It’s hard to argue the value of personalization in the marketing and sales process.  From the beginning of time people have known you need to build a relationship and trust with your potential buyers in order to close the deal.  How to go about that on a large scale is the lingering question. 

Customer Experience

“Brands that excel at personalization will outsell the ones that don’t by 20% according to research from Gartner. Furthermore, Forrester predicts that by 2020, the customer experience will be more important than price when it comes to purchasing and retention habits.” – American Marketing Association

Creating a personalized customer experience has become more of a detailed process than in years past.  The idea that simply addressing someone by name in an email is enough has become obsolete.  Through all avenues of communication, it is a must that you treat your prospects and customers as individuals and address their specific needs and interests.  This speaks to every department and level of your organization.

Multi-Channel Marketing

“Traditionally, personalization had been associated with email marketing and CRM (customer relationship management), where marketers messaged to customers what they thought they wanted. However, now strategies are changing as consumers tell us what they want — and how, where and when they want it. This applies to every form of marketing (search, social, content, email, display, digital) across the entire martech stack.” – Martech Today

With so many different ways to reach prospects it can be difficult to determine which platforms or channels on which to focus your resources.  Encountering a variety of different buyer personas within the same vertical is not out of the norm these days.  Establishing a base line for your ideal customer and then developing a marketing plan to attract them through a variety of targeted channels is the most effective way to see a return on your marketing budget.

Content Creation

“Our research shows that reps use on average more than 17 pieces of content to enable the selling process – and that content must be relevant, meaningful and properly timed to where the buyer is in the journey. Marketing can determine the most effective content for each phase of the buyer’s journey through phone or face-to-face interviews with high-performing sales reps.” – SiriusDecisions

Developing a library of quality content is a must for any B2B organization.  Consistent blogging activity, social media posts and premium content development are needed to draw in prospects as well as convert them to leads and customers.  Personalizing the content you present to your prospect to meet their interests and address their pain points will provide value and help to build trust with your organization.

Personalization comes down to knowing your prospects and customers.  Where do they get their information?  How do they like to communicate?  What is the best time to reach them?  Developing a detailed set of buyer personas and crafting a marketing plan around their habits will help you to connect with a larger audience on a personal level.