Website personalization, product, offer, and content recommendation services to help retailers and other businesses personalize their proposition to nurture prospects toward conversions

The website personalization tools we recommend in this article enable you to segment visitors and then deliver personalized messages of the 'next best product' or 'next best content' within containers on your website as with the classic Amazon personalized recommendations (read their published methodology from this fascinating whitepaper from back in 2003). I originally wrote this post in 2010 when there were fewer personalization options. I have updated it annually since with recommendations provided via social media - do get in touch if you have a suggestion. The latest update includes the new Google AI Recommendations framework that was introduced in January 2021. A serious new competitor has entered the market to disrupt competition and perhaps reduce fees for retailers. This is the latest update where…

We all know marketing in tech is done differently to other industries, but what makes a great technology company marketing plan?

The IT and High-tech industries are well-known for innovation. But having a great product is only half of the work of a successful go-to-market strategy. Now more than ever, it's crucial for marketers to step up and add value, to help differentiate and stay ahead of the fierce competition in the sector. How do you do that? Read our steps to creating a winning marketing plan for your technology company.

Why invest in marketing for tech?

Worldwide IT spending in 2023 projected to total $4.6 trillion in 2021, an increase of 5.1% from 2022. Your marketing plan is more important than ever in securing your market share of that growth. Clearly, marketing plans for technology companies need to develop to take advantage of all the omnichannel tactics available to the…

Getting website personalization right is hard and I bet you are sick of being told otherwise

I don’t blame marketers for trying to tell you differently of course. It’s immensely frustrating for them too – knowing just how valuable personalization can be and knowing that it will, in time, become a necessity, rather than luxury, for all brands to offer a personal experience to their customers. Still, industry folk are frequently told we should be getting on board with web personalization and the many different approaches to execution that have been proposed over the last few years. But (and it’s a big but), rarely does anyone address the fact that most businesses have one or more fundamental and significant blockers in place preventing personalization success (more on this later). [si_blog_banner_cta] It's akin to asking a member of the public to take part in the World Championship triple jump competition and preparing them by showing…

Chart of the Week: Almost a third of marketers would spend extra budget on data, analytics and marketing tech to meet the growing requirement for personalization

With the world of digital marketing moving at a faster pace than ever, it is growing increasingly important to assign budget to those areas that could provide the biggest benefits. Arguably, this means investment in areas such as personalization and automation, especially as personalization is being seen as key to improving the quality of leads being generated. [si_guide_block id="87688" title="Download our Business Resource –Marketing technology selection guide" description="This guide will help you harness the power of the available digital tools."/] According to Merkle’s latest Customer Engagement Report, data, technology and analytics are deemed to be the most important areas at the moment, coming ahead of areas like digital (16%), paid media (10%) and search (10%). …

A study reveals that 94% of the marketers surveyed see personalization of the web experience is vital for business success.

When you plan your website, you think about things like design, web copy, and calls-to-action. This isn't wrong, but your competitors are doing the same thing. If you want to create a true connection with visitors and do something most of your competitors aren't, you should consider marketing personalization. If you're wondering what personalization is, the answer is simple enough. [si_guide_block id="57383" title="Download our Individual Member Resource – Website and e-commerce personalization guide" description="This guide is aimed at marketing managers involved with making the business case for personalization, looking to plan a personalization implementation or extend their use of personalization."/] According to Newco, Personalization is one of the biggest trending topics when it comes to marketing and data trends. Essentially, it refers to using the information…

Chart of the Week: 81% of e-commerce marketers say the acquisition of new customers is one of their biggest goals, despite having higher costs than customer retention

E-commerce is a growing market, which is being reflected in its marketing budgets. In fact, 65% of e-commerce marketers have said that their marketing budget has increased this year compared to 2018 compared to just 10% who said it has decreased. The rise in budgets is likely tied to the increase in expectations for marketers in the e-commerce sector, with heavy competition meaning that new tools, techniques and technologies are being utilized to drive shoppers to stores. This is shown by the fact that 81% of respondents said that acquisition marketing was the largest e-commerce marketing investment priority in 2018. According to a new report from Commerce Next and Oracle, bringing new…

Personalization stats for 2018 and 2019 show that brands can stay competitive only through a personalized approach to every customer

Today more than ever before, customers are critical of the experiences they get. They want brands to treat them as personalities both online and offline. They no longer accept average offerings and consider customer service as a part of the product they purchase. The Salesforce State of Marketing research showed that in 2018 84% of customers required a personalized approach. [si_guide_block id="57383" title="Download our Individual Member Resource – Website and e-commerce personalization guide" description="This guide is aimed at marketing managers involved with making the business case for personalization, looking to plan a personalization implementation or extend their use of personalization."/] Behind the vague concept of personalization stand efforts of multiple departments and considerable investments. So how do you approach personalization the right way? How much to invest and in…

"There is nothing more important than understanding the customer journey and delivering personalized experiences to your customer" Michal Szaniecki, Managing Director SEAT and CUPRA, Volkswagen Group

The future of marketing is personal. Brands are looking to create an in-depth understanding of the customer journey and how they can offer personalized interactions. Knowing your customer and their journey is down to effective use of data, and with more touchpoints and levers available to marketers than ever before the opportunities to engage are ample. As we get ready for the Brand Marketing Summit Europe, we spoke with three leaders and summit speakers to discuss how to successfully engage your customers and the innovations that will shake the way you work up. Incite Group has brought together key figures from Aon, Volkswagen and Spark Networks to discuss the key issues affecting brands marketing strategies and where they see the big, exciting opportunities…

The growing demands of the online visitor

As reported by Internet Retailer, the projected online global consumer spending by 2019 will more than double the $3.551 trillion of the global spending in 2015, accounting for 12.4% of the total retail sales.  It is also forecast that retail giants Amazon, Alibaba and eBay will by 2023 account for 40% of retail sales. These numbers show that consumer inclination toward online shopping is increasing. However, the gap between what consumers want and what they get is also widening. Online retailers are having to think outside of the box to differentiate and meet the expectations of their online customers.  What was deemed a ‘point of difference’ and ‘cutting edge’ three years ago is now the expected norm. What was once seen as a retailer going the extra mile is now taken for granted. With the emerging new technologies being adopted by businesses Amazon has…

A quick look at the ways personalization should be implemented into your website

Jeff Bezos’s vision for personalizing customers online experience back in 1998 has become a reality for many e-commerce sites and is fast becoming a game changer for online retailers. We have not seen personalization be adopted by many of the non-retail web which is interesting. Many businesses still believe that their homepage only needs a ‘one version fits all’ approach, regardless of the fact that it is the main doorway to their business. Businesses spend vast amounts of money trying to market to their customers on a 1-2-1 level but overlook or misinterpret this approach on their website. This shows there is a massive opportunity being missed “If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word-of-mouth is very powerful.” - Jeff Bezos

So why personalize?

To understand why personalization is so important, take a look at how…