Personalization vs. individualization: if no one had to choose?
Unless you have disappeared from the world of Marketing in the last two years, you have not been able to escape the sirens of personalization, a stage perceived as the ultimate in the journey towards a successful customer experience. It is widely used in CRM strategies and is now adorned with superlatives, hyper or advanced customization, as if its definition as such were no longer enough.
Individualization, on the other hand, appears to be a longer-term objective, sometimes unachievable because it is associated with a paradigm shift. Delivered at the moment of exposition in real time, the message delivered by the brand adapts to the customer’s intention and context at a given time to offer a tailor-made experience. Isn’t that what personalization is all about? To convince you, let’s focus on email, which remains the leading mass communication channel for brands.
Over-segmentation kills personalization
A marketing campaign means segmenting, without hesitation. By best profile, by product offer at worst. Result: an email in which appears a message often unsuited to the expectations of the individual and where the marketer reigns supreme.
Today, we can question segmentation in the era of engagement as well as its counterpart, targeting. If I buy a lot of items today, there is no guarantee that I will continue tomorrow. On the contrary, my ability not to have ordered in recent months does not indicate that this will always be the case. However, at the time of your new campaign, I will most certainly appear in one or another category.
While targeting may lead to better identification of future buyers, for example, it is still irremediably associated with the notion of campaign. We are therefore keeping in mind the idea of forming groups. In these latter, my individuality will not appear: I belong above all to a homogeneous group — age, place of residence, socioprofessional category perhaps, last purchases undoubtedly.
Forget about flexibility with segmentation and the ability to act quickly. Faced with all these lists, building a message that speaks to me and makes me want to interact when I check the email or come back to it becomes inconceivable. This is where the strategy of individualization makes sense.
People set the pace
In fact, everyone agrees on this derivative of “ the customer is king “ but let’s be honest, how many brands adapt their message to customers in real time by email? In other words, how many individualize their messages at the time of the exposition?
We all didn’t know that moment when that eye-witching article was finally out of stock or the famous “you loved it so you’ll love it too”, inevitably landing in the wastebasket.
It is true that combining inventory management, items seen during the journey on the site, geolocation, etc. requires to be able to capitalize on the first & third party data in order to have an overview of the customer journey.
It is at this very precise moment that we gradually get out of the campaign field! If the ideal remains to create unique messages, we can always start by integrating an individualized zone, just like Etam, which has seen its audacity rewarded: +190% of clicks thanks to the individualization of its products in the email.
How Etam individualizes its products in its emails
Etam, which undoubtedly has one of the most engaged communities, is no longer introduced.
Always in search of new experiences for its customers, the brand creates personalized products at the Atelier sur mesure by Etam. She then makes the bet to send her customers an email integrating a visual, pyjamas or underwear, made to measure, created at the opening and therefore unique next to the other content chosen by the marketer.
Personalization vs. individualization, it seems that Etam has made its choice. And you?
