How to personalize without falling into stereotypes?
Traditional segmentation by socio-demographic criteria no longer addresses the diversity of tastes expressed by consumers, or the challenges of personalizing the modern brand experience. Adobe highlights the need for a more customer-centric approach, which can only succeed in creating an ongoing conversation.
I subscribed
90% of brands fail when it comes to offering a real-time personalized experience to their customers according to Adobe, revealing the results of its “Cap sur la personalization” study, conducted on 2,000 French people about their expectations in terms of personalization. the brand experience. Blame this, according to the company, on the inability of brands to properly analyze the changing tastes and expectations of consumers. To achieve this, it will be necessary to rethink the way it segments and targets its customers and prospects, but also to manage regular exchanges with them.
Gen Z or Y: a definition that suits only 28% of the French
To illustrate the difficulty companies have in categorizing consumers, Adobe notably asked respondents if they identified themselves with socio-demographic criteria associated, for example, with “Generation Z” or “Generation Y” bathers. “. Result: 72% of respondents question the relevance of these labels, while overall, 32% of them reject the stereotypes associated with their age group. 54% see themselves as unique individuals with constantly changing tastes. Also, 56% believe they feel closer to people who share their tastes, when only 18% feel this close to people their age.
“You may have the same cultural references as people in your age group, but what everyone wants, and more often, is for everyone (peers, decision makers and brands) to recognize, understand and take into account individual preferences and behavior, in real time”, explains Bobby Duffy, professor of public policy at King’s College London and expert in demographic analysis quoted by Adobe.
The need to be relevant in the present moment makes it more complex for brands to personalize their interactions with consumers who discover an average of 6 areas of interest or entertainment each year. A number that rises to 8 among those under 25. Finally, 45% of respondents indicate that they have changed since the health crisis. 75% of people polled by Adobe believe their tastes change after a few months, and more than a third of respondents think they are a very different person than they were twelve months ago past.
Given the speed with which tastes change, a brand’s communications will be more effective if data on customer preferences is regularly updated. Indeed, if it makes sense for the sponsor of a major sporting event such as a beer or aperitif brand, or even a distributor associated with a national team, to target a fan of the sport in question by -promote products of these categories, it is inappropriate to do so if the same person has recently started a sports training with the aim of regaining the line…
Regular interactions to earn your customers’ trust
To better understand the evolution of consumer expectations, Adobe advises setting up a continuous dialogue with its customers, through more regular operations and encouraging feedback feedback, even those benefit offered in return is less significant than during exceptional large-scale operations. . 60% of respondents indicate that they prefer the first approach, against only 18% for the second. Overall, 64% of respondents indicate that they want more limited but more relevant contacts that show an understanding of their current expectations.
A logic known to advertisers: repetition creates familiarity, which is a condition for building a relationship of trust over time. Using a personalized approach and having interactions that respect the consumer’s expectations in terms of substance and form is another important element in building this relationship of trust. 60% of French surveyed by Adobe say that personalized content delivered at the right time builds trust.
Thus, Alvaro Del Pozo, Vice-President of International Marketing at Adobe, recalled in the introduction to the study, that customers “expect brands to recognize them as the unique individuals they are today. not yesterday , not last week. , not even a year ago, but today. This is an opportunity for brands to stay relevant and earn the trust of their customers in the age of
the digital economy. Now that there are ways to establish two-way communication with them, they grow with them. They really target the heart of their needs, their centers of interest and their habits, which are constantly evolving. By delivering relevant, useful, empathetic, and connected experiences, when they need it, in real time, and across all channels, you show your customers that you know them, you respect them, and you can be trusted. All at the scale of millions of customers and in milliseconds.”
Adobe remembers in this context the importance of using a customer-centric approach, by centralizing customer data to get a unified view and to engage people in real time, like Adobe Real -Time Customer Data Platform, which finally gives meaning to the phrase “right message, right person, right time.” But we have nothing to do: in the era of GDPR, consumers are particularly sensitive to respect for their private life and the protection of their personal data. That’s why the Adobe Real-Time Customer Data Platform is the only CDP platform to move every customer data with the relevant authorizations and permissions by company.
Offering “relevant, useful, emotional and connected experiences”, to use the words of Alvaro Del Pozo, then finds its full meaning: it is the way to encourage the consumer to give his consent to the use of his data. . Failure to follow these basic rules can be costly: 70% of respondents indicate that they would be willing to boycott a company that betrays their trust…
Learn more
I subscribed
