Personalization at scale is the north star for customer-obsessed brands today (and any brand with a growth plan has likely embraced customer obsession). It’s the ability to deliver a unique experience tailored to the circumstances, values, and behaviors of an individual – that meets them where they are in the context of a specific moment in their journey and responds to each next step.

True personalization is the power to elevate marketing to a conversation with your customers, instead of a monologue inflicted at them. Harnessing that power brings proven benefits across a spectrum of business outcomes and objectives. This post compiles information on a number of those benefits, and may serve as evidence and impetus to support future investments in the capabilities that enable delivery of true personalization at scale.

We’re in the Customer Expectation Economy

Perhaps most importantly, mastering personalization enables brands to meet the ever-rising bar of customer expectations:

In a survey by McKinsey, 71% of consumers say they expect personalization.¹

• 62% of consumers say they not only want but expect companies to send personalization – and that a brand that doesn’t offer a personal experience could lose their business.²
• 56% of customers expect offers to always be personalized.³
• 88% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products or services.⁴

Overall – and despite privacy concerns – the vast majority (90%) of consumers in the US find the idea of personalization appealing.⁵ On the other hand, 76% of consumers say they get frustrated when companies don’t provide personalized interactions.⁶

Personalized Content Connects and Converts

When content addresses consumers’ needs and behaviors at a personal level, experiences can unlock, accelerate, and improve buying outcomes:

• First-time purchases: 67% of consumers say their decision to buy from a brand the first time is influenced by relevant product or service recommendations influences; 66% say tailored messaging likewise influences their purchase intent.⁷
• Repeat purchases: 78% of consumers said that personalized experiences make them more likely to repurchase. The same number say they are more likely to refer friends and family to companies that personalize.⁸
• Share of wallet: 84% of customers say being treated like a person, not a number, is very crucial to winning their wallet.⁹
• Transaction size: 80% of business leaders say customers spend 34% more on average when offered personalized shopping experiences.¹⁰

Overall, studies have identified a $5.6 billion increase in revenue influenced by consumers who increased their spending due to cross-selling or personalized recommendations.¹¹

Personalized Offers Increase Sales and Improve Loyalty

Like personalized content, offers and coupons that are uniquely individualized for shoppers and their position in the buying (or post-purchase) journey also have a big impact:

• 80% of consumers are more likely to shop from a new brand if it provides a discount coupon, and that number jumps to 89% for millennials.¹²
• 65% of US consumers expect brands to offer them personalized promotions. 59% expect brands to send timely communications tied to key moments.¹³
• A Mastercard rewards study found that when cardholders receive personalized offers, issuers see up to 18% spend increase from customers who redeem, and a 75% reduction in churn.¹⁴
• 49% of consumers said they would likely become repeat buyers if offered a personalized experience by a retail brand.¹⁵

Again, the costs of getting it wrong are very real: 55% of business buyers (and 54% of consumers) get annoyed when targeted with an offer for something they’ve already purchased.¹⁶

Personalization Drives Competitive Business Advantages

Taking a broader view, 97% of marketers witnessed a rise in business outcomes as a result of personalization.¹⁷ More specific outcomes driven by personalization include:

• 1.7x year-over-year growth in revenue.¹⁸
• 2.3x year-over-year increase in customer lifetime value.¹⁹
• Personalization has also been found to reduce customer acquisition costs by as much as 50%.²⁰

Companies that grow faster drive 40% more of their revenue from personalization than their slower-growing counterparts.²¹ But only 47% of companies offer personalized experiences based on live consumer data, meaning over half are missing out on a significant aspect of personalization.

Personalization Unlocks Returns of Better CX

71% of consumers say personalization is important to a great customer experience.²² This demonstrates the crucial importance of personalization to unlocking the broader benefits of a superior customer experience:

• Experience leaders reported 3x higher revenue growth over the past 2 years than businesses that place less emphasis on CX enhancements.²³
• Improving CX increases sales revenues by 2 to 7%, profitability by 1 to 2% and the overall shareholder return by 7 to 10%.²⁴
• 78% of consumers say they are more likely to be a repeat customer if they had an amazing customer experience on a digital channel.²⁵

There are scores of additional statistics demonstrating proven power of personalized customer experiences – increases in campaign engagement, conversions, channel performance, loyalty, lifetime value, brand esteem, overall marketing ROI, and a long list of others.

Leading brands are investing big to activate these benefits and gain a durable advantage over competitors. “Personalization” is among the top three areas for increased investment among US marketers, with closely related capabilities – data quality and AI – named as the other two.²⁶

Especially as companies move away from reliance on third-party cookies, the key capabilities of personalization at scale – such as identity resolution, decisioning, contextual targeting, and modern data management – grow more important than ever before.

Is your brand on a solid path to personalization at scale? To get insights from experts on Merkle’s technology strategy team, contact us today.

Footnotes: 

1, 6, 7, 8, 13, 21, 22. The value of getting personalization right—or wrong—is multiplying, McKinsey, 2021 

2, 10, 15, 22. Twilio - State of Personalization, 2022 

3, 4, 9, 16, 24. Salesforce – State of the Connected Customer, 2022 

5. Statista, Marketing Personalization in the United States, 2021 

11. Adobe, Personalization at scale has never been more crucial for your business, 2022 

12. Statista, Share of Shoppers in the United States Who Would Try a New Brand if Offered a Discount Coupon, 2020 

14. Forbes, Why Personalization Is The Holy Grail Of Loyalty, 2021 

17. Salesforce, Trends in Personalization, 2020 

18, 19. Adobe, Personalization at Scale has Never Been More Crucial for Your Business, 2022 

20. AdWeek, Recognizing the Importance of Personalization, 2018 

23. IBM, Optimize your DXP capabilities: Experience Leaders are prioritizing digital transformation for CX, 2021 

24. Prediction: The future of Customer Experience; Salesforce, State of the Connected Customer, 2022 

25. Verint, The 2022 State of Digital Customer Experience Report, 2022 

26. Redpoint/Harris Poll, “Revisiting the Gaps in Customer Experience.” 2021