Why use Personalized Marketing? 

One of the key indicators in a small business’s success is the ability to connect with their customer base via marketing messages, providing the right message at the right time to forge better relationships.

 “Personalized marketing gives customers a sense of identity. They cease to be one of the masses, and instead become an individual with unique wants and needs. Consumers tune out mass marketing because they are bombarded by it everywhere. A personalized message that is relevant is much more likely to attract their attention and to seem more credible.” ~Susan Solovic, American entrepreneur

In a study completed by Experian, personalized emails deliver 6XS higher transaction rates than non-personalized emails. Most companies collect customer data upon customer sign-up but fail to utilize that information to personalize email and text communications. If you have enlisted any sort of loyalty program you are already collecting customer data through signups…why not use that information to better your customer outreach?

Automated and Personalized Promotions 

Delivering the right message and promotion at the right time is paramount in increasing customer lifetime value.  Customers want promotions and communications that are relevant to their purchase history and customer journey. With simple data analysis you can pinpoint critical milestones to reward and communicate with your customer accordingly.

Rather than focusing on obtaining new customers, upselling existing customers is an excellent way to lower your customer acquisition cost. 

Post-transaction emails are a great opportunity to suggest related products. Would they be interested in a product within the same brand? Is there another product that pairs well with the item they just purchased? These suggestions can often be powerful enough to increase revenue without even offering a promotion or coupon. Who knows, maybe you are even saving the customer some time by offering an item they would need to purchase anyway? A paddle with their kayak? A cheese platter with their red wine? A sleeping bag with their tent?

Customer Macros 

Incorporate your customers’ first and last names into your email and text communications. It could be as simple as using their first or last name in the greeting instead of “dear customer”. Get yourself out of the introductory phase and one step closer towards a personal relationship.

You can also use customer macros to let your customer know where they are in their shopping rewards. Are they close to their next rewards? Do they have rewards just sitting in their account waiting for use?

bLoyal believes customer macros are a crucial first step in adding a personal touch to customer communications and have worked to make it as easy as possible for you to use.

Reward customers for completing demographic profile 

Create incentives for your customers to complete their entire demographic profile.  Not everyone readily volunteers information so make it worth their time. A birthday program is a great way to incentivize and reward your customer for signing up with their information. You can let them know during or after their first purchase that signing up for your loyalty program will result in special rewards for their birthday or birth month. The more customers you have signed up with their information the better you can understand their spending and customize your customer outreach.

Visit Customer Lifetime Value & Segmentation to learn more about measuring customer lifetime value and using customer segmentation.

Use data tools to analyze consumer’s behavior and preferences 

Enhance your customer understanding by using data tools that analyze your consumer’s behavior and preferences. Segment your customers to determine spending trends between demographics and purchase history. What customers are more likely to buy which products?

Analyze engagement with your customers by looking at the open/click through rates of email or text communications. How many times was a promotion used?

You will need to continue to refine your approach as you see how the customer base reacts. Promotions and offers get stale over time and it is important to remain relevant. Tracking the engagement on your marketing strategy will enable you to determine when it is time to change course.

Single customer record 

To fully utilize personalized communications, you will need to have your customer records all in one place. When a customer makes a purchase online, the data of the purchase should be stored in the same customer profile as their in-store purchases. All information related to that individual customer needs to be stored together in an easily accessible single customer record so you can accurately segment your customers based on both demographics and purchase history.

Because bLoyal allows you to keep all your customer data in one centralized location you are freed up to be able to successfully personalize your customer engagements. 

Upgrading to an omnichannel loyalty program unlocks the ability to analyze spending trends based on different demographics. The seamless customer record can also provide a better understanding of how each channel compares to the next.

How can bLoyal help? 

bLoyal provides an easy way to access your data and create automated marketing and promotions based on critical milestones.  This will allow you to automate the process with minimal effort to maximize your customer lifetime value and time.