Crystal Clear Communications Blog

Content personalization and what your audience doesn’t want.

A friend forwarded a great marketing email to me. The email took content personalization to the next level by recognizing there is certain content users don’t want. The email explained that the company understands holidays affect all people differently. And they asked if she would like to unsubscribe from emails about Father’s Day.

I was gobsmacked. I remember how painful it was the first few years after my mother passed to have Mother’s Day specials jammed in my face.

It would have been amazing to be able to opt out of emails stating, “Your mom will love this!” or “Treat Mom right! Make a reservation today!” This organization was definitely on to something.

Most of us tend to think about content personalization as tailoring marketing content to what our audience wants. It can create even greater loyalty to consider what they don’t want.

Here are 3 ways to ensure you’re embracing the next step in content personalization by avoiding content your buyers don’t want:

• Ask buyers about content personalization
• Pay attention to their buying habits
• Listen to what your buyers don’t say.

Ask your buyers about content personalization

The subject line of the email my friend received from Wembley Stadium was “Would you rather not hear about our Father’s Day offers?”

Easy enough. If Father’s Day isn’t tough for you, ignore the email. But if you are affected by Father’s Day, you can opt-out.

Asking your buyers what they don’t want is a great way to ensure the next level of true content personalization.

Pay attention to buying habits

Another friend of mine, who happens to be allergic to cats, once gave me a book about cats as a gift. The next time she logged on to the website that sold her the book, it suggested she might like more books about cats.

My friend had never purchased a book about cats before. The site looked at only one of her purchases, versus her purchases over time. If the marketers at the company had truly been paying attention, they might have asked if she wanted to receive recommendations for cat books. But instead, they flooded her screen with tons of cat-related content.

Pay attention to what your clients buy over time to ensure you serve up only content they want—not content they don’t.

Listen to what your buyers don’t say

Almost every company will tell you they listen to their customers. Customer feedback is vital to developing solutions and services our customers want and earning their loyalty.

One way to ensure you’re getting the feedback you need is to find out what your customers are asking. If you aren’t already actively gathering customer questions, start now. This blog by my business partner George Stenitzer will teach you how.

Analyze customer feedback and customer questions. In addition to paying attention to common stated themes, pay attention to what’s missing. Are there absolutely no questions or feedback about one of your offerings? That’s a huge clue.

Yet we’re often so busy listening to what our customers want, subsequently we sometimes forget to pay attention to the fact that they’re not asking for some of the items we promote via content personalization.

Content personalization is becoming more and more the norm in content marketing.

For example:

• Survey your customers
• Watching their buying habits
• Listen to their feedback

By doing this, you can take content personalization a step further: Ensure you avoid offering content buyers don’t want.

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