Finding the Line Between Cool and Creepy with Marketing Personalization

Personalization can give your marketing results a huge lift. It increases customer interest and engagement. It increases email open and click-through rates. And it boosts sales and ROI. Want some proof? Here are just a few compelling statistics (according to Campaign Monitor):

• Personalized email subject lines generate an average of 50% higher open rates
• Personalized calls to action convert 202% better than default ones
• Personalized email marketing generates a median ROI of 122%
• 90% of U.S. consumers find marketing content personalization “very” or “somewhat” appealing
• 26% of consumers feel “happy” and “excited” to respond to a personalized message from a retailer

Clearly, marketing personalization is a powerful tool when used effectively, but as they say, with great power comes great responsibility.

Clearly, marketing personalization is a powerful tool when used effectively, but as they say, with great power comes great responsibility.

Ideally, personalization creates a fair balance between you and your customer. It allows you to more accurately target your audience and provide them with better, more relevant content. It helps you build stronger, deeper relationships with your customers and provide them with more value.

The problem is, when marketers take personalization too far, it can make customers feel violated and manipulated. And it can come across a little, well, creepy.

Signs Your Marketing Personalization Has Gone Too Far

So, where’s the line between effective personalization and looking like a stalker? Well, you may be in danger of crossing the line if you:

1. You Know More About Your Customers Than They’re Comfortable With

This can happen when you leverage data about your customers that they never voluntarily disclosed.

Take location tracking, for instance. Many companies have apps that use location tracking to monitor customer behavior. Unless the customer volunteers to let a marketer follow them around, this kind of behavior tracking can feel like a breach of privacy.

Facial recognition technology creates a similar issue. While it does allow retailers to customize more aspects of the shopping experience, it also raises privacy concerns that can make people feel uncomfortable.

2. You Make False Assumptions About Your Customers Based on Limited Data

This demonstrates to your customer that you don’t understand them. Plus, you risk offending them if your judgment is way off.

A well-known example of this occurred a few years back when a major retailer used purchasing data to predict which of their customers were likely pregnant. This backfired in a big way when coupons for pregnancy-related products were incorrectly mailed to a teenage girl, making her father a bit upset, to say the least.

3. You Invade Your Customer’s Personal Space

There are certain places and situations where people are okay being marketed to. Others, however, are off-limits.

When your marketing becomes invasive or annoying, or if you’re too aggressive about collecting customer data, people often push back. In one case, a well-known email company was scanning its customers’ personal emails to better personalize their ad experience, but after a lawsuit claiming the company had violated wiretapping and privacy laws, the company stopped their email scanning practice. Clearly, people felt they’d gone too far.

Ideally, you should treat your relationship with your customers like any other relationship you value—built on a foundation of trust, respect, generosity, and understanding. It also means adopting a mindset of putting your customer first, thinking about things from their point of view, and considering what’s appropriate for the context you’re marketing in.

Key Considerations for Marketing Personalization

To use personalization successfully, here are some key things to consider:

Have An Overall Strategy for What You Want to Accomplish

If you truly want to use personalization to improve your customer’s experience, it’s important to know your goals in advance. Personalization for its own sake isn’t enough. To really engage your customer, there should be a purpose behind the personalization. Be thoughtful about what you do, how you do it, and how often you do it. Have a plan.

It’s All About Serving the Customer

The point behind collecting personal data should be to serve your customer better. It’s not about finding shrewd, sneaky ways to reach them. Or capturing their attention with small personal details about their lives. Customer data should be used to help you level-up your service; to give your customers relevant content, save them time, and make their lives easier. It’s not about what you can get, it’s about what you can give.

Movie and series recommendations on Netflix, and product recommendations on Amazon, are two examples of how behavioral data can be used to add value for customers. Streaming music service Spotify takes things up a notch by creating personalized playlists for its listeners based on their interests, helping to match its customers with music they’ll enjoy. This enhances the customer experience by saving them time as well as exposing them to new artists they may not have been aware of.

Transparency is Essential

To make sure personalization feels welcome and not stalkerish, be honest and open about how you’re going to use the information you gather. Build trust by letting customers know what they’ll receive for the information they provide. For example, if you ask them to tell you their birthday, be upfront about why. Let them know you’re going to send them a coupon on their special day. Or, if you ask them to fill out a form with their email and phone number, be transparent about why. And make sure they get something of value in return. Instead of simply asking for their personal information as “payment” for gated content, let them know you’re using the information so you can reach out to them and better serve their needs. Besides helping customers feel more comfortable about providing their personal data, they’ll also appreciate the extra value they receive.

Put the Control in Your Customers’ Hands

Another great way to make sure your personalized marketing doesn’t go too far is to put the power in your customers’ hands. Rather than forcing them to get personal with you, let them decide how much to share. And then only use that information in your marketing. Also, give your customers an easy way to opt-out if they want to. Basically, the more they feel like you’re not taking advantage of their personal information and that they’re receiving benefit from it, the more they’ll trust you, and the more they’ll appreciate the ways you customize their marketing experience.

A famous example is the wildly successful “Share A Coke” campaign that Coca-Cola launched in 2014. In case you need a reminder, Coke replaced its logo on its 20-ounce bottles with popular first names and words like “Friends” and “Family.” Consumers were encouraged to share the bottles with others and write about their experiences on social media. The campaign used personalization in a fun and unique way that put 100% of the control in consumers’ hands. People could choose bottles that were personally meaningful to them and then share them in their own way. Or not. The result? Consumers drank it up.

Conclusion

In short, personalization can be a great way to strengthen your relationship with customers and get better results from your marketing. With some thoughtful planning and a little consideration for your customers, it can be a win-win situation for everyone.