Why Should You Leverage AI Algorithms for Personalized Offers and Recommendations?
Aug 04, 2022
10 min read
Being a business owner, it will always disappoint you when your shoppers do not convert. It generally happens when they don't get what they are looking for. You might need to understand that one of the critical factors that drive conversion and customer satisfaction is relevance - the relevancy of suggested products and services.
It leads marketers and retailers, especially online businesses, to broaden their spectrum and shift towards advanced strategies that enhance segmentation and personalization, and leveraging AI Algorithms is one of them. Today, the majority of the companies have enabled AI (Artificial Intelligence) and machine learning tools to automate things and offer relevant content to users. According to Statista, 70% of European and North American decision-makers in online commerce believed that AI could help them with personalization in 2021. With the proper utilization of AI, you can deliver a personalized experience to your customers at the right time and improve customer engagement.
Suppose you are a marketer or thinking of stepping into the e-commerce world. In that case. In that case, this blog could help you understand the significance of AI and machine learning algorithms in enhancing the customized experience for your customers. So, please fasten your seat belts and get ready to experience this exciting journey of AI and its features in personalizing marketing!
The Future is Personalized Content
Whether it's Spotify or Netflix, be it Amazon or McDonald's, we all are surrounded by personalized experiences everywhere, every day. And that's why these brands have attained a position that everyone admires. However, like these names, customers expect the same level of personalization from all the global businesses.
Investing in customized content helps in building customer relationships and enhancing brand loyalty. 91% of consumers prefer to shop with the brands that provide personalized offers and recommendations to them, as per a survey report by Accenture. And why not, especially when you show your consumers what they want to see when you offer the things they want to buy and suggest to them the options they can choose from.
All these things make your customers happy, and happy customers are crucial, as they don't just buy, but they also promote your brand. Always remember, there's one thing that speaks louder than your brand's objectives, ad campaigns, and marketing strategies, and that's the voice of your customers.
But doesn't it boggle your mind why personalization is crucial in satisfying customer expectations? Well, here are some statistics to show that and to make you understand the negative consequences of lacking personalization:
Lack of personalized content frustrates your users.
Yes, that's right. As per a survey report by the Association of Customer Loyalty, 74% of customers get frustrated when they don't find the website content personalized. According to a report by Infosys, 59% of the respondents believe that personalization has a profound impact on their shopping decisions.
No personalization means lower customer engagement.
If your brand does not offer personalized recommendations, you are more likely to lose customer engagement. According to a report by Invesp, 56% of online customers return to a website that recommends relevant and personalized products.
Lack of personalization can make the customers leave your brand.
Well, that's something serious. As per a research report by Accenture, 33% of the consumers ended their relationship with brands that lacked personalization.
Your consumers can say goodbye if you are still using poor personalization tactics.
It's not just about customizing the user experiencing but customizing it using the right tactics to get the desired results. According to the analytics data shared by Smart Insights, 63% of customers stop exploring and purchasing products from brands that use poor personalizing strategies.
It is probably clear to you how not prioritizing and developing custom experience can drive you towards the risk of getting left behind. Therefore, customer personalization is essential to build a personal connection between your brand and the customers.
Wait a minute, you read about the importance of personalization in customer experience, but do you know what customer personalization is? Or are you just caught up in the buzz about what your brand needs and what you are missing, even when you are not sure what it is?
Don't worry if you are in the "not having an exact idea" camp; the following sections will guide you through the idea of customer personalization and how AI algorithms can help you in it.
What's Customer Personalization?
Have you heard about a "one-to-many" relationship? It is a kind of relationship in which one entity of the first group can interact with many of the second group, but vice versa is not true. An entity of the second group can only interact with a single entity of the former group. Confusing, right? No worries, let's understand it through a simple example. A person can own multiple pets, but each one of those pets will have only one owner.
Well, customer personalization also works somewhat in that way. When you send mass emails to your customers and clients, customer personalization makes sure that all of your customers get an email that feels unique to them. For instance, assume an email blast sent to all your customers with their respective first names.
Now, with personalization, you analyze your shoppers' behavior, interests, and requirements and show them the right digital content that satisfies their expectations. It helps brands improve customer engagement, make them valuable, and ultimately results in sales and productive growth. Customer personalization blurs the idea of marketing. It turns out to assist the users in getting the suitable options, best offers, and recommendations based on their habits and taste.
You can look at the example of Starbucks' mobile app to understand the significance of personalization in boosting sales. The company released their application that combines their loyalty programs with personalization, with which the customers can fully customize, pre-order, and take away their drinks from any location. The consumers feel it is helpful, and their interest in the app is easily visible through the results. Presently, the Starbucks mobile app drives approximately 22% of all the US sales for the company.
