Elevate Customer Experiences With Real-Time Personalization

Did you know that 91% of consumers are more likely to shop with brands that provide relevant offers and recommendations? That’s right, personalization is not a nice-to-have feature anymore, it’s a must-have for any business that wants to succeed in the digital age. But how do you deliver personalized content, offers, and experiences to each individual visitor in real-time? 

That’s where real-time personalization comes in. It is the ability to tailor your marketing messages and interactions to each customer based on their behavior, preferences, and context instantaneously. In this article, we will show you what real-time personalization is, why it is vital for customer-centric marketing, and how to implement it effectively. 

What is Real-Time Personalization?

Real-time personalization means quickly giving each person personalized content based on how they interact with a brand. It's a marketing strategy that involves showing different content to different people based on their data and actions. This can be done through various channels like email, text messages, mobile apps, or websites. 

Instead of creating one-size-fits-all content for anonymous visitors, you “craft” something specifically tailored to each individual that interacts with your brand, instantly — whether there are hundreds, thousands, or millions of them.

There is an easy-to-observe example of real-time personalization— Netflix’s thumbnails for movies and shows they stream. Thumbnail artwork often changes from day to day by considering a combination of what you watch, who you watch, and the titles you are shown each day. They adapt thumbnails based on genres and actors, and they take into account how your Netflix queue looks overall to prevent it from becoming monotonous.

Source: Geekflare

Real-time personalization is a more advanced and dynamic form of personalization and segmentation that uses data and technology to deliver the right content to the right user at the right time. The difference lies in the following: 

• Personalization means showing customized content to users based on their data and actions, but not necessarily in real-time. 
• Segmentation is about dividing users into groups based on their data and actions, but again, it does not necessarily mean showing different content to different users instantly. 

How Does Real-Time Personalization Work?

Real-time personalization works by leveraging all the data you have to create unique experiences for your customers. For this to happen, you need to find visitor attributes that show what type of content will be most relevant for each person. 

You can create groups of visitors who share common attributes, called audience (or customer) segments, based on:

• Demographic data, “who they are”: their age, location, language, income, education, etc.
• Behavioral data, “what they do”: their website activity, purchases, clicks, time spent on a page, pages visited, etc.
• Psychographic data, “what they think”: their interests, preferences, values, feelings, opinions, etc.
• Situational data, “what they use”: their device type, browser type, system type, screen size, etc.
• Contextual data, “where and when they are”: their weather, time of day, season, location, etc.

Once you have grouped your customers into categories, you can  use artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and rule-based logic to analyze the data and determine the optimal content, offer, or experience. 

You’d need to use dynamic content management systems (CMS), web optimization tools, and email marketing platforms to show personalized content, offer, or experience to your customers on different channels and devices right away.

For example, everyone knows Starbucks. Turns out, Starbucks also knows… well, not everyone, but their customers for sure. Their mobile app has more than 17 million and the reward program has 13 million active users, which together gives the company a staggering amount of data about what, where, and when their customers buy coffee and complementary products. 

That, in turn, can be and is overlaid on other data including weather, holidays, and special promotions. Starbucks’ point-of-sale system is able to identify the customer through their smartphone and tell the barista at the shop their preferred order. 

Furthermore — based on ordering preferences, the app will give personalized suggestions about new products and treats the customer might be interested in trying. These recommendations would differ depending on what makes the most sense according to the day’s weather, whether it’s a holiday or a weekday, and what location this is happening at.

Source: Starbucks

Both Netflix and Starbucks demonstrate what real-time personalization can achieve if done right. But this is only possible with the use of zero-party data and/or first-party data. These types of data can give enough demographic, psychographic, behavioral, situational and contextual information for best personalization result.

Imagine if Netflix relied on one type of data only while the account is used not only by you, but your children as well. Wouldn’t the "personalization" Netflix does become skewed towards your children’s likes?  With zero-party data, though, that can be avoided — the algorithm will “remember” children shows are not all there is to it.

