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“If you do that,” he adds, “you can tease out where that person is heading in [his] buying journey and take a fulfillment action and turn it into one link in the chain … That’s very powerful.”
Apply the Right Technology
Woods admits that “personalization is one of those things that you really do need software to help with.” But it doesn’t necessarily have to be complex, says Paul Demirdjian, president and CEO of e-commerce fulfillment provider Jagged Peak, who offers the following tips on what to look for in personalization fulfillment vendors:
- Understand the magnitude of the project. “If it’s simply allowing people visiting your Web site to get a personalized communication," it’s easy enough to collect the data, store it and communicate via digital printing, says Demirdjian. “In a more complex environment, you need to understand the scope and the magnitude, and then find the right platform that meets those criteria.”
- Look for a real-time, Web-based transaction system.
- Find data digital print on-demand centers. The old batch-and-post process printing centers are outdated and illogical in today’s world for most marketers. “You want to print on-demand so you’re not negotiating every time you print something,” Demirdjian says. “… Make sure the printers are flexible on the quality and quantity of their on-demand processes to meet consumer demand.”
- Do a dry run. “If they are unable to deliver in a timely fashion, that will tell you that the underlying platform is not responsive,” says Demirdjian. “Do some validation to ensure that the system is designed and works as being presented.”
He adds that two critical elements around personalization are security and privacy policies. Make sure your customers’ data is safe and privacy ensured.
Back to Basics
While the platform technology is important, Woods says it’s the smallest part of the challenge. “The biggest part, and this is really right back to the art of good marketing, is thinking through what is going to be interesting to an audience member and how can you understand, based on [his] behavior online, what cues you’re looking for to tell you what is going to be most interesting to [him]. That really is just good marketing and good content writing.
“Yes, you need technology to help you out in delivering that correct piece of content,” he adds, “but the lion’s share of the work is coming up with really good, interesting, concise and relevant messaging.”
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