Personalization Strategies to Drive Online Sales

In tomorrow's Retail Online Integration webinar, Personalizing the Online Shopping Experience — Thinking Beyond %%FirstName%% (register for free here!), David Pyrzenski, a product consultant for digital marketing technology provider Silverpop, will discuss personalization tactics online retailers can take that will drive more engaging campaigns, more loyal customers and, ultimately, more sales. To give you a sneak peak into some of the topics David will address in tomorrow's webinar, I interviewed him last week. Here's that interview:

Retail Online Integration: What type of data should retailers be collecting to help personalize marketing messages?
David Pyrzenski: Retailers can deliver more relevant and engaging customer experiences if they collect information such as gender, birthdate and shopping preferences (e.g., are you interested in men's clothing or children's clothing). They can then use that data to inform their campaigns. Retailers can take personalization one step further if they also pay attention to customers' behaviors — e.g., how frequently do they shop with their brand, are they leaving products in a cart without making a purchase, etc. — and then tailor messages that are incredibly unique to each and every shopper rather than putting people into segments.

ROI: How can this data be leveraged within marketing campaigns? Give an example or two.
DP: This data can be used to personalize the shopping experience across multiple channels. At a basic level, emails can feature the customer's name, refer to their local store and make product recommendations based on previous purchases. With more integrated programs, a similar level of personalization can extend to the website, SMS messages or mobile apps. Programs such as browse abandonment or cart abandonment can react to a consumer's behavior in near real time. For example, you can encourage a site visitor to consider purchasing an item they've looked at or complete a purchase they may have started before becoming distracted.

ROI: What are the benefits that retailers can expect from using personalization?
DP: Creating a more personalized customer experience improves customer engagement and also drives revenue. New visitors become more likely to make a purchase and existing customers become loyal fans.