How to Effectively Use Content Personalization in Digital Marketing

• Personalized emails get an 18.8% open rate and a 2.1% click rate.
• 74% of website visitors get frustrated when web content isn’t personalized.
• 63% of millennials are only willing to share their personal information if they receive personalized offers

Do you know that the people who visit your site are there for different reasons? These people could be new visitors who are curious about the products and services you have to offer and they are hoping that by visiting your site they’ll gain more information about your brand. Also, the are returning visitors who have already checked out your site (perhaps even bookmarked it or labeled your site as one of their favorites) just to see if you have something new to offer.

The problem with most websites today is they don’t put too much thought on the content of their landing page. The writers behind those sites do not realize that the people who visit their sites are there for a reason. Even though generic messages appeal to the masses, unfortunately, they don’t pique the interest of many potential clients. If you want your message to resonate with each visitor on your site you’ll need content personalization. Content personalization will make every visitor think that the message on your site is intended for him or her.

Understanding Content Personalization

Content personalization is a technique used to customize various types of content to specific consumers. The content is determined by the personal data you have collected from your visitors such as search queries, location, website visit, purchase history and clicked ads and comparing them against your established variables like location, gender, age, purchase history, referring URL, visitor frequency, date and time, device used (tablet, Mac, Windows, smartphone, Android, iOS) and sessions behavior. Basically, it will look like this:

• User A + Los Angeles + Windows (PC) + Google (source) = Version A
• User B + Philippines  + Mac (laptop) + Instagram (source) = Version B

The Evolution of Content Personalization

Content personalization has come a long way. Because it works it is considered one of the most adopted marketing strategies today. Statistics show that 93% of marketers are using personalization as part of their marketing plan. 77% of marketers use personalization in their emails, 52% use it on their website, 31% use it on their mobile app and 24% use it on website application.  Where do they use personalized content? According to surveys, 71% use it on emails, 45% on homepage, 37% on landing page, 28% on interior pages, 27% on product pages, 20% on blogs, 18% on navigation, 17% on search, 14% on pricing, and 13% on app screens.

The goal is to take advantage of personalization and integrate it on your site so you can keep visitors engaged during the entire duration of their shopping experience. But before that, it is important to know the difference between content personalization and web personalization.

Difference Between Content Personalization and Web Personalization

Dynamic Content Personalization

As the term implies, the content is automated and it changes based on certain segmentation variables. Dynamic content personalization can be used in social media platforms or email to attract and direct the right people to the right content. The thing is if the people who were drawn to your dynamic promotion are directed to a static webpage that contains generic content they will be disappointed and when they aren’t happy you’ll eventually lose them. You can stop losing prospects through web personalization.

Web Personalization

Web personalization will transform your site’s display in real-time based on the user’s past interactions and preferences. After you have hooked them through your personalized content you are continually meeting their needs with every page they click on. Web personalization will continue to meet user’s needs until you are able to convert them into customers by guiding them through the personalized conversion funnel.

The ideal example of this is the Amazon website. All customers in Amazon will witness a personalized homepage as a reflection of their previous shopping experience and browsing history. Another thing is that international visitors will read product information based on their language and the price reflected on their phones or laptops are based on their country’s currency. For instance, a woman living in Los Angeles during the summer season is shown images of bikinis and a free shipping offer within the US. It could also be a male visitor living in Asia who has previously shopped for Sony cameras. During his browsing, he will see different Sony camera models plus a notification that the company ships outside the US.

Why it Matters

Think about it, what if the images they see on the site are switched. The man will be shown images of bikinis and a free shipping offer in all US states. Do you think it would appeal to him? Meanwhile, the woman who has no interest in gadgets will be shown different models of Sony cameras plus a free shipping promotion outside the US. Would she be happy about the offer? We highly doubt it. When your visitors cannot relate to what they see online they won’t be interested and they will leave your site.

The whole point is that although content personalization and web personalization are different, they work hand in hand. It is important that you use both in order to provide the best user experience. Always go back to your goal and that is to convert visitors into paying customers. If they remain visitors forever it won’t do much for your business.

Need Help with Content Personalization?

If you want to learn more about marketing your business and how to take advantage of content and web personalization we encourage you to visit our website at and get in touch with our marketing experts to get a dose of helpful marketing, advertising and search engine optimization content and tools that will help promote your brand and grow your business. We can’t wait to hear from you!