Creating a Segment of One: Leveraging the Power of Hyper-personalization

We live in an era when consumers are not only expecting brands to understand, anticipate and meet their wants and needs, they’re demanding it. And they’re rewarding those that do with a bigger share of their wallets, and a greater piece of their hearts than ever before.

The value of getting personalization right—or wrong—is multiplying, according to McKinsey & Company. In their latest report, the management consulting firm found that:

• 71 percent of consumers expect brands to deliver personalized interactions.
• 76 percent of them are likely to repurchase from—and refer others to—brands that personalize, generating strong, long-term lifetime value and loyalty.

The result: Brands that excel at personalization drive 40 percent more revenue than their counterparts that don’t. They achieve such outcomes by tailoring their offerings and outreach to the right individual at the right moment with the right experience.

Welcome to the world of hyper-personalization.

So, what is hyper-personalization anyway?

Simply put, hyper-personalization is marketing to a target segment of one.

While traditional market segmentation creates personas or customer groups based on shared likes, dislikes, and activities, hyper-personalization drills down to minute differences to target consumers at the individual level.

Using a combination of data, analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and automation, this segment-of-one approach empowers brands to send highly contextualized communications to an individual with key messages and offers through the most relevant and appropriate channels.

From recommendation engines and connecting online and offline sales channels to predicting an individual’s preferences and developing tailored products or pricing that satisfy them, hyper-personalized marketing provides the opportunity for brands to meaningfully engage consumers, improve their experience, deepen existing relationships, and build new ones.

It’s less about marketing and more about “me.”

When asked to define personalization, consumers in the McKinsey study associated it with being “made to feel special.” They respond positively when brands demonstrate their investment in the relationship, not just the transaction.

But make no mistake, the drive toward hyper-personalization isn’t about ego alone (or not as much as you may think).

Now more than ever, consumers are craving control and simplicity. And that’s exactly what hyper-personalization delivers. By delivering information—and creating experiences—tailored to the individual, you’re doing some of the legwork for them, making it simpler for the consumer to decide which brands they prefer.

And chances are, they’re going to decide to go with the brand that delivers both the rational convenience and emotional engagement they seek (again and again)—and recommend that brand to their family and friends.

9 ways to hyper-personalize the customer journey.

Hyper-personalization can be applied throughout the customer journey, from attracting customers with personalized web pages and dynamic pricing to providing personalized services after the purchase.

Here are nine ways to incorporate hyper-personalization into your customer journey:

1. Begin the relationship with targeted ad content that engages with the consumer and what they’re doing and feeling at that moment.
2. Drive the prospect to a unique landing page developed based on what you know about the consumer and their past behavior.
3. Deepen the relationship with tailored recommendations using recommendation engines.
4. Create a consistent experience—online and off with customer service that leverages first-party data and AI.
5. Respond to their needs in real time using service chatbots and conversational AI technology that learns from the consumer’s behavior to deliver personalized service and address specific questions and concerns.
6. Make them the right offer at the right time using dynamic pricing and promotions based on the consumer’s propensity to convert.
7. Streamline the conversion process by prepopulating any documents or applications with existing data.
8. Stay in touch with real-time notifications that provide updates on the status of product shipments, promotions, or refills based on their history.
9. Build loyalty that adds lifetime value. Reengage regularly. Use past behavior, micro-segmentation, and geospatial data to send highly contextualized offers and messages.

Sound like a lot? It can be. But it’s well worth the effort: According to a Deloitte report, a well-executed hyper-personalization can deliver eight times the return on your marketing spend—while a poor one can put up to 38 percent of your existing base at risk. By ignoring personalization, your brand can suffer from higher customer fallout, lower brand loyalty—and fewer referrals and repeats.

The time to get (hyper) personal is now: Contact us to find out how.