“Go beyond the generic”: In a competitive digital world, personalisation is everything

Software as a Service (SAAS) in itself is not unique. Content creation is becoming easier and “off-the-shelf” technology is more accessible than ever.

So, to differentiate yourself from competitors and demonstrate value to your customers, your business needs to deliver a personalised and intimate customer experience.

When it comes to the health and wellness sector, this couldn’t be more true. A one size fits all approach simply won’t work because getting fit and healthy is a very unique and personal journey.

This presents a challenge in determining how you create a highly personal experience in a business you are trying to scale.

In today’s digital world, we are all accustomed to using large tech platforms like Amazon, Netflix and Spotify. These platforms have conditioned customers to expect intuitive and personalised experiences and therefore businesses must ensure they aren’t taking a copy and paste approach when engaging with their customers.

At 28 by Sam Wood, there are four key pillars that we have embedded to ensure that a customer-centric approach and personalised experience is consistently delivered.

Harness data

The key enabler to personalising at scale is data. We accumulate millions of data points every month about our members and this allows us to build a detailed picture about who our customers are, what they like and what their pain points are. It gives us the foundations to personalise their experience and do so at scale across the entire customer journey.

Capturing the data is a small piece of the puzzle. You have to analyse it, drive insight and build tangible features that benefit the customer in a unique way. Spend time getting your data framework set up correctly from the start.

Of course, using all of this data for the benefit of the customer is in vein if data privacy and security isn’t respected. It will be impossible to build a long-lasting and intimate customer relationship if data is not used in a trust-based, transparent and appropriate manner.

Be consistent

Personalisation needs to occur across all stages of the digital customer journey, from the awareness phase all the way through to loyalty and advocacy.

Personalisation can be a driving force, pushing your customer through from the point of contemplation to someone who actively promotes your business. Customer journeys are not linear, and there are different needs and thought processes that need to be addressed throughout.

Personalisation needs to be expressed across all communication channels and product platforms (web, iOS and android). There is no point in having customisation in some areas while taking a generic approach in others.

Customers should be engaged with across their entire life journey, so it is imperative that you understand that personalisation needs will continue to evolve.

Go Deep

Customers are no longer impressed by using their name in an email or remembering a birthday. The expectation is that we learn from historic behaviour and use this to inform future product features.

As an organisation, we workshop a range of personas and customer experiences to understand how we can align our data with solving their needs and to dissect what a true and deep personalised journey looks like.

We champion a number of case studies internally where a highly personalised customer experience has led to amazing outcomes and customer feedback.

Last month alone we captured over 14 million behavioural events in our system. This provided a huge pool of information to build a detailed understanding of our customers and help them achieve their goals.

Create a culture of customer learning

Personalisation should not sit with a specific individual or team. Everyone in our organisation, regardless of role or function, is focused on understanding the customer and applying these learnings to product development.

Outside of core data insights, we are all exposed to customer insight through a number of different channels and we make a point of sharing these as a team. For example, front line customer service provides valuable insight regarding personalisation and customisation opportunities.

Empowering every component of your business to think about individual customer journeys is critical to continuous improvement.

The impact of personalisation is tangible and the ROI can be powerful. Critical metrics such as churn, lifetime value and NPS will be the beneficiary of your efforts.

It is important to challenge your business and team to lift the bar and go beyond the generic – in a competitive digital world, that’s what everyone demands and deserves.

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