“Brands can deliver better experiences using various types of personalisation strategies, from unique messaging, content, and recommendations to optimised pricing for different shoppers (a new customer vs a loyal customer). It’s no surprise that tailoring product offerings and recommendations are the most used tactics as they drive the highest ROI for a business,” Ong says.

One of the key challenges faced by businesses when deploying personalisation is how to effectively manage data from disparate sources and routinely use it to better inform the customer experience.

“One solution is to find a technology partner that can collate actual sales data from customers with broader data sets from different digital touchpoints. Doing so offers clear and actionable insights that can be used to inform personalisation strategies,” Ong says.

The goldilocks zone

Personalisation exists on a spectrum, Ong says. “There’s a ‘goldilocks zone’ between the customer feeling like the experience isn’t relevant to them, and feeling like the provider is too in tune with their preferences. Providing the kind of ‘just right’ personalised experiences customers expect is the sweet spot in the middle.”

And it’s crucial that personalised experiences add real value.

“At the end of the day, your data should be used to make your life easier and richer.”

He continues: “The right technology paired with responsible collection of data and compliant, transparent policies help to ensure the lines aren’t crossed.”

One last puzzle piece, and another major challenge, is in ensuring that there’s talent within the marketing teams responsible for bringing personalisation programs to life. Not all companies have the in-house capabilities to spearhead effective programs.

“This is why solutions that provide helpful automation and guidance around the right methodology is necessary. The key is to find a partner that balances ease of use with scalability,” he says.

“Effective personalisation must happen at scale, and the key to achieving scale is a solution that allows for rapid testing, deployment, and analysis across touchpoints and channels. This will allow companies to better understand and respond to customer behaviour in a way that is fluid.”

Investing in personalisation

As consumer demand for personalisation continues to grow, brands must differentiate their approach in order to provide relevant experiences at scale.

There are a growing number of tools out there for companies to be able to buy off the shelf to offer more personalised experiences, but many are legacy suite solutions that end up being difficult to integrate with newer technologies.

In 2022, Mastercard acquired Dynamic Yield – the leading experience operating system (OS) that helps more than 450 brands around the world algorithmically match content, products, and offers to customers across digital channels to increase revenue and drive loyalty. In contrast to static legacy solutions, Experience OS is open, flexible, and technology-agnostic, which makes broader tech integrations seamless across the board.

Just under a year since acquisition, Element launched – a solution that leverages its proprietary prediction models and aggregated, anonymised insights to deliver greater personalisation within Dynamic Yield’s Experience OS – data which isn’t available for use anywhere else in the market.

It’s time to get personal. By providing personalised experiences and loyalty programs to your customers, you can keep them engaged while also benefitting from revenue growth. Learn more about the importance of personalisation in 2023 and beyond at https://www.mastercardservices.com/en/reports-insights/personalization-no-longer-perk

For more case studies visit: https://www.dynamicyield.com/case-studies/