Jim Estill’s blog, “the power of personal” insinuates that the biggest challenge for any marketer is to get prospects to actually pay attention to what is being sent to them. It’s fascinating to learn that personalizing emails can be 40-90 times more effective! I completely agree with Estill’s emphasis on the effectiveness of personalization when companies solicit potential consumers to introduce a new product or a special promotion. Everyday, we are bombarded by thousands of ads to the point that when we receive unpersonalized emails, we choose to ignore them; as a result, sending generic emails evoke a mere 1-2% response whereas personalized emails significantly increase the probability that consumers will respond because they are interested. Sending personalized emails may be more time consuming; however, it is well worth the time investment of implementing such a marketing strategy that will produce a greater response from the targeted market group.
Spending the extra effort to send meaningful emails that is tailored to each consumer can foster a long-term customer relationship that may lead to consumer loyalty to a specific brand. As we’ve discussed in class, brand loyalty is imperative in a competitive environment where companies are fighting for limited market share. In my opinion, brand loyalty is critical for most companies, especially start-ups that need a competitive edge based on repeat consumers.
I noticed that ebay has mastered personalization as they send you timely emails about auction items that are going to expire soon as well as suggesting purchase recommendations. I welcome ebay’s “custom-made” email service that saves me time.
I took a screen shot of an ebay email with their list of recommendations. Ebay does a phenomenal job of introducing goods and services that is of interest to the recipient as the items on the suggested list were taken from my past searches. When’s the last time you received a personalized email? It’s subtle but effective as more companies are using personalization to gain a competitive advantage.
Some videos on personalized marketing that I found insightful!
One reply on “A Little Personalization Can Go A Long Way”
Great take on personalization in marketing, and excellent use of visuals! Customizing to the consumer (the centre of all marketing efforts one might argue) is a recent phenomena, and you did a wonderful job discussing it.