Forge stronger connections with your audience through personalised communication

Meet Tim. Tim is no stranger to the storm of marketing emails that flood his inbox daily. Amongst the sea of subject lines promising everything from ‘One-Time Deals’ to ‘Exclusive Offers’, there was very little that truly caught his attention. 

He’s grown accustomed to the generic, one-size-fits-all messages that populate his digital world.

But wait… there’s hope for Tim. 

One afternoon on his commute home, Tim got an email with the subject line ‘Personalised Recommendations Just for You, Tim’. Intrigued, he clicked on the email from an online retailer he frequently shopped with. 

The message inside was different from the usual standardised approach he had come to expect.

The email began with a friendly greeting, addressing him by name and expressing appreciation for his loyalty as a customer. It then delved into a detailed analysis of his past purchases, suggesting products and content that aligned with his preferences and recent shopping history. 

The recommendations were surprisingly spot-on, and Tim found himself clicking through the links, genuinely interested in the products showcased.

Impressed by this personalised approach, Tim decided to make a purchase. 

He bought a few items that he had been considering, and his shopping experience felt more personal and enjoyable than before. 

He even received a follow-up email after the purchase, expressing gratitude for his order and offering a discount on his next one.

Tim couldn’t help but share his positive experience with friends and family. Word of mouth quickly spread, and the retailer saw an increase in customer engagement and sales.

On the other hand, another popular online store that Tim frequented continued to send him the same generic promotions that were obviously written for everyone in their database. 

Tim felt increasingly disconnected from this brand, as they seemed oblivious to his preferences and previous interactions. Their messaging, while once effective, now felt outdated and irrelevant.

What’s the moral of this story? 

The days of generic, one-size-fits-all messaging are long gone. 

Today, the name of the game is personalised communication, a strategy that has the potential to redefine the way you connect with your audience and cultivate unwavering brand loyalty. 

Customers crave personalisation and a deeper connection with the brands they engage with. And those who embrace this change thrive, while others risk losing their customer base to more personalised and customer-centric competitors.

What is personalised communication?

At its core, personalised communication is about acknowledging your customers as unique individuals, rather than treating them as faceless entities. 

Just like with Tim, it’s the art of crafting messages that resonate with individual interests, behaviours, and purchase history. 

Whether it’s an email, a text message or website content, personalised communication makes each interaction feel genuinely tailor-made.

The bedrock of personalisation is data

The heart and soul of successful personalised communication lie in data. 

Businesses have access to a wealth of customer information, spanning from demographics and preferences to previous interactions. But it’s the ability to harness this data that empowers brands to delve into the intricacies of each customer, facilitating the delivery of messages that are not only relevant but also timely.

Types of consumer data that businesses collect

• Personal data: This category encompasses information that personally identifies individuals, such as Social Security numbers and gender. It also includes non-personally identifiable data, such as IP addresses, web browser cookies, and device IDs, which are found on both laptops and mobile devices.
• Engagement data: This type of data provides a comprehensive view of how consumers interact with a business’s various touchpoints, including websites, mobile apps, text messages, social media pages, emails, paid advertisements, and customer service channels.
• Behavioural data: Within this category, you’ll find transaction details like purchase histories, information on product usage (e.g., recurring actions), and qualitative data such as mouse movement patterns.
• Attitudinal data: This data type encompasses a range of metrics related to consumer sentiment, including satisfaction levels, purchase criteria, product desirability, and more.

If data is the bedrock for personalisation, segmentation is the foundation upon which personalised communication stands. 

By segmenting your customer base into groups with similar characteristics, you unlock the potential to create messages that truly resonate with specific segments. This segmentation can be based on various factors, including demographics, behaviour, purchase history and more.

Email marketing and personalisation 

Take it from Tim, email marketing is a powerful tool and when paired with personalisation, it’s a formidable weapon in the arsenal of personalised communication. 

Personalised email campaigns take centre stage, addressing recipients by their names, offering product recommendations that align with their preferences, and unveiling exclusive deals that are uniquely tailored to individual tastes.

