Building and creating optimised digital experiences have been the focus of marketing teams since the early days of the internet, yet the focus has always been on the execution of marketing programs rather than the consumer. The key performance indicators of success have been measured on the performance of email marketing, paid media or targeted ads programmes, rather than enhanced customer experiences, increased retention rates, and increased lifetime value.

This approach is in dire need of rejuvenation. Why? Because in trying to optimise each marketing channel, businesses have lost sight of the fact that there are humans behind the channels, and devices that they are marketing to.

People-Based Marketing, the approach to marketing whereby a business identifies and targets single individuals as they engage across every device, every browser and every channel, both on and off the website, hinges on the relationship that brands create and nurture with and for their consumers.

As individuals continue to be drawn to the trend of convenience, they have little consideration for the device, browser or channel that they are interacting on and care far more for consistent, relevant and seamless digital experiences across these mediums.

It’s a crowded world out there, and with brands fighting for consumer attention with the hope of luring them into the purchase funnel, the margins on marketing programs are diminishing at a high rate. Marketers must reconnect with their valued consumers and implement strategies and technologies that unify all facets of their business to deliver true omnichannel digital experiences.

As they say, there is no time like the present, and it’s time to bring the focus of your marketing strategy back to your customers and make it more about people based marketing and less about channel based marketing. Nick Keating, Director EMEA at BounceX shares his three tips to ensure that your customers are getting a more targeted, personalised experience.

Realise the Value of Email

With email marketing at the core of the majority of retailers’ marketing strategies, this channel is still very much alive but current tactics are killing it.

It’s not just the email campaign that presents a repeatable source of revenue for a brand, but the value of an email address is becoming increasingly more important. An email address represents a unique digital identifier, persistent across devices and used for most channels.

B2C companies need to realise the true value of identifying consumers across devices and creating additional channels once a visitor is offsite. By using a single email address it is possible to reconnect with the individual behind the device and create a fully targeted experience based on their cross-device engagement.

Email marketing campaigns can become personalised depending on each consumer and because of this, email will deliver high Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS) and become a more effective revenue channel.

Identify the Anonymous Visitor

Companies can only identify between 5 and 10% of online visitors. So although targeted and personalised experiences are at the top of the agenda for more companies, it’s time to approach it in a different way. Marketing technology has developed to a point where it is possible to identify a visitor, which allows marketers to take a people-based approach and customise the consumer experience based on their behaviour to drive them towards purchase. If marketers combine this with behavioural profiling and cross device identification, they can target the medium to high intent visitors which will deliver incremental revenue and a higher ROAS. Marketing strategies such as this can also avoid wasted ad spend on consumers who will never have the propensity to purchase and increase the ability to market to your known consumers of the channels that are most profitable for your business.

Humanise the Customer Experience

Consumers enjoy customised experiences. The advent of Behavioural Marketing empowers brands to unlock impactful digital experiences for consumers based on the real time behavior they are exhibiting and their perceived level of intent.

When organisations begin to infuse their marketing campaigns with data about consumer intent, they will be able to truly personalise the online experience to create the most relevant communications. This will enable brands to target and nurture the individual visitors with the highest propensity to purchase at the precise moment in their buying journey, transforming them into customers.

It’s time for a change – for a return to the people-centric approach to marketing, where the human connection comes first and your business (the devices, the channels) adapt to the individual in question. And those that are able to adopt this approach are the ones that will strive into 2017 and beyond – don’t get left behind.

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Customer Experience