicated marketing campaign. Once you have your main campaign bringing in visitors to the site, you can setup a retargeting campaign and target an audience consisting of individuals who visited the product page.
This is helpful for two reasons. First, if they didn’t convert, then your campaign will work to engage them again. Second, if they did convert, at some point they might want to buy a new pair and thus retargeting them will catch that purchaser when they are ready to purchase again.
Personalizing your marketing campaigns will help in strengthening your advertisements relatability with your target demographics. Taking these extra steps can mean the difference between a directionless ad campaign and a thriving intricately built campaign that keeps customers coming back.