Most business owners are constantly on the lookout for the next “thing” to make their business better, more visible, or otherwise more successful. They research new products, invest in new marketing strategies, and do whatever they can to optimize their current offers. But one method of optimization eludes the entrepreneurial population, despite its relative simplicity: personalization.
The act of changing your offers and interactions, even slightly, to fit the needs of individuals can give your business a massive boost—without requiring much additional investment.
Why Personalization Is Important
So why is personalization so important—and why is it underutilized? Some industries not only use personalization regularly, they rely on it to succeed. For example, doctors typically need to customize care for their sick patients, and beauty salons need to give each customer exactly what they’re looking for—not some stock look they give everybody.
This has three main advantages:
- Customer relationships. Customers who feel that a business has personalized services to fit their needs will be far more likely to come back in the future. They’ll feel seen and heard, recognizing the extra effort you put in. Accordingly, they’ll be more likely to spread the word about your business and stay loyal to your brand.
- Brand differentiation. Because many brands don’t personalize their services, personalizing yours could be a convenient shortcut to differentiating your brand. It’s important to stand out in the crowd, and making an investment in personalization could be the key to doing it—especially if your competitors aren’t using it.
- Digital environments. Today’s marketplace has radically transformed thanks to the internet, where people can find a diverse range of businesses all competing to appeal to a global audience. Businesses that cast wide, general nets can be seen as impersonal, while ones that provide individual care seem more relatable and more valuable.
How to Personalize Your Services
How, then, should you go about personalizing your services? You have many options here, and these are a few of the most accessible:
- Conduct more surveys and follow-ups. To start, try conducting more personal surveys and following up with your customers. Calling up a customer and asking about their experience will make them feel more important to your brand, and more likely to shop with you in the future. In addition, you’ll have the opportunity to learn about their individual perspective, which you can use to optimize the business even further.
- Engage with individuals on social media. It’s difficult to keep engaging with individuals when your business operates at scale, but it’s worth the effort. On social media, most brands blast new information to their thousands of followers without regard for the people who are actually reading it. You can set yourself apart by talking to individual people, answering their questions, conversing with them, or even commenting on their posts. Your brand will be more memorable, more highly regarded, and you’ll attract a ton of new followers while you’re at it.
- Train your staff to have more personal conversations. If you have a staff of employees working beneath you and engaging with customers on a regular basis, make sure they’re trained to have more one-on-one conversations with customers. Instead of following a strict script or protocol, or treating all customers the same, encourage them to spend extra time being friendly, making small talk, and getting to know your regulars.
- Create targeted content. Instead of writing content that you think will appeal to the biggest number of people, write content that’s laser-focused on appealing to a small group of people, or even an individual. For example, instead of writing an article on “how to choose a bike,” you can write an article on “the skateboarder’s guide to choosing a stunt bike.” Here, you’re appealing to a very niche audience: skateboarders already looking for a specific type of bike. You’ll alienate the rest of your potential audience, but to those targeted demographics, you’ll be far more relevant and approachable.
- Make personalized recommendations. Put effort into making more personalized recommendations for your customers. Sometimes, that might mean working with walk-in customers and asking about their preferences to help them find the best product. Other times, that means working with the dev team to create a more dynamic recommendation engine on your website. Either way, your customers should be getting exactly the product they need—even if they don’t know they need it.
If your business is already sound, adding a degree of personalization could be the key that takes it to the next level. If your business is struggling, personalization can help it recover. Customization and personalization are becoming ever-important in a world with unlimited information access and more competition than ever before; don’t underestimate its value.