Personalizing Customer Touchpoints for Greater Impact

People value what they create 63% more. Yet most digital experiences treat customers as passive recipients instead of co-creators. This psychological principle, known as the "Ikea Effect", is shockingly underutilized in digital journeys. When someone builds a piece of Ikea furniture, they develop an emotional attachment that transcends its objective value. The same phenomenon happens in digital experiences. After optimizing digital journeys for companies like Adobe and Nike for over a decade, I've discovered this pattern consistently: 👉 Those who customize or personalize a product before purchase are dramatically more likely to convert and remain loyal. One enterprise client implemented a product configurator that increased conversions by 31% and reduced returns by 24%. Users weren't getting a different product... they were getting the same product they helped create. The psychology is simple but powerful: ↳ Customization creates psychological ownership before financial ownership ↳ The effort invested creates value attribution ↳ Co-creation builds emotional connection Three ways to implement this today: 1️⃣ Replace dropdown options with visual configurators 2️⃣ Create personalization quizzes that guide product selection 3️⃣ Allow users to save and revisit their customized selections Most importantly: shift your mindset from selling products to facilitating creation. When customers feel like co-creators rather than consumers, they don't just buy more... they become advocates. How are you letting your customers build rather than just buy?

One of the biggest takeaways I spotted from Intuit Mailchimp’s analysis of the 2024 holiday shopping season is that the new year is ripe with new opportunities to drive loyalty. Here’s why → 64% of orders from Mailchimp customers with connected stores came from new customers during Cyber Weekend 2024. That's a huge opportunity to grow your loyal customer base! And research we produced with Canvas8 tells us that the best kept secret to driving loyalty is actually grounded in science. Our Loyalty Wheel reveals 4 key drivers of loyalty: 1. Reward: Our brains love rewards. Create a sense of reciprocity by offering exclusive deals, personalized discounts, or early access to new products. 2. Memory: Make it easy for customers to remember (and repeat!) positive experiences with your brand. Design a frictionless customer journey, offer subscriptions for frequently purchased items, and send well-timed reminders. 3. Emotion: Foster an emotional connection that goes beyond transactional exchanges. Align your brand with causes your customers care about, share authentic stories, and build a sense of community. 4. Social Interaction: Encourage customers to share their love for your brand with friends and family. Create opportunities for user-generated content, run refer-a-friend programs, or host exclusive events. And here's how to put it all into action: 🎉 Surprise and delight: Gift your customers with unexpected rewards. And just not generic discounts. Offer exclusive experiences or partner with like-minded brands to create unique offers. 🛝 Streamline every touchpoint: Remove friction in the customer journey with automation. From browsing to purchasing to post-purchase support, make it easy and enjoyable to do business with your brand. 🎯 Prioritize personalization: Craft your messaging and build authentic connections. Use data and AI analysis to understand your customers' values and preferences and use those insights to create content that resonates. 🤗 Give VIP treatment: Make your customers feel like VIPs. Give them early access to new products, invite them to exclusive events, or feature them on your social media channels. Download Mailchimp and Canvas8’s The Science of Loyalty and The Strategic Loyalty Playbook for a deep dive into the science, complete with actionable strategies and inspiring examples: https://bit.ly/49FJayO Make 2025 the year of the loyal customer. You got this.

