Personalization and Individualization...What's the Difference?
In programs I've led in the past and in work we do here at Bridge Worldwide [1], we're always striving to create a clos [1] http://www.bridgeworldwide.com
By on Feb 6, 2009In programs I've led in the past and in work we do here at Bridge Worldwide, we're always striving to create a closer connection with customers (patients or doctors, in the case of healthcare) and make our information more meaningful and relevant. There has been and always will be a lot of debate about the best ways to do this. One of the first things that marketers come up with is personalization.
Personalization, for purposes of today's debate, means adding some personally identifying information to your communications. This usually means putting someone's name on the top of an email or direct mail piece. It's remarkably simple to do with digital media and has become very simple (and cost effective) in print as well. Adding someone's name to an email, for example, is much better than sending an email with "Dear Person" or "Dear Cancer Person." I only joke because I have seen these before. I assume they were mistakes, but I saw them.
A recent article in eMarketer pointed out that "41% of US Internet users surveyed said they paid more attention to advertising that was personalized. And nearly the same proportion of respondents (39%) said they were more willing to click on such personalized ads." Personalization does work.
But personalization only goes so far. Consider your email about your oral contraceptive that starts out "Dear Stacy." So far so good. You then give "Stacy" all sorts of useful information about why birth control is perfect for "Stacy" and how simple it is to take and that it might even clear up "Stacy's" skin. Excellent. Good pitch. The only problem is that "Stacy" is a man. I highlight this extreme example to make a point. Don't bother trying to make it look like your created something personal for someone when you didn't. It's insulting and I guarantee that it does more harm than good.
Individualization is something different. For our purposes, individualization means creating communications that are tailored for each and every individual person. The test to see if you're sending out individualized messages is simple: does someone read what you sent and think, "Wow. They wrote this just for me." If not, then it's not individualized. This too can be really simple and more and more companies are embracing it. Here's a great example that my colleague, Bob Gilbreath, wrote about on his blog, Marketing with Meaning. Click here to see the email then come back.
First, Delta included his name. Good. That's personalization. However, then they go on and apologize for sticking him in a middle seat on his last flight and offer him some miles to say sorry. Interesting point to note, Bob didn't ask for this or complain to Delta. They just did it. Delta knew the situation and sent an individualized response. Question: if Bob got this email and the 500 miles or another email that simply gave him 500 miles without the individualized touch, which would have more impact? Each results in the same value for him, 500 miles. But clearly the one that talks about his specific situation makes a lasting impression. So, you can't just give away stuff and expect that to be enough. You have to make the extra effort to make it meaningful.
But just how difficult is that to do? For Delta, all this required was for someone to into their database and write one simple rule: middle seat on last flight, send this email. Period. Probably less than a day worth of work for one person (depending on their system). If you are already collecting personal information about people, you're on your way to being able to do this. What type of data is in your database?
Part of what makes Delta's message so special is the fact that it's a bit of a surprise. Bob has opted into communication from Delta, but doesn't expect things to come regularly, yet he is open to hearing from them (even more so now). You can create relevant surprises as well. If you have a section of your site that allows people to register, then you should be doing this. Once someone registers, you can follow what they do on your site and send this information back to his or her profile in your database. The rules you set up then generate an email follow up, for example. Consider someone who comes to your site and looks through every page about financial assistance for your product. They linger a long time time on the eligibility section. Imagine that you send this person an email noting that you know she's concerned about finances and reiterate some of your programs that are available and then offer her a discount ( like a rebate coupon) and offer her an 800 number she can call to talk to a live financial counselor (if you have this).
Obviously, this email would make a huge impact and all it required was a bit better organization of your database and communication system. It is perfectly relevant to her biggest concern about your product and you are there immediately to help answer it. This level of individualization is becoming the norm in many industries. Your message is just one of thousands a given person sees each day. Your "competition" isn't just the other drugs in the class, but also every one of these other messages. People will only interact with those that are meaningful to them. So, just because your direct competitor isn't doing this isn't a reason to ignore it. You need to stand out in a really cluttered inbox, mailbox,and Internet. Do your communications stand out?
Jonathan is Director of Business Development for Bridge Worldwide, a leading digital and relationship marketing agency, and regularly writes about pharma marketing on his blog Dose of Digital.