Marketers Are Getting Personalization All Wrong

Case in point remarketing the practice of targeting a consumer with a recently viewed product to drive conversion Remarketing can be incredibly effective when used correctly but we are starting to see remarketing fatigue as consumers tire of being bombarded with irrelevant and intrusive messagesIn fact consumers are beginning to significantly alter online behavior as a direct result of its overuse according to new research from the Intent Lab a research partnership between Performics and Northwestern Universityamp8217s Medill School of JournalismRoughly 40 percent of the US population finds remarketing to be annoying or distracting according to our study So much so they are developing ways to avoid it that could directly harm a brand Among respondents who have taken action to avoid remarketing41 percent simply wonamp8217t click on an advertisement31 percent now refuse to provide an email address20 percent will stop visiting the website altogether16 percent wonamp8217t like pin or share an item on social media16 percent wonamp8217t click for more detailsamp160This is significant Consumers are going to great lengths to avoid being remarketed to as if they are developing coping mechanisms to reduce remarketing anxiety At this pace brands risk not just losing a sale but also losing the customer for goodEven among respondents that approved of remarketing we see new behaviors emerging 38 percent are using it to find better prices from a different seller 19 percent like that they can postpone a purchase without losing research and 18 percent consider it a reminder to buy somethingAt Performics we think Intent is the most important factor in determining a customeramp8217s mindset and the best way to reach them is with the right kind of messaging amp8212 the kind that ultimately leads to conversion We recommend that marketers personalize to intent not to identity by providing messaging that is relevant to where consumers are in their journey not just their demographics interests or affinities Or in the case of remarketing what they recently viewed but didnamp8217t buyRemarketing absolutely works in many cases amp8212 23 percent of respondents who were served a message about something they viewed but didnamp8217t buy said they ultimately purchased the product and 25 percent considered it a form of personalized advertising according to the Intent Lab study But we need to adopt new approaches to serving ads that get results Most marketers today are using past behavior as a signal of intent and when it is poorly timed it becomes the complete opposite annoying ads for things you already bought or decided you didnamp8217t want The reverberation of irrelevance is the true enemy of personalizationamp160What is often missed with digital forms of advertising is what happens to those who did not react positively We are so focused on what worked for a few that we tend to ignore what happened to those that did not react positively We tend to see an 8 percent conversion rate as quite an accomplishment but forget that we had to annoy the other 92 percent to get it We think that because we did not see a response that nothing happened But something did happen and the negative impact of poor remarketing is just becoming clearOur studies with the Intent Lab reveal a conundrum Consumers do want their experiences to be prioritized to their needs yet they donamp8217t want marketers to use their past online behavior to personalize their experiencesFor instance in our first Intent Lab study about half of respondents said they wished the information they received online was better prioritized based on their preferences but only 33 percent appreciated receiving personalized recommendations based on their past behavior And that number only got lower for certain demographics such as highincome earners 27 percent and baby boomers 25 percentThis is troubling If only one in four Baby Boomers would appreciate marketers using past online behavior to be the source of the personalization that means the other three would be actively upset about being tracked and remarketed toWe need to reinvent remarking so that it becomes a tool to serve consumers relevant experiences tailored to their intent and closely matching the context and the mindset the consumer is in at the momentIntentbased marketing is the future Brand experiences across channels that are tailored to peopleamp8217s mindsets at different moments in time and are truly assistive and relevant to where they are in their journey thatamp8217s where marketing is headedClick the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Marketers Are Getting Personalization All Wrong

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Esteban Ribero

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

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Marketers Are Getting Personalization All Wrong

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Esteban Ribero

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