3 Steps for Retailers to Personalize Messaging at Scale

In retail, the customer is always right. But with 55% of shoppers describing their retail experiences as disconnected, it’s become the retailer’s responsibility to personalize experiences in order to meet customer expectations.

This responsibility stems from more than just the old retail mantra. Personalization pays off, and neglecting personalization could keep your customers from coming back. Over half of customers are likely to switch brands if a company doesn’t create personalized experiences.

With personalization, retailers will not only meet expectations but also see business thrive. According to Statista, 90% of U.S. consumers find personalized marketing very or somewhat appealing. So, what are you waiting for?

We’re sharing the three steps you can take to start personalizing your customer journeys at scale through automation, big-picture alignment, and data.

Automate everywhere to deliver with confidence

Send anxiety is real. Hitting that “send” button and delivering your content to potentially millions of inboxes can be stressful! But automation is here to help.

Automation takes the manual work out of marketing. It also helps avoid human error by relying on defined and consistent processes and algorithms. Automation won’t forget a subject line or paste the wrong email address like humans might before they’ve had their morning coffee. It’s always on, and always right — just like your customers.

Zoom out to see the entire journey

Once you’ve implemented a few automations and are enjoying the fruits of your automation adoption, your next consideration should be tying it all together with your cross-channel strategy. Thinking big-picture will ensure your personalization efforts are aligned with your overall marketing strategy, so you can reach your business goals.

Every channel serves a different purpose in engaging and satisfying your customers. Email has proven to be a great medium for long-form content and product images. SMS and push notifications serve as effective delivery methods for snackable information, reminders, and alerts such as flash sales, events, and more. 

Though you may be eager to start implementing your new personalization tactics right away, be sure not to jump in too quickly. Start with strategy, and develop a game plan to set up your new contact model. If you map out the customer lifecycle from acquisition and engagement all the way to retention and advocacy, you’ll set yourself up for success at every stage.

Data delivers smarter engagement

It’s important to give your customers the quality engagement they expect and deserve. To surprise and delight shoppers, make their customer journeys as easy as possible. Consider sending tailored communications with product recommendations, new arrivals, and promotions, and encourage them to revisit their abandoned cart or abandoned browse. In a recent report, Salesforce found that personalized product recommendations drove just 7% of visits but an astounding 26% of revenue.

Data-driven insights are the fuel behind any successful customer personalization strategy. You can harness rich insights from powerful tools like Google Analytics 360, so you can get a well-rounded view of your customers, and communicate with them accordingly. And, with the Marketing Cloud Journey Analytics Dashboard, you can bring web analytics together in a unified view with other digital channels like email and mobile. You’ll find actionable insights from simple visualization and synchronization of your data.

Whether it’s delivery time, medium, message, or more, you’ll know what customers want and be able to deliver to them accordingly — all with the power of data.

Let’s get going

At the end of the day, customers want to feel seen and understood. By delivering tailored, useful communications to them, you’ll show them that you know what they’re looking for and are happy to help them find it. 

To learn more about how to personalize messages and engage shoppers like never before, watch our webinar. When you’re ready to take your personalization to the next level, check out our product deep dive.