I'm just gonna ignore the fact that England lost Euro 2024 for now and take you back to Wednesday night (July 10) when England took home the win against the Netherlands.
While most of us armchair footballers watched the game at home a few thousand were over in The O2 where the band The Killers got to treat their English fans to a once-in-a-lifetime moment.
Videos circulating social media show the band pausing their concert to play the last few minutes of the game on the venue's massive screens.
And when the final whistle blew, and the English team emerged victorious, the arena erupted in cheers, Red and white streamers shot out over the crowd and the band launched into their biggest hit, "Mr. Brightside."
You see, this wasn't some coincidental fluke - no - this was planned, planned, planned.
Nothing builds stronger connections and customer loyalty than being in tune with what your audience wants.
And it's moments like these that exemplify the power of personalisation.
The Killers understood their audience (this wouldn't have meant as much anywhere else) and tapped into how their English fans were feeling.
Yesterday my little not-thought-about comment went viral
There was no magic arrow
No secret algo hack
Simply put - people connected with it
Personalization goes beyond understanding your target market pains and desired outcomes. But most marketers write Personalization in their emails like it's a hallmark card.
When it comes to writing, if you can encapsulate what your audience are thinking, feeling, or doing you'll attract their attention quicker and they'll stick around for longer. In fact it's the one thing that turns a fan into a lifelong champion.
And it's something B2Bs can steal from B2Cs
Personalization starts with research - lots of research
Here are some ways to personalize your message and avoid sounding creepy:
1. Keep an Eye on Events -
Regularly monitor trends and news in your industry, your social media page, and Competitors and Keep an eye on the calendar to look for ways to build content around topics and themes your audience finds interesting.
For example: Tesco closed its Express stores in England early at 7:30 PM on Sunday to give their employees time to go home and watch the match. Great for their employees and great for building their reputation as a good employer.
2. Analyze Customer Data
Deep dive into your data to better understand your customers' preferences, behaviours, and pain points.
You can analyze customer data from various sources. You can collect data from surveys and feedback forms (e.g. Typeform, SurveyMonkey, or Google Forms), website analytics, and social media interactions, to identify trends and patterns that can inform your content strategies.
This data can help you gain insights into your audience's interests, challenges, goals, preferences, demographics, location, purchase history, and engagement level, and can help you identify areas where you can improve or adapt your content strategy.
3. Engage with Your Audience
Encourage open dialogue with your customers through social media.
Suja Juice as part of their #ItsTheJuice marketing campaign, used social listening to identify people who were either having a bad day, tired, sick, hungover, etc., and offered to brighten their day with a delivery of nutritious juice.
The team searched Instagram for hashtags like #sick #mondayblues #mondays #hungover #butfirstcoffee #isitfridayyet #gradschool #momlife #momprobs #lackofsleep #mood and during final exams week at colleges looking at #finals #midterms and #deadweek hashtags.
With their data, they began to reach out to these individuals and offered to set them up with a juice delivery.
In total, they reached almost 400 people and successfully dropped or shipped nearly 6,000 bottles of product.
4. Invest in Employee Training and Development
Equip your team with the skills and knowledge necessary to deliver personalized customer content.
Train employees to listen actively, empathize with customers, and proactively address their needs.
5. Be Flexible and Adaptable
Like The Killers, be ready to adjust your plans and adapt to unexpected events or changes in your audience's preferences.
Being flexible and open to new ideas can help you stay relevant.
Create different versions of your copy for your different audience segments depending on their interests, challenges, goals, or stages in the buyer's journey.
You can use Dynamic content, geo-targeting, or time-sensitive messages to adapt your copy to their specific situation, needs, and preferences at the moment of interaction.
6. Personalization if done poorly or excessively will backfire.
Using the wrong name, location, or offer
Targeting the wrong problem or focusing on the wrong desired outcome
Too many personal details can make your audience feel uncomfortable
Too few personal details, can make your audience feel ignored or generic.
7. Avoid these common pitfalls by making sure your data is accurate, updated, and verified regularly.
Continuously Test, Evaluate, and Adapt
Regularly review your strategies and processes to ensure they are aligned with your customer's evolving needs.
Set clear goals and metrics to track your success, such as open rate, click-through rate, conversion rate, retention rate, or revenue.
While click-through rates and optimization matter, feedback from customers and employees can help you see opportunities for improvement.
And that's a wrap
Nothing builds stronger connections and customer loyalty than being in tune with what your audience wants and making them feel you understand them through personalized content.
The Killers knew how important the game was to their English fans and even though thousands of other fans surrounded them - the memory of the event will feel personal to each of them.
How are you personalizing your content for your customers?
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