According to our Personalization Pulse Check Report, 58% of consumers are frustrated with brands that offer generic and inconsistent communication. To grab customers’ attention, you need to offer them unique experiences that they are able to connect with.
Regardless of the industry you’re operating in, personalization is the key to attracting and acquiring customers, as well as building deep, long-lasting relationships that foster engagement and retention.
One of the best ways to build an effective strategy is to learn from personalized marketing examples of industry-leading brands and then optimize your campaigns to increase conversion and customer lifetime value.
In this article, we’ll help you learn how to do that across various industries (such as Retail and Ecommerce, Quick Service Restaurants, Financial Services, and Media and Entertainment) by covering different types of personalized marketing and showing real-life examples that you can integrate into your own marketing strategy.
Personalization in marketing is a customer engagement strategy focused on crafting highly personal experiences and marketing campaigns that drive engagement, brand loyalty, and conversions.
Personalized marketing relies heavily on customer segmentation, customer activity, behavioral data, and other insights to understand customer needs and interests.
Marketers then use this information to create unique experiences and messaging across different but interconnected channels, that resonate with customers. This can include crafting dynamic, tailored web and in-app experiences, web and mobile push notifications, email and SMS messages, and more.
Personalized marketing isn’t just about slapping a customer’s name on an email or SMS — it’s about delivering unique experiences and messaging that resonate with your customers. And that can take many different forms across a myriad of channels.
Below, we explore common types of personalization strategies and techniques companies use to deliver tailored marketing campaigns.
By using a combination of personalization tactics, marketers are able to create a personalized marketing strategy that fits their industry; whether that’s retail and ecommerce, QSR and food delivery, banking and financial services, or media and entertainment.
Personalized marketing isn’t isolated to one method of communication. It can be done across a myriad of channels simultaneously to maximize engagement and impact.
Below, we look at the best channels for sending personalized marketing messages to your customers and subscribers.
Despite the overall effectiveness of personalized marketing campaigns, different strategies and channels are effective for different industries, brands, and use cases. It’s important to experiment with various tactics while honing in on what’s having the greatest impact.
So, with that in mind, we’ve included 21 examples of personalized marketing from B2C brands grouped by industry to inspire your strategy.
While personalization is often aimed at the same core objectives of increasing customer engagement and retention, this is done in very different ways across different industries:
To help you apply different personalized marketing strategies effectively in your industry, below, we’ll explore examples from leading brands, looking at how they deploy effective personalized marketing campaigns that drive results.
As noted, retail and ecommerce companies are focused on the bottom line — sales. Personalization is an ideal strategy for improving customer engagement, leading to increased average order values (AOV), customer lifetime values (LTV), and overall revenue.
Below, we take a look at some of the most effective examples of personalization in ecommerce and retail:
Leading online retailers are constantly devising ways of getting products in front of customers, allowing them to create cross-sell and upsell opportunities.
Like many B2C retailers, Shein uses customer segmentation to group customers based on their shopping history and style preferences.
The “Customers Also Viewed” category allows them to provide recommendations based on what products similar customers have engaged with or purchased.
To effectively cross-sell and upsell, you need to be able to market the right products at the right time. In many cases, this is best done while a customer is shopping.
When a customer has added an item to their cart, Amazon will automatically recommend products that are “Frequently bought together”. These real-time recommendations are triggered based on insights such as what product combinations other similar customers have ordered, promoting a product that is related to that customer’s immediate purchase.
Google Play Books automatically triggers an email and mobile push notification to inform the customer when an item on their wishlist has had a price drop.
Web experiences are far more effective when on-site messages are tailored to the customer’s preferences and behavior.
Old Navy uses real-time on-site messaging that recommends products based on what the customer is currently shopping for.
Specifically, they suggest fashionable pairings that match the item the customer is looking at. Rather than diverting the customer to a new item, they create a cross-sell opportunity, enticing the customer to purchase a product in an entirely different category than they were originally looking at.
If you’re going to send customers mobile push notifications that demand their attention, you need to make sure these messages push them down the funnel to where they shop.
Walmart uses customer segmentation to serve geographically relevant flyers to customers with weekly deals. These are communicated to them via strategically-timed, personalized push notifications and are made dynamic to ensure customers are always served relevant promotions based on where they’re currently located.
QSR and food delivery companies rely heavily on repeat buyers. It isn’t just about getting a single conversion, it’s about fostering brand loyalty that translates into long-term engagement and increased order volumes and values. So they focus far more on building loyalty through rewards programs and omnichannel marketing, which engages customers via their preferred channel and real-time.
