At the end of the workday, you jump in your car and get hit with a notification from Apple Maps: “15 minutes to Home. Traffic is normal right now.”
This is personalisation in a nutshell. Your phone knows your daily routine and gives you a heads up before you even have a chance to buckle your seatbelt. No more having to input the same data over and over again.
We live in a connected world where convenience is king. Today, many users accept (and even appreciate) their devices’ expanding role in their lives. 64% of customers are okay with retailers saving their purchase history and personal preferences if more personalisation is offered. And for 84% of customers, being treated like a person instead of a number is crucial to winning their business. In this age of atrophied brand loyalty, delivering more precise personalisation than your competitors can make all the difference.
What is User Experience (UX) Personalisation? Why Is it Important?
Personalisation is anticipation and real-time customisation. It allows you to deliver relevant content and functionality that resonates with your customers and shepherds them through the conversion funnel. When you personalise your website or app, you predict what your users are looking for before they even have a chance to ask.
Through continuous optimisation, UX personalisation learns and adapts to meet your needs. In 2017, personalised home page promotions influenced 85% of customers to make a purchase, while personalised shopping cart recommendations influenced 92% of online shoppers. On the flip side, when businesses lose a customer, poor personalisation is the culprit 33% of the time.
George Smith
“Persuading customers through personalisation is how marketers can have the most impact on the bottom line,” says George Smith, Regional Managing Director, MEAI, Horizontal.
Most marketers recognise the value of personalisation, but implementing it is another story. According to Salesforce, just 28% of marketers are completely satisfied with their ability to engage with customers across channels at scale. To be effective, every brand should have its own personalisation strategy. Apple Maps’ personalisation focuses on your geolocation. Amazon’s strategy is built around your purchase history. Here are five ways to enhance your website experience with personalisation.
Ask for Geolocation
Pinpointing user locations is one of the most valuable aspects of personalisation. It allows you to target customers based on country, state, metro area and city. What happens if a user in the Czech Republic types in www.google.com? They are automatically redirected to www.google.cz. If you’re on a quest for Thai food, the search results will auto-sort to show the closest options first.
The best way to collect a database of information about your users is by prompting them to create a free profile upfront. Once a user inputs their information and starts using your site, you’ll have access to their name, age, address, interests, behaviour and more.
Keep in mind—providing a “Continue as Guest” option accommodates users who want to make a purchase but are reluctant to build a profile. Sometimes you just want to snag those concert tickets without jumping through the hoops of creating a password, verifying your email, etc.
Provide Personalised Content and Recommendations
After your users create a profile and share some info about themselves, you’re ready to start personalising content across your site. Refer to your customers by name. Display products and recommend similar content based on their interests. Auto-fill forms, so they don’t have to submit the same data twice.
Companies like Amazon do an amazing job of personalising recommendations to upsell and cross-sell products. If you add a coffee maker to your cart, they’ll recommend a box of filters. Fashion companies like ASOS prompt users to “complete the look” by purchasing a model’s entire ensemble.
If you don’t finish a YouTube video, your progress is automatically saved. If your online shopping trip gets interrupted, you’ll be shown the items you browsed on your next visit. If you couldn’t complete an application form in one sitting, many sites auto-save your info so you don’t have to fill in the same fields twice.
Show Relevant Content Based on User History
Watch a lot of true crime? Your top picks on Netflix probably include shows like Mindhunter and Making a Murderer. Having a curated home page that reflects your behaviour makes it easy to find content that’s up your alley.
Personalisation Pitfalls to Avoid
Personalisation can be a double-edged sword. Misusing customer data can reflect poorly on your brand and damage the bond you have with your customers. If your personalisation doesn’t have a clear purpose, it runs the risk of cluttering your user experience and bruising your credibility. It’s a tricky thing to navigate. 35% of marketers feel challenged to balance personalisation with privacy.
