The Next Era of Personalization: Real-Time, One-on-One Mobile Messaging

personalized text messaging
Published on
Sep 20, 2019
Written by
Marissa Sanford
Marissa is a Editorial Director on the Content Marketing team. She spends her logged off hours walking her two dogs, doing DIY manicures, and drinking way more coffee than necessary.
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Learn how to create highly relevant experiences at scale through personalized mobile messaging.

Today’s consumers have come to expect personalization from the brands they interact with. More than half of consumers say they’re interested in seeing personalized content when shopping. Previously, marketers were more limited to communicate on broad “one-to-many channels”—like TV, radio, and print. Today, marketers now have the data and technology to enable more opportunities to engage with their customers on a one-to-one basis.

Sailthru, an Attentive partner, recently published their annual Retail Personalization Index. A number of top brands featured on the list, including Sephora and Urban Outfitters, rely on personalized mobile messaging from Attentive to create exceptional customer service experiences.

Personalization enhances customers’ experiences, increases engagement and loyalty, and gives a competitive advantage to brands who get it right. Here’s a look at how brands can enter the next era of personalization by learning more about their customers, creating new engaging and meaningful experiences, and ultimately driving more revenue.

Leverage data to understand who your customer is

Personalization is only as good as the data being collected—and the ability to translate it into an actionable strategy. While you most likely have a specific target market or demographic such as “Women, Ages 25-30,” it’s important to recognize that no two customers within a given demographic are alike. While it’s useful to group segments together to start personalizing experiences, collecting more individualized insights about customers will help you see the larger picture.

You’ll also begin understanding what devices your customers use across their entire lifecycle, allowing you to interact with them on a one-on-one basis where they choose. It’s important to work with technology partners who can help you utilize the data to deliver the most relevant experiences possible to your customers.

Meet your customers where they want to interact with you: their mobile devices

Brands need to deliver personalized experiences whenever and wherever their customer chooses to interact with them. Now, more than ever, that’s via mobile:

  1. Adults spend 3.3 hours on their mobile devices each day, compared to 2.1 hours on desktop.
  2. The average shopper checks their phone 47x a day.
  3. Consumers interact with brands on mobile twice as much as they do anywhere else.

Mobile devices are inherently personal—it’s rare for consumers to not have their smartphone within arm’s reach. Mobile messaging makes it easy for brands to engage with potential and existing customers in a one-on-one way. But reaching them where they are with just any message won’t cut it—you have to send the right content at the right moment.

Deliver the most relevant content for each moment

Real-Time, One-on-One Mobile Messaging

The last piece of the puzzle is understanding what information and content would be valuable to that consumer in that particular moment. Each customer, and their motivation for interacting with your brand, is unique. Ask yourself: what goal is this customer trying to achieve in this moment? If you understand their motivations and mindset, you’ll be able to deliver the perfect content right when they need it.

Imagine you are a cosmetics brand and a customer has been browsing lipsticks on your website. They find one they like and add it to their cart, but leave your site before they complete their purchase. If they’re subscribed to your mobile messaging program, so you can automatically send them an abandoned cart reminder message with a picture of the lipstick and a direct link to complete their purchase. It’s a helpful, personalized reminder.

Cosmetics brand Lime Crime was recently featured as one of Attentive’s Summer 2019 Mobile Messaging Masters for their excellent job personalizing customers’ abandoned cart reminders at scale. Their messages feature their signature playful brand voice, include the product name, and highlight their customers’ individuality.

As brands and consumers continue to embrace personalization, one-on-one marketing that engages individual consumers based on unique interests & behaviors, motivations, and preferences is the key to making lasting connections and driving more revenue.

Want to learn more about the brands with the most personalized customer experiences, based on Sailthru’s report?

EXPLORE THE INDEX

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