Often recognised as one-to-one or 1:1 marketing; this strategy is used by companies to incorporate personalised interactions with their customers.
With the increasing success of adding a personal touch to a product or service; results have shown that including a customer’s name or a personalised message results in a higher ROI and higher customer loyalty; in turn, leading to complete marketing greatness.
What is one to one marketing?
One to one marketing is a technique which relies on taking a minute to understand an individual’s wants, needs and choices by using personalisation and customisation. Marketers are then able to implement this information into their marketing campaigns to target each customer differently; depending on the gathered information. This isn’t necessarily used to gain custom, but more so to maintain current custom by keeping their attention and interest in the product or business to encourage repeat purchases.
Personalisation
When presented with recommendations, this is where the organisation has learnt the customers personal preferences, interests and tastes. Marketers have created their marketing plan alongside the customers unique preferences and choices to help encourage purchases which would be likely to be of an interest to that customer. By coming across friendly and helping the customer to find something they may be interested in; this adds a personal touch to the brand which customers are likely to remember.
Customisation
Companies free the reign here allowing customers loose on customising their product to suit their personal preferences and desires. Instead of personalising the product or service for the customer, they can customise what they want, when they want. Take Apple iPhones for example, a user can change the layout of their iPhone at any time to however they wish for it to be displayed; from choosing how many apps they have on their homepage, to creating personalised folders; this option is available at any time allowing a user to tailor their phone display to meet their wants, needs and preferences.
It’s important to begin one-to-one marketing by understanding your customers preferences, hobbies and interests. Uncover more about them than just the method they used to pay. Market segmentation will allow you to categorise your customers into groups based on their common interests, needs and desires. This will enable you to be able to target a group of people with similar interests at the same time. Social media advertising is a brilliant tool when wanting to target individuals with certain interests. For example, if your company focuses on selling dog toys; you can use social media platforms such as Facebook to recognise who shares a love for dogs and so as a result may be interested in your products.
When carrying out market segmentation, ensure you acknowledge the three main types:
Demographic segmentation – focuses on generation, age, gender, occupation, income, education or religion.
Geographic segmentation – companies can break down their audiences by regions, cities, neighbourhoods and countries.
Psychographic segmentation – this concentrates on grouping a brands audience into the opinions, interests and activities their customers pursue.
