Mere years ago, the idea of personalization was limited to a very small number of businesses that based their entire model on this notion. They were, so to speak, the odd ones out, and rarely anyone took notice of their particular approach. Today, however, the online market has become so oversaturated that some level of customization and personalization is vital in order to impress your customers. Having so many choices on the shelves, the real ones as well as digital ones, has led to a challenge of global scales for brands to differentiate themselves from their competitors.
Customers have gone a step further with their expectations, and all of a sudden, they are in need of experiences, and not just products. Every brand today sells its values, and not just its products, and every business needs to sell a voice and an experience, and not just a service. This greatly depends on the many intricate details of product/service differentiation, which is where personalization and customization step in to save the day. If you need more to convince you to start applying these principles to your own brand experience, here are several key reasons to support the practice.
Boosting Loyalty
Any marketer will happily entertain a new strategy when presented with numbers that prove the benefits of that new approach. So, let’s begin by putting things in a bit of perspective. As noble as it is to invest time and effort into acquiring new customers on a regular basis, this is a much costlier endeavor than it is to focus on retaining your existing customer base. More precisely, getting new customers costs five times as much as it does to retain your existing clientele.
Now, why would someone stay true to your brand with so many choices around? Because you’ve managed to impress them with a unique product, customized per their request, and a personal touch such as a hand-signed thank-you note. These may seem simple to accomplish, but these little steps matter so much in the eyes of a customer who will otherwise feel like just another number on your list. This “extra mile” you go makes them feel valued, and they’ll remember the attention and care they’ve received from you.
Enhancing Brand Recognition
If there’s anything brands have learned in the past few years, that would be that there is no room for being generic in this day and age. A unique package, be it one that reflects your sustainability efforts or your trendy seasonal ingenuity (who says you cannot sell a limited edition of chocolates with Halloween- inspired flavors and packaging?) shows the world who you are exactly. It gives them something to remember you by in a sea of likeness.
Every step matters, from introducing custom labels that showcase your brand, to offering customizing steps for your customers to design their own product. A memorable label paired with a clever slogan will instantly increase brand recognition, no matter how many competitors you might have out there.
Giving Your Products That “Gift Appeal”
Customization and personalization both allow you to keep things fresh. Every year, for a multitude of different occasions, customers flock to your website to find that perfect gift that practically screams their mom’s or their sister’s name. Since you cannot possibly get to know each customer on such an intimate level, you can let them make their own choices and design what will make their loved ones happy.
This is known as “gift appeal”, and the more your products have it, the greater your chances are of more customers coming back to your website to impress their loved ones. This also opens the doors to anniversaries, birthdays, weddings, graduations, as well as other milestones in life, not just the ones that are seasonally themed and universal to an extent.
Building new pricing opportunities Once again, we go back to trusty numbers. What every business likes about customization is that it gives you the edge you need to slightly increase your prices. Why? Because your customers will not perceive it as merely a price change. They’ll see it as adding value to their order. When they get to choose each component in their laptop, for instance, they’ll know precisely what they are paying for, and the performance they can expect, and they’ll be happy to pay extra for that tailor-made experience.
Learning Of Your Customers’ Preferences
We’ve already scratched the surface of this particular issue by discussing gift appeal. While you cannot learn all there is to learn about your customers and their families to keep your products relevant and special without using customization and personalization, you can certainly learn plenty with these strategies. In fact, the more you use them, the more information will reveal itself to you. You’ll suddenly have a very intimate glimpse into what your customers prefer, and you can implement it in all of your campaigns as well as your future product design.
Basically, if 85% of your customers want their lip balm to smell like caramel, you can advertise it more frequently in your social media posts, and your video stories. If they want their dog beds to have printed paws more often than bones, you’ll know to add those photos to your landing pages.
Among many tactics business use nowadays to get more love and attention from their customers, customization and personalization are proving to be everything but passing fads and trendy solutions. Use them wisely to your advantage, and you’ll give your brand the edge it deserves to succeed.