Why is Real-Time Personalization Essential for Customer-Centric Marketing?

Real-time personalization gives marketers and CEOs a competitive advantage by helping them achieve their business goals by aligning with the needs and expectations of their customers. This is a key way to do that, because:

1. It enhances customer satisfaction, trust, and loyalty by providing relevant and helpful content, offers, and experiences that match their preferences and context. Customers feel more special, understood, and valued when they receive personalized interactions that show you care about them and their needs, and 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver on it.
2. Boosts customer acquisition, retention, and advocacy by creating personalized and engaging interactions that drive conversions, repeat purchases, referrals, and reviews. 
3. Improves marketing efficiency and effectiveness by optimizing the use of resources, reducing waste and costs, and increasing ROI and profitability. 

Steps and Tools to Implement Real-Time Personalization Effectively

At its core, real-time personalization revolves around data. The data needs to be collected, processed, then applied, and this involves a number of steps to go through. Here are six steps to implementing real-time personalization.

1. Define Your Goals and Audience Segments:

Start by clearly defining your goals for real-time personalization. Determine the specific outcomes you aim to achieve, such as increasing engagement, conversion rates, or customer satisfaction. Next, identify and segment your target audience based on relevant characteristics like demographics, behavior, preferences, or purchase history. This segmentation will serve as the foundation for delivering personalized experiences.

2. Gather and Analyze Data:

To personalize content in real-time, you need accurate and comprehensive data. Collect both explicit data (user-provided information) and implicit data (user behavior data) from various sources such as your website, mobile app, CRM system, or third-party tools. Utilize analytics tools and customer relationship management platforms to analyze this data and gain actionable insights into customer behavior, preferences, and intent.

3. Determine Real-Time Triggers:

Identify the key user actions or events that will trigger real-time personalization. These triggers can include actions like website visits, specific page views, adding items to a shopping cart, or abandoning a form. Understanding the triggers allows you to respond promptly and deliver personalized content at the right moment.

4. Develop Content and Offers:

Create a library of personalized content and offers that align with your defined audience segments and goals. This can include dynamic website elements, tailored email campaigns, personalized push notifications, or customized product recommendations. Ensure the content is compelling, relevant, and aligned with the user's context and preferences.

5. Select Real-Time Personalization Tools:

Choose the right tools to implement real-time personalization effectively. There are various software platforms available that offer real-time personalization capabilities, such as customer data platforms (CDPs), marketing automation tools, or personalization engines. Evaluate these tools based on their features, integration capabilities, scalability, and ease of use to select the most suitable option for your business.

6. Implement and Test:

Once you have defined your segments, gathered data, identified triggers, and created personalized content, it's time to implement your real-time personalization strategy. Integrate the chosen tools into your existing systems, set up the required rules and logic, and deploy the personalized content across your marketing channels. Conduct thorough testing to ensure the personalization is working as intended and delivers a seamless user experience.

Start Implementing Real-time Personalization into your Strategy Today

Implementing real-time personalization is no longer an option but a necessity for businesses that aim to provide personalized experiences and stay ahead in the competitive digital landscape. By following the steps outlined in this article, including defining goals and audience segments, gathering and analyzing data, determining real-time triggers, developing compelling content and offers, selecting the right tools, and implementing and testing the strategy, you can effectively leverage real-time personalization to enhance customer satisfaction, drive conversions, and optimize marketing efforts.

To unlock the full potential of real-time personalization and gain deeper insights into your customer journey, consider utilizing Jebbit's interactive tools. With Jebbit, you can create interactive quizzes, surveys, personalized recommendations, trivia quizzes and more,  to engage with your audience, understand their pain points, and tailor your offerings accordingly. 

Take advantage of Jebbit's powerful features for lead generation, data collection, brand awareness, and building strong customer relationships. Don't miss out on the opportunity to revolutionize your real-time personalization strategy with Jebbit.

Start your journey today and witness the transformative impact of real-time personalization on your business's success.