It’s the personalised content that really makes a difference. Starting a subject line with ‘hello first.name’ just isn’t enough anymore. Your customers have seen that trick before. 

If the inside of the email doesn’t match their interests, they’ll leave you for a brand that does. 

Not only has Miinto increased customer lifetime value by more than 18% since implementing automated email flows in the Agillic platform, but they’ve also done it with fewer resources. Hear their story below.

Want to read more about how personalisation goes beyond just saying hello first name?

Click here to download a free abstract of Rasmus Houlind’s latest book on personalisation, ‘Hello $Firstname: Profiting from Personalization’. 

Crafting tailored website experiences 

Personalisation doesn’t stop at emails. 

Use that bedrock of data and elevate user engagement and boost conversion rates by creating personalised website experiences. Dynamic content and product recommendations, moulded by each visitor’s past interactions, elevate user engagement and encourage conversion.

Landing pages are a vital part of your marketing and directly support your business goals. This is where you lead your audience to engage with a campaign offer or to sign up for a competition – and it is an effective way to yield results from your paid media investments and grow your permission database. 

So, you need to create landing pages regularly – but are you? Many marketers are stuck with cumbersome processes or rely on the IT department to help out. With Agillic, you are empowered to make it happen yourself.

We have made it easy to build personalised landing pages. There’s no coding required, which means you don’t have to call IT. And instead of a one-size-fits-all, you can personalise at various levels, such as messaging, product offer or CTA, just as you would your emails. 

In fact, with Agillic, you use the same personalisation criteria and content in your emails, which enables you to work much more efficiently – reach out and we’ll show you how.

Building emotional bridges and long-term relationships 

Personalised communication isn’t just about the initial connection; it’s about nurturing relationships for the long haul. 

Through personalised follow-ups, exclusive offers, and relevant content, businesses can keep customers engaged and satisfied throughout their journey.

The essence of personalised communication lies in forging emotional connections with customers. When individuals feel genuinely understood and valued, a profound sense of loyalty towards your brand emerges. These emotional bonds drive customer retention and advocacy, nurturing lasting relationships.

And thanks to technological advances, real-time personalisation is now within reach. Businesses can deliver messages that align with the current needs and behaviours of their customers, ensuring a seamless and profoundly relevant experience.

From subscription-based businesses to online retailers, chances are you have a customer like Tim. 

And just like in Tim’s world, personalised communication has emerged as the cornerstone of modern customer engagement. 

By harnessing the power of customer data and segmentation, businesses can create messages that resonate on a deeply personal level. 

From email marketing to innovative content strategies, personalised communication is the catalyst for customer loyalty, engagement, and satisfaction. 

Are you ready to embrace the transformative potential of personalised communication to elevate your brand’s connection with your audience and unlock remarkable business success? Book a free consultation with one of our personalisation experts here.

You asked — We answered 

What is personalised communication?

To put it simply, personalised communication involves crafting messages tailored to individual customer preferences and behaviours, creating a unique and relevant experience.

Why is customer data essential for personalised communication?

Customer data allows you to personalise your interactions with customers. Without it, you’ll end up sending messaging that is too generic and may not be relevant to your audience. 

By understanding their preferences, purchase history, and demographics, you can tailor marketing campaigns and offers to match their specific needs.

How does segmentation enhance personalised communication?

Segmentation divides the customer base into groups with similar characteristics, enabling businesses to target specific segments with tailored messages.

With segmentation, your brand can send targeted and personalised communication to different user segments. This can include email marketing campaigns, app push notifications, SMS and more that are tailored to the preferences and behaviours of specific user segments.

How does personalised email marketing benefit businesses?

Truly personalised email campaigns go beyond just addressing recipients by their first names and instead offer relevant content, increasing engagement and driving conversions.

Personalising your emails helps improve open rates, reply rates, and click-through rates. It also makes it more likely that prospects will buy from you after reading your emails. The Aberdeen Group found that, compared to non-personalised email marketing, personalised emails get 10% higher conversion rates.

What role does personalisation play in social media marketing?

Personalisation in social media allows businesses to deliver targeted ads and customised content, reaching specific audience segments with relevant messages.