The Combine Power of AI Algorithms and Customer Personalization
Consider the image available above. What do you understand from it? Just a robotic hand-holding (or offering) a customized cocktail drink, right? Do you get any idea after seeing it? You might have already understood its significance. However, let's discuss the concept behind it anyway.
Suppose you own a club and know some customers frequently visit your place and order the same drink every time. Now, imagine how good it would be if you could record their preferences and when the next time they visit, they could get their drink even before they order it. Well, it would be hard luck for you if they have recently changed their preferences (which generally does not occur). However, if the stars are in your favor, it can make your customers extremely joyful that someone cares for them.
Now, the question is, how would you record the taste and preferences of all your customers. Well, that's when AI and machine learning algorithm will do their job. With the right AI approach, you can record a large quantity of data, gain insights from it, and predict all your customers' wants and preferences. It would also help you predict what product your customers want or what content would interest them. The robotic hand in the above picture is also AI-enabled and works the same way. It made a personalized drink based on the customer's usual choice and taste, probably making them happy.
How does AI work in Personalizing the Content, Offers, and Recommendations for the Users?
AI algorithms in personalization work based on a customer's past experiences with a brand. Let's understand this through Netflix's AI and machine learning approaches to deliver a personalized experience to all its users.
If you are a Netflix user, you can recall when you first registered your account on the OTT platform. It asks for your top 3 preferences of movies or shows that you would like to watch. Netflix will recommend other options that you would probably want to watch based on your choices. Not just this, when you finish a movie, the platform will recommend you some other options under the category "Because you watched that, you might like to watch this…."
So, ever wondered how Netflix does that? Well, it's all the magic of AI. It records your preferences and tries to deliver you the same personalized experience the next time you open your app. According to Todd Yellin, VP (Product) of Netflix, the brand runs almost 250 A/B tests every year, each one of them offering two unique versions of experience to users to see their engagement and reaction over them. Moreover, in 2014, Netflix used approximately 76,897 "altgenres" to figure out what show or movie it should suggest to all its users, not just to customize their experience but to make them return for more.
Similarly, the eCommerce platforms, such as Amazon, derive the users' data by analyzing their online browsing habits, search history, interests, social media posts, and much more. With AI tools and machine learning algorithms, this massive amount of data is processed in microseconds. Every time they visit, a relevant and personalized experience is delivered to each unique user.
Let's get an idea about this through some different features of real-time personalizations using AI and machine learning.
Personalized Marketing and Recommendation
Have you ever searched for a specific clothing item on Google and got surprised when the same thing is recommended on Amazon as well? Well, that's what AI does. It follows you throughout the internet by analyzing your browsing history and shopping behavior and pops out every time to make you purchase that product. The companies will offer you personalized offers and discounts, such as free delivery or a discount coupon code under the "Only for you" category to lure you into buying it. Amazon has been a leader in this area by developing an algorithm that has proven effective in customizing product recommendations since 2000!
Personalized Messaging
It has proved to be one of the most efficient ways to grab your attention with the help of push notifications, personalized emails, and text messages. Enabling AI and machine learning in this area will help you analyze the users' device usage and behavior to learn about their interests and daily activities. With this, you can sit back and relax while your system sends the refined and most customized content to your target audience at the right time of the day. These notifications can be anything from discount coupons to best offers, everything with the ultimate aim of grabbing your customers' attention.
Zomato can be a great example of the proper use of personalized messaging. The company shares the most personalized form of in-app and device notifications to make the users click on it. Remember, the more customized a message is, the more likely it will grab the customers' attention. According to a study, 90% of marketers who use personalization in email marketing increase open and CTRs.
Personalized Timing
Now, this is something different and challenging to achieve when personalization, but not impossible eventually. You can show personalized messages and content to your customers, but not everyone shares the same daily routine. Even a specific individual does not follow the same daily pattern or activities. However, AI and machine learning algorithms help customize the content delivery time based on previous engagements and shopping behavior.
In addition, the system can also analyze the specific days or months in which a particular customer usually shop. For example, in India, people wait for "Diwali Sale" or "Great Indian Sale" on Amazon in the hope of getting better prices and discounts on the products. Similarly, in the US, people look forward to the "Black Friday Sale" to get the best deals on their favorite products. Notifying your customers during these days with personalized offers and recommendations can remind them to visit your online store and shop.
