The Power of Personalization in an Impersonal World
If you take the time (and possibly money) to ensure that each of your communications is as personalized as possible, you will be setting yourself up for long-term success.
If you take the time (and possibly money) to ensure that each of your communications is as personalized as possible, you will be setting yourself up for long-term success.
We are in a world of noise, junk, bling, attention-grabbing gimmicks, and over-abundance of yelling.
All of this noise creates an environment where there are few, if any, relationships, and more throwing “stuff” at the wall and hoping it sticks.
If you’ve seen Hulu advertising, they are stepping into the world of personalization and asking you “Which ad do you want?” They are not alone. Smart marketers are enabling their prospects and customers to choose how they wish to be communicated with. Why is this important? Instead of sending one advertisement to everyone, they’re doing their best to customize the advertising experience and serve each viewer with the advertisement that best identifies with them.
This is what a well-implemented customer relationship management (CRM) system enables every small business to do. It enables you to rise about the NOISE OF MARKETING and provide a personalized communication and education experience to your prospects, before they buy, and to your customers, after they buy.
In your marketing, as your customers indicate their preferences, your CRM system will enable you to constantly communicate to your customers in a way that’s best for them. Some customers, for example, might need LOTS of information, e-books, white papers, and documentation before they make a decision. Other customers might want information given to them in a short one-pager. Still other customers might prefer video or a podcast. Let your CRM system enable you to ask the right questions in order to constantly improve your communication.
The more you speak to thousands of customers as if they are thousands of customers, the less effective your marketing will be. The more you speak to ONE customer at a time, the more effective your marketing communication messages will be.
I know it seems easier to send one big email blast (or other communication) to thousands of prospects, however, that’s shortsighted. Take the investment in time (and possibly money) to ensure that each of your communications is as personalized as possible. The more you LISTEN and COMMUNICATE, the more personalized your marketing message will be, setting you up for longer-term success. This method of communication also builds long-term relationships, instead of short-term transactions.