Effective marketing in this digital and fast-paced age is about personalization. Broad, flashy gimmicks have lost their charm and the marketing that is most engaging is focused on the individual. The best measure of whether or not your marketing program is truly successful is the degree to which personalization infuses your strategies. The following are each signs that you are making the most of this tool in your marketing efforts.
Your Customers Are at the Center of Everything You Do
Most businesses know that effective marketing — and effective business in general — is customer-focused, but not all of them truly put this into practice. Marketing is where this emphasis has to start, using your content, approach and strategies to give your audience the expectation that they come first. A ‘buyer-first strategy’ begins with thorough research on your customers and building buyer personas, which will be the basis of everything that you do.
You Know How to Leverage Your Data for More Effective Marketing
From your internal data about your current customers to third-party data that offers a broader perspective, data is a widely available. Successful use of this data begins with knowing what data is important — while greater amounts of data might sound better, quality of data should be your priority — and context is critical. The right data, used to direct your content, your marketing channels and your ad campaigns, is the answer to crafting the most successful marketing program.
You Are Intentional and Consistent with Your Customer Relationships
You already know the importance of customer relationships and that relationship management is not just for customer support professionals. The relationship-building that creates meaning — and loyal followers — needs to be part of your marketing program. While complex CRM programs seek to facilitate consistent engagement, it still requires the human touch to deliver the authenticity and directed interaction that customers need and that will build long-lasting relationships.
You Can Identify and Respond to Dynamic Signals from Your Audience
Customer needs and expectations can change rapidly — even more quickly than you might expect. Mature, successful marketing programs have tools and systems in place to constantly gauge the interest of their customers, letting them identify where needs may be changing — and identify new opportunities for growth. These customer signals can come from sources like sales data, customer surveys and overall market trends, but the more intentional you are in reviewing them, the better chance you’ll have to respond before the competition.
You Know How to Use Your Marketing Assets to Create Change
Some marketers seem to think that the more marketing assets they have — blog posts, infographics, white papers, social networks, videos — the more successful their marketing program will be. However, the real skill in marketing is to develop a few marketing assets and content pieces that are highly targeted and effective and then finding new ways to use those elements to expand reach. Content and assets that are truly informative and meet your customers’ needs will create a transformative experience and build your loyal customer base.
The measure of success in marketing is not a simple one, and cannot be based on a single value. Yet if you focus your efforts on using personalization to put customers first, responding to data and audience signals and applying consistent customer relationship strategies, your marketing system will be an example of modern marketing success.