Take Away
Marissa Mayer, former President and CEO at Yahoo!, once said, "To me, the future is personalization." Indeed, it is, and you can easily see it every day, everywhere. Today, when every business is striving hard to lead in the digital world, integrating personalization into your marketing strategies can be a plus point. As per the latest report by SmarterHQ, 80% of regular buyers only purchase from brands that personalize the shopping experience for them. Moreover, 86% of marketers have observed a measurable growth in their business outcomes after running personalization campaigns.
However, customer personalization is not as easy as it looks, and you have already seen this through this blog. But, thanks to AI and machine learning algorithms, personalization becomes more automated and effective. Since the future of the online retail market would be more personalized, it is crucial to enhance customer experience and engagement, and personalization could be the key. Therefore, by having a professional and skillful marketing agency by your side, you can retain your customers through personalization and can always be their favorite.
Here is a Great Content Recipe for DTC businesses
Writing good content is as difficult as drawing a good sketch, or composing a musical tune. It demands a thorough understanding of the theme, in-depth research, analyzing the target audience's behavior and needs. While many business houses prefer having an in-house content team to write fascinating content that can add value to their brand, a good number of firms outsource this task to competent organizations. Your content should focus on a certain theme. Whether it's a 140 character tweet or a 2000 word blog post, the pre-production work matters. The more a writer knows about a certain subject, the more likely he is to render good content. Regardless of whether you have an in-house team or an outsourced one, you will want your web pages filled with great content. Not just good but great. What are the barriers that stop you from getting that great content? And how can we solve those issues so that you get the best return on investment? Let's check out right here. Choosing The Right Theme/Topic You might have written very good content but if that is outdated and not relevant to the user's search, the content might not rank high. Having an estimate of what the audience wants to read will help to create better content. Content creation demands that you know what topics are trending in the news and search engines. Also, it is important that you analyze what your audience might want to read. Knowing customer preference is a crucial aspect of formulating a successful content marketing strategy. To find out the context and environment of your online visitors through a proper analytic tool (Google Analytics is a great one for that!). You will be surprised to know that it is quite easy to find out about current trends. Just use any web analytics tool to get an idea of what type of content is drawing more audience in a given time frame. While some web analytics tools charge you a nominal amount, tools like Google Trends are free, besides being more handy and efficient. So that you choose the most relevant and evergreen topic for your blogs, you would like to consider thinking about the following key points: 1. Is the topic trending? As a subject matter expert, you can add more value and information to the trending topic and provide useful content to your followers and readers. 2. Is the topic going to have a long-term effect? Some topics stay relevant only for a specific time frame. For example, a post about some new update will be valuable only until the next update doesn't come up. On the contrary, thought-provoking posts can stay alive and appealing for a longer span of time. Many contents in the form of blogs and videos etc. have shown remarkable success after a while they have been published, the time ranging from six months to two to three years. Similarly, your content can rule the blog world and, therefore, elevate your website's popularity in due time. 3. Is the topic too generic or ambiguous? Avoid such topics, because, in spite of providing a framework to an idea, such topics often lose their impact because of the competition around them. The reader is more interested in knowing the specific details rather than meditating on the general model of your concept. So stick to some specific context and then elaborate on it so that you can address the particulars of the pain points that your audience is dealing with. Create Content in Coherence With Set Goals Content marketing is a changing field. Having relevance to the context and timing, helps the marketing firms to sustain and grow. Giants like Huffington Post and Moz have attained heights because they understand their goals perfectly well. So whether you intend to promote your brand or want to generate more customer leads, your content should focus on that. It should not be incoherent or utterly diverting from the goals. If you are someone who hires a content writer, you should clearly state what you want to achieve through the content. Do you wish to drive more traffic to your sites? And get a high customer engagement too? Then let the content go by that. Versatile Content Wins The Race Writing long and flawless content is good but not enough. What we need to have is content that appeals to the audience. Content is good and valuable when it can be developed and propagated through various channels. Create content that can be transmuted or repurposed in different formats as well. You can consider creating your content in the form of Infographics, PowerPoint presentations, animated videos, and other formats. The main advantage of having your content in different formats is that it exponentially increases your audience domains. Because of the variety of audience groups and their expectations from your brand, they will have different contexts in which they arrive at your blogs. It is crucial to understand that every set of the audience has unique features, in terms of their age, gender, interests, and goals. So, having your content in different formats can cater to a larger audience group. For instance, it is a well-known fact that the younger generation prefers to use graphically sound platforms like Pinterest and Instagram. If your content is only in textual format, it might miss your younger audience; but if instead, you provide them with a suitable infographic or just a simple flowchart, your task is done. Not only does that adds value to their time and effort, but it will also help your content is getting more attention, specifically in terms of social shares and user engagement. Measuring The Quality of The Content Content is more of a qualitative commodity than a quantitative thing. But that does not mean you can't measure the success of your content. Measuring the quality of work is essential to figure out the areas of improvement. Apart from checking the grammar and semantics qualities, you can consider the data from sales lead quality, conversion rates, SEO ranking, bounce rates, subscriber growth, and reader's feedback to measure your content. And then you can have a better idea about how to improve the quality of your content. About writing, Faulkner has quoted, "Teach yourself by your own mistakes; people learn only by error". The rule set up by this Nobel Prize Laureate is valid for all forms of writing and content creation. It is apt that you experiment with your writing styles and keep a track of how each of your contents performs among your audience group. Content creation is not a passive or mechanical task; instead, it is very much alive and interactive. Because you write to engage living people who have the capacity to think and respond, you can focus on producing content that actually adds value to the reader's thought-process and encourages some activity from his/her end. ...
