Uniformity used to be what attracted the mass market. Think of Henry Ford’s astonishing production line — rows upon rows of identical cars, one for every family in America. But as the capacity to scale evolves, the value of consumer goods is no longer based on conformity. That value now hinges on their uniqueness, a variable that personalization can enhance.
Personalization is the new frontier of consumer goods. Companies such as Etsy and Mini have injected personalization into the fabric of their business models and capitalized on consumer desire for unlimited product experiences. These brand interactions prompt more visceral reactions from customers, leading them to better relate to a company's product or marketing story.
Appealing to a consumer's sense of self is a powerful tactic that can breed brand loyalty and encourage customers to share their experiences. Adopting a personal mindset can help put brands ahead of the competition as the shift toward individual experiences continues to take over.
What Does 'Personalization' Mean?
When driving personalization to develop consumer goods, consider your target customers during all stages of development. This requires getting to know them by figuring out what they want and understanding how they see themselves. It’s a way to bypass the fickle nature of consumers by appealing to a sense of loyalty that has been lost in this age of instant gratification.
For some, personalization will take the form of collaboration. When Nike unveiled its "build your own sneaker" option, it gave consumers a unique sense of brand ownership and connected them to their sense of identity.
For others, personalization means using data to connect user preferences and behaviors to product development. Schmidt’s Naturals used this approach to build a stronger bond with its customers. The skincare supplier uses Alexander, an AI platform that leverages first-party data to respond to customer pain points and desires.
Personalization is even gaining traction in manufacturing. Micromanufacturing has put personalization at the heart of supply chains and facilities. Just look at Amazon Personalize, an AWS spinoff that illustrates how personalization has transformed the systems and software that produce the goods we use.
With personalization, brands show their customers — the ones using their products every day — that they want their involvement. That kind of care inspires an unwavering level of customer loyalty.
Build Consumer Loyalty Through Personalization
By building one-to-one marketing and collecting first-party data to transform consumer experiences, your brand grows closer to the people it serves. Here’s how:
1. Create connections by following consumers. Customer experiences don’t begin and end with products. The journey starts with the first marketing messages they read and continues at every stop along the way.
To connect with consumers effectively, brands must measure customer engagement at every interaction. Track how responsive they are to email marketing, monitor online reviews, and be diligent about collecting and incorporating customer feedback.
Show how and where customer feedback is incorporated to illustrate why your brand is worth their time.
2. Learn from your data. Once you build a knowledge base, learn from it. If you don’t do this actively and deliberately, your personalization efforts won't be effective.
Just look at the fashion industry. Collaborative fashion design platform E.M.I. combines 3D design software with Microsoft HoloLens to allow customers to make real-time design alterations. Modern fashion designers and brands need to think outside the box to respond to consumers’ Instagram habits and rapidly shifting trends.
Spotting trends and responding quickly resonates with customers. Use that data to show customers that your brand is serious about keeping their loyalty.
3. Use data to fuel research and development. To keep pace with ever-changing consumers, continue to funnel data into your R&D ventures and use it to inform your communication and offerings.
One way to build better connections by leveraging data is with a loyalty program. Sixty-four percent of brands surveyed by 3Cinteractive reported membership increases in their loyalty programs. Incorporate data from these programs into your product development and marketing. Input from your biggest advocates should retain that loyalty and inspire consumers to tell others about your brand.
Personalization is the new scale. Getting deeper and more detailed in your connections with consumers — in conjunction with data — will give brands VIP access to their innermost wishes and fuel further engagement. This is what will separate you from your competition as the trend continues to grow.
Michael Cammarata is the founder of Random Occurrence, a venture capital and private equity firm. He co-founded Schmidt’s Naturals, a wellness brand that grew from a startup to a Unilever acquisition. He was recently named CEO of Neptune Wellness Solutions.