Did you know?
78% of consumers say personally relevant content will impact whether or not they purchase.
Content is still important, but attention is king.
In a jam-packed digital highway, snagging attention is the new focus. Professionals realize they need to promote interesting and relevant content to stop people from scrolling past or bouncing away. The problem is—not everyone finds the same things interested or relevant (even in the same target audience).
You’ve been told over and over in the past few years that you have to focus on quality over quantity. But, what is quality? In order to give someone something they want or need, you have to know something that differentiates them from everyone else. You have to personalize your content.
People don’t like being interrupted. Many forms of traditional marketing, like commercials and newspaper ads, are not as effective as they once were. But, content isn’t irritating if it is valuable. According to Luke Rees, digital marketing leader at AccuraCast, “People don’t ever mind being interrupted if the ad’s message is interesting to them.”
There are many ways to personalize your content and increase engagement on your platforms. Here are some you will want to consider incorporating for a more personalized customer experience.
Offer Immediate Assistance
Chat boxes that offer live help are becoming popular ways to promote interaction. A chat box shows you are available, ready to help and not going to leave your customer hanging. You can use bots or software to get the conversation started and gather the initial information, connecting a user to a live customer support person as quickly as possible. This allows people to get exactly the answers they need and not feel like they are dealing with a company that can’t be reached. This personalized interaction should be focused on making their experience better and getting them solutions faster. Your chat box reps should be ready to act as both a sales team and customer support team.
Always optimize popup windows so they fit comfortably on any screen and are easy for the user to close or ignore. You will annoy and distract your visitors if the windows continue to pop up frequently or get in the way of their navigation. You can set the box to minimize in a corner once the user closes the popup chat option.
Offer Personalized CTA Buttons
Lets say a customer is visiting your site, but has never purchased anything. You are going to want to get them in contact with your sales team or moving towards the next stage in their buyer’s journey. A CTA button to read more about the topic solutions or call your sales team would be appropriate. If the person visiting has purchased, they might need more support or something else you offer. A CTA button that takes them to a frequently-purchased-with item or customer support would likely be more helpful.
Differentiate Your Contacts List
Don’t send out the same emails to everyone. Try to get basic information from your opt-ins with as few questions as possible. You may break up the list based on qualifiers like:
- Location
- Stage in Buyer’s Journey (Prospect, Lead, Customer)
- Job Title
- Products Most Interested In (based on survey or cart/browser history)
- Time with Company (New Lead, New Customer, Loyal Customer)
- Site Navigation and Activity
You already differentiate to some extent. While you would send an opt-in message to someone who just signs up for your newsletter, you wouldn’t want that message going out to everyone on your list. So, why are you sending the same promo codes, sales, content and sales messages to everyone? If you have a regular, loyal customer, you don’t want to fill their inbox with unhelpful sales pitches. If you have a brand new prospect, you don’t necessarily want to offer them VIP deals. If you have someone fill up their cart and leave it, you do want to reach out with a reminder and maybe a little incentive to complete their purchase. Don’t run a one-size-fits-all email marketing strategy.
Build Targeted Landing Pages
When people search for something specific, they are going to get a list of the most fitting results according to that search engine. You can boost your SEO and increase customer appeal by setting up landing pages that are very specific to a search question. These pages are typically linked to a specific PPC campaign and pop up at the top of search results when someone types in that query.
The landing page should contain similar language in the pitch, CTA buttons and content so the user is more likely to remain. Don’t try to do the catch-all trick of pulling in the customer with a specific query and dumping them onto a generic page. If a customer wants something you offer, send them right to a page that specifically deals with that thing. Only set up the keyword phrases relevant to your brand or you will loose trust with your audience.
Interact and Increase Authenticity
Your customers are using social media. More and more, social platforms are pushing algorithms that require interaction. The brands with the most engagement are often responding to their audience. Brands like Taco Bell, Wendys and Shea Moisture are great at responding to their audience. Don’t think you are above the fray and stay aloof as a brand—interact! And, don’t use an auto bot response for convenience. Brands get bashed when users realize the responses are canned.
Hire a social media manager that can help respond as the social face of your company. Use social listening software to catch social mentions about your brand so you know whether or not to respond (and only respond to conversations that are clearly public ones!). When users respond to your content or tag your brand, respond as quickly as possible. If your social media manager doesn’t know the answer right away, it is best to respond they are looking into it and then get back with the correct answer to the question.
While interacting with your audience, you should also work on posting the content that increases engagement. Work on providing an authentic brand experience that helps the users feel as if they have a clearer view into the “why” of your company.
Alethea M graduated from the University of Saint Francis in 2009 with a B.A., double-majoring in Communication 
Arts and Graphic Design and double-focusing in Illustration and Computer Arts. She photographed the Saint Francis football team for a paid work study all four years she spent at the school. Immediately after graduating, she got a job at a non-profit company teaching art to young children and running their art program. She moved on to work as a copywriter and graphic designer for another non-profit company in Indiana as a Marketing Assistant for two years. She now spends her time as a wife, mother, freelance writer, and photographer.