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Top Digital Marketing Techniques Should Be Used To Bring Lost Customers In 2021
The outcome of effective digital marketing has led businesses to reach out to their target audience in a better and efficient way by appearing on channels where people interact on a routine basis. Digital Marketing primarily means the utilization of the internet and technological factors to up your marketing/branding techniques and acquire more people towards becoming a credible client. In the current modern era, it is a perfect way to endorse your brand, let people know what products or services you offer and how well they can be benefitted from them. Such practices are rendered via online means and channels like business websites, emails, brand applications, and search engine results, etc. The prime importance or advantage of using digital marketing is the accessibility factor. It is quite easy to reach out to your target audience rather than investing time and money into offline marketing such as sending out flyers, printing ad blogs, posters, etc. With the rise of strong internet connections and network availability at everyone’s end, people are more likely to prefer online or conventional ways of shopping rather than the traditional way of visiting stores physically. This has, in turn, helped business firms in getting various opportunities to generate revenues, drive sales via online platforms, interact with their customers on social media platforms, make frequent sales decisions by taking into account customer polls to enlighten them of sheer importance. If we talk about the marketing aspects here, digital marketing allows businesses to equip various modes of branding such as email marketing, pay-per-click search engine references, company blogs, and using the website to create quality content in regards to the product/service you are offering. Since people are already familiar with the benefits of a business-based application, they can digitalize their way of making a purchase and check out the seller’s online page to have promising details and an up to the mark experience. Further, the sheer benefit of digital marketing to the global economy can also be identified when a native business firm is allowed to enter the global market and use trade functions to explore and find a new customer base. With a small entering cost levied as initial investments, these businesses can go big via website reach. Benefits Of Digital Marketing For A Business Studies claim that the internet utilization of adulthood has extremely shot up as the cost of data packages are getting low and media platforms have become an important part of their lives. This is the prime reason for the success of digital marketing- the availability of digitalized and modern devices. It allows you to let your business ideas move along the minds of your target audience and give them the prospect to go for your business product/service. The following are a few pros of using digital marketing techniques: Frequent Communication With the ease of interacting with the customer on a routine basis via emails, blog posts, product reviews, and business articles, firms can ensure that they get to know the audience and make relevant changes to their future plan as per customer aspirations and expectations. You can also forward special offers and personalized messages to retain your loyal customers and set an example for the potential base. Cost-effective The process of offline marketing by sending out flyers, extensive signboards, and alluring posters is hectic and costly too. But with the introduction of digital marketing, the need to use traditional methods of marketing has been eliminated given the efficiency rate of the former. By operating a budget-friendly website and maneuvering functions on the digital ends, a small business can also nurture to compete with the real market giants. Guiding The Customer At Every Stage The success of digital marketing lies in the smooth journey of a customer, from landing on your website to making a purchase. Earlier, it was difficult to track their activities and what they do when they are on your business website, however with the help of digital marketing, you can monitor customer behavior and analyze the factors leading to an effective journey. Comprehending their activities allows you the edge to offer the required solution at the right time. Approaching The Right Demographics Segmenting the target audience has become quite easy with the help of the right marketing techniques. Since the online platforms and search engines require access to customer details, digital marketers can take that information into account and offer similar products/services to meet the needs of the customers and segregate the section where they have to focus. Further, if you post or share content related to their interests, they’ll soon be allured to your website and would be bound to stream your online presence. Ease Of Alteration In comparison to traditional ways of marketing, one can always edit their business offerings, ads, improve digital presence, and make certain changes with time. In the former approach, it is not possible to make any changes once you have sent out posters and flyers, however, you get the edge to revise your online campaigns, retweet the social media ads/posts and keep your audience updated. Techniques To Be Used To Retrieve Lost Customers It is quite obvious that every business firm requires crucial support of digital marketing techniques to effectively reach out to the people and try to sell their ideas in the search of increased revenues. With every passing year, businesses tend to lose a section of their target audience once they lose interest in the products offered. However, no matter what they say, there is always something marketers can do to cater to their requirements and bring those lost clients. Work On Improving Your Offerings Many studies have observed that customers either get bored or get ill-treated on a particular