Personalization at scale has never been more crucial for your business

It’s time to fast track your personalization efforts across all channels and for all customers

The quick and comprehensive shift to online channels over the last two years has exacerbated some of the struggles that brands have always dealt with in terms of scaling personalized digital experiences. Research by Econsultancy and Adobe in the 2022 Digital Trends Experience Index indicates that the pace of change is not going to slow down any time soon. In fact, 87% of senior executives believe we’re operating in a new world, with digitally rewired customer expectations, that’s impacting how businesses should sell to and engage with customers moving forward.

Accelerate your personalization at scale strategy today

Personalization at scale is imperative because, quite frankly, customer expectations require it. Customers are interacting with your brand through more channels, which means more data is coming in from more (potentially disjointed) sources. It also means that tailored content must be delivered to more places. At the same time, new and increasingly stringent regulations around security and privacy — including the push to eliminate third-party cookies — will soon require that you shift to a first-party data strategy.

Change is happening fast, and it’s not just a matter of keeping up. Your customers have increasingly sophisticated expectations, and they are always comparing their experience with your brand versus the last best experience they had. Because many organizations are scrambling to respond, now is the time to take action.

The opportunity

Personalization at scale: the basics

While many organizations have incorporated a digital-first strategy into their marketing efforts, that may not be enough. Customer expectations demand a more personal and consistent experience. Utilizing the right data at the right time through an end-to-end personalization strategy at scale is how you can meet that demand.

It’s an approach that makes sure your business is ready to personalize any and every customer touchpoint based on immediate context as well as previously observed behavior. The ultimate purpose is to present the most relevant and personalized experience possible every time, in real time.

Of course, this requires that you ask yourself some questions about your data:

• How do we structure and unify all our data so that we can draw insights and activate it into personalized experiences?
• How do we ensure proper data governance, privacy, and security?
• How do we identify the right data at the right time to build the right experience?
• How do we connect and analyze our data in the moment to activate personalized experiences across any channel at scale?

To win customer attention and loyalty, you need to know how to use the right data at the right time. The good news is that there are technologies and data sources that can help organizations deliver more personalized experiences. For example, Adobe’s Real-Time Customer Data Platform allows organizations to collect, normalize, and unify consumer and professional data into real-time customer and account profiles for personalizing, targeting, and engaging customer experiences at scale. What’s needed now is an authority that can provide a roadmap for moving forward.

Put your plan into action with Adobe

Your ability to scale personalization efforts hinges on four strategies:

• Optimize data and insights: Start with a complete foundation for data and insights that involves unifying data silos, governing that data, and integrating analytics for operational efficiencies and real-time interactions.
• Streamline content and collaboration: Build a scalable, dynamic content production machine. Start by connecting all phases of the content production process, from creation to delivery.
• Deliver better journeys: Create an intelligent decisioning engine that orchestrates every experience. Leverage real-time customer data to personalize experiences across all channels and incorporate AI-automated decisioning to better react to real-time insights and engage customers in their timeframe.
• Transform your organization and operations. You can set your organization up for success in several ways. Start by creating a culture that champions data-driven decision-making and agile marketing operations through team building and executive buy-in. Then make sure you have a technology foundation that supports your efforts with tools like Adobe Real-Time CDP.

The ROI of personalization at scale

While accelerating growth through personalized customer engagement can feel like a daunting endeavor, the benefits you can achieve are well worth the effort. 451 Research identified a $5.6 billion increase in revenue influenced by consumers who increased their spending due to cross-selling or personalized recommendations.

Adobe’s own research on customer engagement and personalization reveals that experience-driven businesses are more likely to:

• Drive greater customer retention and lifetime value
• Have happier employees
• Cultivate competitive advantage at every stage of the customer life cycle

Likewise, ROI stats on Adobe’s Real-Time Customer Data Platform reinforce these trends and help companies act on data more easily, leading to a potential:

• 3 times the increase in customer engagement
• 7-day speed in time to market
• 50% improvement in workflow efficiency

Implementing a scaled personalization strategy that aligns with your organization’s objectives and specific customer expectations not only fosters greater customer and employee contentment, but it’s ultimately good for your bottom line.

Take the next step

Customer expectations are higher than ever in today’s digital world. At the same time, there’s never been a time when organizations have had so many technologies and data sources available to help them deliver personalized experiences.

At Adobe, we understand what personalization means in today’s digital economy and why it’s so critical.

For more on implementing a strategy within your organization, check out our guide, Getting Started with Personalization at Scale.