The Do’s and Don’ts of Personalization in Social Media

Personalization is one of the latest buzzwords in modern day marketing. This concept is gaining popularity at a remarkable rate making the businesses create better connection with people that takes their distinctive wants and needs into consideration. In the context of present day marketing, companies are creating specific content based on the factors such as who their audience is, where do they live, what they do, how they consume content, when they consume content, how much they consume and what devices they consume content.

Many businesses across the world fail, because they fail to understand which group of customers would be most interested in their products and services. For instance, if you are a seller of accessories of luxury car, targeting teenagers won’t be ideal, as they probably have not achieved the status of income to own that specific class of vehicle.

Marketing personalization can make potential customers become buyers. On the other side, lack of personalization can leave a negative impact on the mind of the customer, increasing the chances of them not visiting your site again.

According to an Infosys Report , 74% of the customers feel annoyed when the companies don’t provide them with customized web content. Moreover, 63% of the worldwide customers are frustrated by seeing generic advertising messages.

The Do’s of Personalization

Understand your customer’s dynamics

Every customer is different, with a different sets of needs and wants, and this is where the importance of personalization comes in marketing. These needs and wants of customers are the potential scoring point of your business, and tapping them properly can help your business gain the customer’s attention and confidence.

Marketing hiking gear and accessories to someone who spends much of their time indoor is the waste of time for both the customer and the business. Marketing the same object to somebody who spends much of their time outdoors playing any kind of sport is a more sensible and better option. Promoting it to the one who spends every spare moment climbing a mountain is your best bet.

Get innovative

A significant part of personalization is about being creative in thinking of different ways to first gain insights of the customer, discover or create a need and then coming up with the perfect solution to fulfill that particular want. People are always attracted towards novelty, as in the features they haven’t heard or seen before. So try to come up such innovations that can capture the mind and heart of the customer, creating a way for an impulsive sale. In short, find new ways to wow customers.

Study your customer

According to a study of 2,500 Americans, 94% of them said customer service should have the most up to date information, this shows that customers do get impressed if they are being researched. It is trending these days that marketers use different social media platforms to identify their customer’s likes and dislikes. These marketers then make sure they avoid doing such things which their respective prospects don’t like and try to come up with ideas to hit their likes. These sorts of efforts can make the customers loyal and a long lasting bond between the customers and the online business can be created.

Follow up with your customer

Customers in the modern world have numerous options. They tend to tilt towards those who remember them frequently; therefore, it’s highly imperative to keep a constant follow up with them. This increases the sense of customization which is fundamental in today’s competitive market.

Consider the importance of timing

In the segment of personalization, different customers have different sets of background. They have their distinctive sets of routine and lifestyle. A generalized pattern of reaching out might not be effective. All customers have certain days of the week, and times of the day, which are busier than others. There are times when customers are extremely busy and you don’t want to be touching them in those particular hours.

The crucial part is to time your method of contact to have more fruitful results of your efforts in gaining the positioning in the mind of the customer.

The Don’ts of Personalization

Don’t cross the line of being too personal

Although the aim is to treat the customers on a personal basis, it can inadvertently cross the creepy line and over-personalization. This can backfire big time. You don’t want the customer to take the impression that you are trying to intrude personal matters. When personalization becomes too personal, it creates an uneasy feeling in the mind of the customers.

Marketers need to be sensible in using the key data of the customers; they should try to put themselves in the shoes of the customer. Data should make an impact on customer, not irritate them.

Don’t get complacent

Marketing is a constant learning path. There are no eternal methods in marketing. It’s always changing with the fast moving world. This constant learning helps in crafting new ways to capture clients. Complacency can be poisonous for the firms. You should never take your customers for granted. They are there to be earned by constant facilitation.

The better you can convey to your customers that you genuinely care for them and their business, the more likely you can generate and maintain a high level of confidence that will turn into more considerable business for you.

Don’t use repeated automated content

Customers are already tired by thousands of automated approaches made to them by different marketers from all over the world. They don’t even bother opening up their screens for these monotonous messages. They don’t have time for all this. It is one common mistake numerous companies are making and losing valuable customers on daily basis.

Summary

It can be difficult to ignore the important concept of personalization in the present world. The trend and usage of customization is on its peak. The augmented use of social media is also playing a significant role in building these personalized linkages between the customers and businesses. There is a very line between being personal and too personal. Privacy of individuals should not be compromised at any cost. The relevant data of customers should be used for their betterment so that a harmonious bond can be created.

Sohail Rupani is a Senior SEO Strategist for an agency known for best SEO Services in Orlando ‘PNC Digital‘. He specializes in SEO and SEM techniques. He is passionate about technology and loves to analyze the tech industry in his spare time and stay in touch with the latest happenings. He also writes technical articles about SEO and digital marketing. Follow @sohailrupani for more updates.