note which compels them to force leave your platform. To avoid this, your business should revise the social media practices, organize reviewing sessions to know the root cause, and then work on its modifications. Find those flaws due to which your customer had to initiate a transfer from your website and ignite campaigns to fix those issues. Allure Customers Back It is a proven fact that an individual will be willing to get back if he/she is offered something in addition to what was missing earlier. Give your lost customers a cause to return and notice their behavioral changes on the same to analyze the success of this approach. If your business website has a chatbot aligned for customer queries, include catchy comeback phrases to persuade their minds and let them think that this is a great deal for them. Engage And Talk Sometimes, when a customer opt-out from your brand, it is because they had faced an issue, unpleasant experience which troubled them. What your business can do is to talk them through that instance and persuade them with a personalized conversation. Make an effort to acknowledge the issue as if it happened with you, address their concerns, and conclude a win-back strategy for the same. It might not yield results with your opening remarks, however, interacting with a customer in regards to his/her problem will ultimately structure your resolution. Begin With Initial Interaction Campaigns The best way to start your winning-back process is to organize an online campaign and asking your customers to share their feedback, fill out a questionnaire, take polls, and contribute on social media posts. Include various incentive schemes in your campaign, special coupons, etc to allure the customer. This will ease out the complete phase and place the customer in a position to make a decision. Segment Your Lost Customers There’s always a scope to pay less heed to a few lost customers and focus on the crucial ones. Since it will require your business to incur additional expenses, it is imperative to analyze which customer is worth getting back. Consider the sheer assistance of data and information accessible from your database to find out which customer can return and forced-leave you for a rectifiable error. Interact with them and let them know about your business’ upgraded objectives via which they will be satisfied. Most likely those customers will think of getting back if they are assured of improved service level. By doing so, your online business will be able to bring back the lost customers with the help of Artificial Intelligence, and technological advancements, further, you can develop your relationship with the customers to let them consider you a bit concerned. ...
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5 Common Marketing Mistakes To Avoid
Marketing is a kind of big investment for all sized business. A powerful marketing plan not only brings you across the right customers, but it can also let everyone talk positive about your organization and your product or services. However, this marketing strategy should be properly planned and developed properly. Even a few flaws of your marketing plan can cause a big disaster in your business, costing your business millions of dollars in other expenses and huge loss of revenue. Here is a list of five common mistakes which most of the business owners make while marketing their business online: 1. Choosing wrong Target Audience Always remember that you cannot sell your products or services to everyone. Generate an effective idea of the psychographics and demographics of your target market and focus at it effectively. If you have customers from different psychographic or demographic purchase from you, it acts as an additional bonus for your business. As soon as you start focusing on a definite group, its trends, interests and purchasing habits, you will soon understand its requirements. This will help you in providing a creative marketing solution to the users. 2. Lack of Testing and Market Research Initial testing and market research are essential processes as they help in determining the overall performance of your marketing efforts. They also find out what exactly your existing customers and clients expect from your business. You should try to ensure that you execute your task accurately when in terms of testing your different prices, packages and offers, The next step is to obtain a feedback of your customers to analyze their reaction towards all your marketing initiatives. 3. Not Updating your Business Website Maintaining and updating business profile reflect your business presence in front of your current and prospective customers. If you have a blog on your website, then, it should be updated as well. It can also help you in building trust and loyalty between you and your clients. Updated content on your website even helps your business in building domain authority. 4. Improper Positioning and focus area Marketing is not just about building up a big organization while ignoring the most essential aspect i.e. brand awareness in this process. Try to generate a creative marketing plan which demands an instant and positive response from your customers. Improper market positioning and focus area could be avoided by following a genuine solution and positioning of successful marketing. 5. Losing your Repetitive Customers Eighty percent of your business comes from your current customers and the remaining twenty percent is the outcome of your prospective customers you have attracted. Losing your current and repetitive customers can have a destructive effect on your business profits. This can cost you ten times the actual cost to sell your new customer than selling it to your current customer. Conclusion By avoiding the above stated common marketing mistakes, you can definitely increase the potential of your business growth and success rate. To know more about marketing strategies and latest digital trends of marketing, Contact us ! ...
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