Did you know that 80 percent of consumers are more likely to make a purchase if a brand offers a personalized experience (Epsilon)? Shoppers want to feel like they’re important to your company or brand. So, in this article, we’re going to outline how you can use personalized marketing to help you boost your e-commerce sales.
Let’s get started.
What is personalized marketing?
Personalized marketing involves tailoring your marketing based on the data you have been able to collect about your customers. You might adjust your marketing based on their past purchases, location, hobbies, and interests, or even just their name.
This will show that you understand your customers, helping you form a stronger connection with them. Having a strong connection with customers can help you increase sales, thus benefiting your business.
Whether you are still in the process of learning how to start your e-commerce store or you have been running your business for a while, personalized marketing is an essential part of any successful marketing strategy. With the right tools and techniques, you can tailor your marketing messages to meet the unique needs of your customers, increasing their engagement and loyalty in the process.
5 personalized marketing tactics you should be using
There are plenty of personalized marketing tactics that you can use, and we’re going to outline some of the most effective options available to you. Let’s discuss SMS marketing, email campaigns, content marketing, retargeting, and social media engagement.
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Get up close and personal with SMS marketing
Most consumers are used to receiving text messages from their friends and family. This means that SMS marketing can help you build stronger connections with your customers!
You can use SMS marketing to promote sales, new products, and more to your customers. Think of it as shooting your customers a quick text to update them on the latest goings-on at your brand.
Here are a few different ways you can personalize your SMS marketing:
- Incorporate the customer’s name into the text
- Use dynamic fields — these allow you to create placeholder codes so you can customize a message with the location, products, or services most relevant to the customer
- Segment your messaging — this lets you send different messages to people based on their location, purchasing habits, or personal details.
If you personalize your SMS marketing, your customers will be more likely to actually read your messages and engage with them. This will make them more likely to click a link and buy from you!!
If you need support with your e-commerce SMS marketing, Emotive is a company that can help. The platform allows you to personalize your SMS marketing and run sophisticated campaigns—plus, the best part is that everything is automated! Customers can even feel like they’re having a two-way conversation with a real person without taking up any of your customer service team’s time. This can help them to feel like they’re having a more personalized shopping experience, which is sure to earn their trust and loyalty.
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Tailor your email campaigns to your customers’ interests
Consumers are typically used to receiving and benefitting from email marketing—this means it’s a great channel to utilize when it comes to personalized marketing. But, with that being said, people often receive dozens of emails in their inbox every day. So, if you want your messages to be opened, you need to do something to stand out.
You can personalize your emails in a similar way to your SMS marketing campaigns. For instance, it’s a good idea to include the recipient’s name in the subject line or body of the email. As a matter of fact, emails with a personalized subject line are 22 percent more likely to be opened by the recipient (Invesp).
You could also let your customers sign up to only receive certain email notifications from you—this will ensure that you aren’t constantly filling their inbox, so it’s more likely that they’ll open your content. For instance, people could sign up to just get new sale or content notifications, or they may wish to only receive emails with new product announcements. Because the user will only be receiving the emails they want, they’ll be more likely to open them.
If you’re struggling with creating effective emails, consider using the email templates offered by ActiveCampaign. Not only are these templates handy if you don’t have a lot of design experience, but they can also help you personalize your email marketing campaigns. These templates are responsive—meaning that they will look great on any device—and are pre-coded and personalizable. If you sign up for a free trial with ActiveCampaign, all 125+ of their templates will be available for you to use!
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Optimize your content marketing with personalization
Personalization can also help you optimize your content marketing. And one of the easiest ways to do this doesn’t actually require you to collect any data from your customers at all—it simply involves adding a “related posts” section to the end of each blog post you publish. This will let you send relevant content to people who are likely to be the most interested in it, personalizing their experience with your blog.
Additionally, you could also show different content to different types of people. For instance, if someone is a first-time visitor, you could set up your website to point them in the direction of an introductory article that will teach them about your business or niche. This will not only educate them, but it will also help them to feel understood by your business. This could then increase the chances of them shopping with you.
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Use retargeting to personalize your advertising
Retargeting is the process of putting ads in front of people who have visited your website before. This is a great strategy because not everyone who visits your website will immediately want to buy from you. Retargeting allows you to keep your business in the minds of your prospective customers and encourage them to purchase from you later.
Here’s the basic process of how a retargeting campaign works:
- A prospective customer visits your website and browses through your products or services, then leaves without making a purchase.
- Later, they see ads for your business on other websites that they frequent.
- After they see the ads, they’ll be reminded of the great products or services you have to offer, and return to your website to make a purchase.
Whether you’re advertising on Facebook, Google, or somewhere else, you should have the option to set up a retargeting campaign, and it’s likely to provide you with some fantastic results.
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Generate more social media engagement with personalization
Social media is an extremely powerful marketing tool for driving sales. For instance, you can set up your direct messaging to be operated by a live chatbot that answers your prospective customers’ questions or directs them to the information they need. This is a great way to personalize your customer service and marketing through platforms your target audience already uses.
You can also set up your advertisements to ensure that certain people will receive updates or further information about the ad. For instance, some TV shows utilize this strategy, posting an ad on social media and then going on to notify people who liked the post when the show goes live. Twitter, for instance, has auto-reply ad campaigns that you can set up. Look into the settings of your chosen social media platform and determine whether or not this is a strategy you’re interested in using.
If you need help assessing the success of your social media posts or campaigns, you should also consider using a social media analytics tool. These are great for improving the quality of your social media marketing efforts, as they can help you schedule your posts in advance, determine the best times of day to post, find influencers that are helpful in your industry, and more!
Summary
Personalization is a powerful marketing tool, as everyone wants to feel like they’re an important part of their favorite businesses. In this article, we outlined how you can use personalized marketing techniques to boost your e-commerce sales, including through social media, email marketing, and more.
Start thinking about which personalized marketing techniques will work best for your business and begin implementing them today!