Below, we cover real-life examples of how QSR companies and food delivery brands use personalized marketing to improve engagement and order volumes.
Domino’s personalizes the content of their mobile push notifications to promote deals based on the customer’s previous orders on the app, website, or in-store.
Learn how MoEngage helped Domino’s clock 20% uplift in revenue via its loyalty program and multiple automated, hyper-personalized customer journeys. |
Restaurants often serve limited-time items on their menu, and in some cases, these items are also only available in certain locations. Similarly, pricing can vary in different locations and different time of the day (such as peak hours vs. non-peak hours). It’s imperative that the marketed price lines up with what the customer pays.
Starbucks uses mobile push notifications to promote time-sensitive offers that customers need to jump on fast to take advantage of. These are done to encourage the customers to visit during non-peak hours (i.e. 12pm – 6pm).
First, a mobile push is sent the day before, making the customer aware of the offer (and allowing them to potentially think about how they can work a visit into their day). On the day of the limited-time offer, another mobile push notification is sent to remind them that the offer ends soon (giving them enough time to get out and take advantage of the offer).
Uber Eats sends personalized mobile push notifications addressed directly to the customer to get their attention. As advertised, when clicked it funnels customers to restaurants nearby that are currently offering deals, helping them find a restaurant with a great deal and encouraging them to place an order.
Domino’s often sends personalized mobile push notifications, recommending the customer’s favorite orders at great prices. When clicked, this pulls customers into an orchestrated customer journey within the app, guiding them to finish ordering the items advertised.
This guided, omnichannel strategy connects with customers at the optimal time, pulling them into the app, followed by a curated in-app experience that results in conversions.
Effective personalized marketing campaigns aren’t just focused on putting your products and services in front of customers, they also get them to become active members that engage with your brand on a regular basis, and eventually become brand loyalists.
Starbucks uses in-app messaging to provide an orchestrated experience that educates customers on how to use the app to manage their Starbucks Rewards account. This entire in-app sequence is designed to nurture the lead to subscribe, familiarizing them with the rewards program (including the sign up and redemption process, and benefits). By the time the customer reaches the end of the nurture sequence — and are required to sign up and input their credentials — they’re already primed to participate.
Like Starbucks, SkipTheDishes also funnels new app users into an orchestrated customer journey that familiarizes them with their rewards program and teaches them how to navigate the app. This pulls new users into a guided experience with in-app messaging that points out various components of the app, so it’s extremely easy for customers to learn how to become (active) participants.
Uber Eats uses seamlessly integrated in-app messaging to promote discounts and offers to customers while they are browsing. This serves customers contextually relevant ads while customers are shopping on the app, allowing them to easily accept the offer with a single click.
When a new customer joins their MyRewards program, McDonald’s automatically triggers an omnichannel welcome campaign across various channels, designed to teach the customer how the rewards program works and convince them to become a regular visitor. The entire campaign aims to build an initial rapport with customers, enticing them of the benefits of using the rewards program. This is done by sending personalized messaging on channels such as email, mobile push notifications, and in-app messaging.
After the customer has signed up via the app, a welcome email is sent to them. A day or two later, McDonald’s follows up this communication with a mobile push notification designed to activate the customer via the welcome offer. This eventually brings the customer back in the app or in-store, fostering engagement, conversion, and retention.
The result is a fully curated, streamlined onboarding process that ensures customers are familiar with the program and how it works. This encourages customers to engage and actively participate, ideally hooking them into being an active rewards member who collects and spends points.
Consumers are protective of their finances — and rightly so. Banks and financial institutions don’t just need to sell a product, they need to convince customers to trust them with their finances.
There are few things more personal than people’s finances, so it’s only right that personalized marketing is the most effective way to show customers you understand them and have their best interests, and confidentiality at heart.
Below, we look at some examples of personalized marketing in banking and finance.
Wealthsimple prompts app visitors and customers with personalized product recommendations that facilitate cross-selling. By intermittently reminding the customer when they enter the app on other products they can use (such as a ‘managed investing account’, Wealthsimple engages the customer when they are already thinking about their finances and are most likely to convert.
After a customer buys tickets for a flight using a credit card linked to a TD bank account, an email is automatically sent to the customer, promoting the TD Travel Insurance. This event-triggered email ensures that the communication the customer receives is contextually relevant. It also saves them time shopping for a product TD Bank knows they need, creating a great cross-selling opportunity!
