Getting in your personal space?
The world is rapidly entering an exciting, yet at little scary, time as we welcome the online age of ‘Hyper Personalisation’, or as some call it, “Personalised marketing at scale”*.
In today’s era, we no longer have the time to search for online content and the need for instant information is huge, with 47% of online shoppers abandoning a website if it fails to load in under 4seconds*. This creates a challenge for webmasters to ensure that their websites engage users as quickly as possible and display the most relevant information, and usually, the more individual this can be, the better. Luckily, with the rise of social media and mobile capabilities in the past 10 years, there are now vast consumer data collection opportunities, which allow for hyper personalisation that can lead to some really unique website apps, marketing communications and location based experiences.
But personalisation is nothing new, for a long time now we have become accustomed, and often overlook, mass online personalisation such as marketing emails that call us out by name, retargeting advertisements that endlessly follow us around the web, or even our favourite supermarkets sending us club card offers and promotions about the products we regularly buy. But with the advancements in technology, where could this take us next?
Here are a few examples of what we are likely to see happen in the next few years and in some cases what is already happening:
Personalisation on websites
In most cases a brands website is the first opportunity they have to communicate with their audience, so it is really important that the user finds what they are looking for, and quickly. However, having a single ‘one solution fits all’ website will most likely no longer suit a brands audience, which may result in a loss in engagement. This has resulted in a gradual shift in the way websites work, which is why we are now beginning to see more bespoke websites based on audience personas.
A good example of this in practice today is the BBC Sport website, which allows a signed-in user to select the sports and/or teams that they are interested in, which creates a personalised homepage for that user. Another good example of what can be done is Dulux paint, who have different websites for their different audiences, they have a separate website for trade, professionals and domestic users — each with their own layouts, primary call to actions etc.
Over the coming years we are likely to see even more data collection opportunities via wearable technology and localised tracking which could allow brands to build a full profile of individual users and create a more personalised experience although with such a large amounts of personal data that could be collected from most of these devices, there will of course be a security concern amongst consumers about the accessibility of their personal data and how it will be used. A good example of how personalised data can be used is online clothing company, such as ASOS, who could utilise purchase data of existing customers to tailor items that they display to a visitor when they next log in and for email and retargeting campaigns.
Brands have had the ability to personalise emails using data for years, however emails are now on the verge of becoming an even more personalised experience.
As technology and email clients (such as Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo) evolve, we will begin to see the emergence of hyper personalised emails. For example, brands may want to show a user information based on their location (i.e. our nearest store is X miles from you), perhaps the device they are viewing the email on, the time the user opens their email (i.e. day/night versions), local weather (i.e. selling an umbrella if it’s raining or changing this to sell a shirt if the weather is good) or simply want to display a different image based on the user (i.e. male/female, younger/older audiences)– these will all be possible and most likely common practice as these technologies evolve.
Mobile, location based offers
If you are one of the 42.4million smartphone users in the UK*, you may have already noticed some location based events happening on your phone, such as the Starbucks or Argos logo appearing on your mobile phone’s lock screen as you approach one of their locations (assuming you have one of their apps), well this is just the start. More and more retailers, such as Waitrose & House of Fraser, are now taking this a step further and experimenting with iBeacons*.
But what are iBeacons and what do they do? Well, in short, iBeacons are a Bluetooth low energy device that can communicate with your smartphone (assuming you have the stores app and Bluetooth on). When a user gets close to one of the beacons it can trigger an event on your phone, such as alerting you of an offer/promotion/event, or simply welcoming a user to a store/complex.
This technology, along with data collected on a user, may eventually evolve into hyper personalised experience. For example, if you visit a store/supermarket and are signed up to their club card system, or shop online, the store will have the ability to track your shopping habits meaning that they will have the potential to show you an individual offer on the spot that may not be available to others as you are stood looking at the same products.
Advancements in this technology will soon see companies using iBeacon technology to understand the hot points at their store/event which will allow them to charge a premium for others to advertise/promote in the key locations. Secondly, the technology has the potential to record what offers/products you are interested in, which opens up the possibility of personalising the company’s website the next time they visit and logs in.
However, this technology is not new and many retailers are a still a little nervous that the of iBeacons may deter customers rather than encourage sales as the data collection can be seen as intrusive, so roll-out of this type of technology is likely to be a slow process.
On Demand ads
With Netflix, iPlayer, Amazon prime and the use of other such on demand services, we now rarely sit through the TV ads, which is a real headache for companies that have just spent thousands of pounds putting together their advertisement. However, there are some video on demand platforms such as All4, YouTube and SkyPlayer that don’t allow you to skip the ads — and these companies are getting on board with Hyper personalisation.
For example, in 2015 Coca-Cola ran their advertising campaign with All4 for their ‘’Share a Coke’’ promotion but used a small piece of personalisation which meant the viewers name appeared on the bottle when the user was playing a video on their service. Subtle, but the campaign was a huge success with campaign awareness up 17%*. More personalised ads are likely to become the norm, and opportunities to target particular user groups will lead to more relevant and potentially localised advertisements.
New online enabled technology
Earlier this year, Samsung announced Family Hub smart fridge* — with features that include a touchscreen display, internal camera’s, reminders, calendars, expiry display, a smartphone app for remote access and more — it can even communicate with other connected devices such as your lights or oven, so no longer will you worry if you left the oven on! These features may seem unnecessary to some, but technology such as this will quickly become commonplace and will open up further opportunities for marketers to reach a potentially new audience.
For example, lets say you run out of wine, the fridge can recognise that and would have the capability of showing you offers for that particular wine, or perhaps a competitor brand advertisement/offer or even link up with your local store for a one button purchase and delivery. What’s more, Samsung are likely to make this as personal an experience as possible — so don’t be surprised if your new fridge says good morning to you, or suggests one of your favourite meals with the ingredients you have available!
This is just one example of online enabled technology that is available now, but we can expect more to follow such as; our washing machines messaging us when it has finished a cycle, our coffee machine recognising when we are awake and preparing our morning coffee, our house unlocking as we approach and further advancements in wearable tech such as Google glass, smartwatches, Amazon Dash (or the Carling equivalent for all your beer needs!), Google Nest and more.
ChatBots
The combined user base of the top four messenger apps is now larger than the combined user base of the top four social networks, businesses have observed this and want to be where their users are (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Kik etc), so as a result we are now seeing the emergence of chat bots.
So what is a chat bot and how can it help a business? Chat bots are computer programs that mimic conversation with people using artificial intelligence. They can transform the way users interact with the internet/brands from a series of self-initiated tasks to a full-conversation. For example, should you need a taxi, you could simply message the bot with basic details and it would arrange a taxi for you.
Although this technology is not widely used (yet), some brands such as Sephora (beauty store) and H&M have early examples of discovery-driven bots on Kik messenger, allowing users to engage with the brand by asking for product tips and pictures — making the connection between the brand and user appear much more personal.
So, what should a brand do to prepare for the future? Although there are some ‘quick’ wins that can be done today though the use of analytics, heat tracking and more, my advice to brands would be to focus on collecting as much data about their users as they can (without going too crazy). The more that a brand knows about its users, the more bespoke and personalised the experience could be. As a final thought, it is worth remembering that no amount of personalisation is possible without the access to strong data, so to ensure a brand can adopt future enhancements (when relevant technology is available to you), the data has to be solid which means tracking tools and programmes should be put in place. However, keep in in mind that there are also limitations with technology and there will be some resistance against future changes — remember users are also individuals and should be treated as such.
Now where did I leave my Nokia 3310….
David Aspinall — Follow me on Twitter @davidaspi