For years, companies have been leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to provide personalized customer experiences. One widespread use case is showing product recommendations based on previous data. But there's so much more potential in AI that we're just scratching the surface. One of the most important things for any company is anticipating each customer's needs and delivering predictive personalization. Understanding customer intent is critical to shaping predictive personalization strategies. This involves interpreting signals from customers’ current and past behaviors to infer what they are likely to need or do next, and then dynamically surfacing that through a platform of their choice. Here’s how: 1. Customer Journey Mapping: Understanding the various stages a customer goes through, from awareness to purchase and beyond. This helps in identifying key moments where personalization can have the most impact. This doesn't have to be an exercise on a whiteboard; in fact, I would counsel against that. Journey analytics software can get you there quickly and keep journeys "alive" in real time, changing dynamically as customer needs evolve. 2. Behavioral Analysis: Examining how customers interact with your brand, including what they click on, how long they spend on certain pages, and what they search for. You will need analytical resources here, and hopefully you have them on your team. If not, find them in your organization; my experience has been that they find this type of exercise interesting and will want to help. 3. Sentiment Analysis: Using natural language processing to understand customer sentiment expressed in feedback, reviews, social media, or even case notes. This provides insights into how customers feel about your brand or products. As in journey analytics, technology and analytical resources will be important here. 4. Predictive Analytics: Employing advanced analytics to forecast future customer behavior based on current data. This can involve machine learning models that evolve and improve over time. 5. Feedback Loops: Continuously incorporate customer signals (not just survey feedback) to refine and enhance personalization strategies. Set these up through your analytics team. Predictive personalization is not just about selling more; it’s about enhancing the customer experience by making interactions more relevant, timely, and personalized. This customer-led approach leads to increased revenue and reduced cost-to-serve. How is your organization thinking about personalization in 2024? DM me if you want to talk it through. #customerexperience #artificialintelligence #ai #personalization #technology #ceo

🎯 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐓 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬: 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞-𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 🚀 In a world of infinite choices, personalization is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity. For IT sales, where products and services are often complex and high-stakes, personalization can be the key to winning deals and building lasting relationships. 💡 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬: - 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐬: IT buyers are looking for tools that fit their unique challenges, not a one-size-fits-all approach. Tailoring your pitch shows you understand their needs. - 𝐂𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐍𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞: Decision-makers are bombarded with generic sales pitches daily. Personalization helps you stand out. - 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭: Showing that you’ve done your homework fosters credibility and strengthens relationships. 💼 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐝𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐈𝐓 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬: 1️⃣ 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬: Dive deep into the client's industry, goals, and challenges. Use their language, not tech jargon. 2️⃣ 𝐓𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐬: Highlight features that solve their pain points rather than running a standard demo. 3️⃣ 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚-𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: Use CRM tools and analytics to personalize follow-ups, proposals, and communication. 4️⃣ 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬: Share examples from industries or companies similar to theirs. 📊 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬: Companies that focus on personalization see higher win rates and stronger customer loyalty. 80% of customers are more likely to buy when businesses offer personalized experiences (source: Forbes). 🌟 In the fast-paced IT world, where decisions can mean millions, personalization isn’t just about being nice—it’s about being effective. 💬 How have you personalized your approach in IT sales? I’d love to hear your experiences and strategies! #ITSales #Personalization #CustomerSuccess #SalesTips

Here’s a common myth about personalization: All you need is a customer’s name to make it effective. True personalization goes much deeper, it’s about understanding behaviors, preferences, and needs to create meaningful experiences. Collecting the right data isn’t just about volume, it’s about relevance. You can’t offer genuine personalization without truly knowing your audience. Here’s how I’ve approached it: ➜ Identify key data points. Don’t collect data just for the sake of it. Focus on what will actually help you understand your customers better, things like purchase history, browsing behavior, and engagement patterns. ➜ Leverage tools wisely. Using the right tools is crucial. We’ve integrated platforms (like HubSpot) to ensure we’re gathering and utilizing data that matters, not just creating noise. ➜ Respect privacy. Personalization should never come at the cost of privacy. Being transparent with your audience about what data you collect and how you use it builds trust. ➜ Test and refine. Data isn’t static, and neither should your approach to personalization be. Continuously test what works and refine your strategy to meet your customers' evolving needs. ↳ By focusing on relevant data, not just more data, we’ve been able to create personalized experiences that resonate, leading to stronger customer relationships and better results. What’s been your biggest challenge in collecting data for personalization? How are you overcoming it? #data #personalization #hubspot