Ally Bank’s omnichannel approach is driven by creating unified customer profiles that provide a holistic view of their customers. This allows them to truly understand what their customers want, and reach out to customers with the right promotions, at the right time, and on the right channels.
For e.g. Ally Bank uses email drip campaigns that connect with customers at different touchpoints throughout their customer journey, ensuring customers remain engaged at every stage of their financial lifecycle (acquisition, welcome, cementing, cross-sell, win-back, etc.).
Ally also sends automated service alerts to customers to optimize their experience, notifying customers when checks clear, deposits are made, or fraud is detected. These are communicated via orchestrated journeys involving channels like emails, SMS, mobile push notifications, and in-app messages. This omnichannel approach helps Ally enhance customer interactions, drive engagement, and improve CLV.
One of the biggest goals for media and entertainment marketers is to increase the time customers spend watching, listening, and reading content on their app/website; after all, that’s what drives subscriptions and renewals.
Below, we look at personalized media marketing examples from leading media and entertainment brands.
Netflix is a leader in the video streaming industry, and it’s not just because they offer some of the best content; it’s also because they excel at curated personalized experiences that promote their content effectively.
Netflix creates completely curated lists based entirely on customer’s viewing and watch history, content ratings, items added to “My List,’ and other in-app activity. More than just sorting content into traditional categories like “Comedy” and “Action”, they create custom lists for their subscribers based on what they know they’ll love, like “Top Picks for You,” “We Think You’ll Love These,” and “Because You Watched X.”
After the customer listens to a new artist for the first time, Spotify automatically triggers a mobile push notification promoting that artist’s biography. This urges the subscriber to follow the artis’s page and get notified when new songs and album are launched. This personalized marketing strategy not only increases the customer’s time in-app but also gets them to keep coming back to the app.
Netflix sends a targeted mobile push notification to alert the customer that there are new episodes available to watch, encouraging them to continue watching a series they’ve watched before. It also sends customers reminders to complete watching the video they had been watching.
In fact, the mobile push notifications offer customers three different call to actions: WATCH (watch the show right now in app), DOWNLOAD (download the episodes to watch them later), and MY LIST (add them to their watchlist to consume later). All three buttons bring the customer in the app, increasing click-through rates and engagement rates.
This is an ideal way to reactivate dormant or inactive customers, drawing them in with targeted content recommendations. More simply, it’s an ideal method of increasing watch time and time spent in the app.
Sometimes the best way to give your customers exactly what they want is to ask them.
During onboarding, Flipboard asks customers what categories of content they are most interested in, so that they can serve focused, targeted content that engages the customer. As soon as onboarding is complete and the customer is in-app, they’re served personalized content based on the categories they care about. The user interface is also curated to make these categories easier to find in the navigation, so that the customers can get to the content that matters quickly. Flipboard also asks customers to share their location, in order to serve them with local news and other updates.
Effective marketing isn’t just about driving an immediate sale, sometimes it’s about improving satisfaction and nurturing leads to convert over time.
The PGA Tour app is a marketing tool designed to sell network subscriptions, event tickets, and brand merchandise. And it does this by providing a seamless, customized in-app experience that connects fans with the scores, event coverage, and top news they care about.
The curated leaderboard has quick-click options that signal when a player on the list can be viewed on a broadcast, and an embedded link makes it extremely easy for a customer to find — and subscribe — to that broadcast.
Learn how to media and entertainment brands can scale their customer engagement strategy. |
Since customers want to shop from brands that understand them and provide them curated recommendations, personalized marketing is the key to attracting, acquiring, and retaining them.
Personalized marketing helps in developing deep, meaningful relationships with customers that improve engagement and retention, fostering true brand loyalty that lasts. At the end of the day, this translates into conversions, subscriptions, and revenue.
While different strategies will be useful in different industries, for the greatest impact, brands will need to use a combination of personalized marketing strategies such as those suggested above.
MoEngage’s software helps B2C companies deliver personalized experiences that resonate with customers no matter the industry. You can craft dynamic personalized marketing that delivers tailored product recommendations to effectively cross-sell and upsell, focused in-app messaging that nurtures leads, mobile push alerts that activate dormant customers and increase overall engagement, and more.
Our enterprise-ready customer engagement platform helps retail and ecommerce businesses drive conversions and increase order values, QSR and food delivery companies build loyalty and increase repeat orders, banks and financial institutions upsell products and gain customer trust, and media and entertainment companies increase engagement with content.
Schedule a demo today to learn how we can take your personalized marketing strategy to the next level.