Better Web User Experience Through Content Personalisation

Targeting segments of your users with more updated and relevant content is a big part of digital communications like email, blogs, websites and other forms of internet advertising. However, according to some experts, marketers could be doing a lot more for personalisation. According to a report by Econsultancy and Redeye, "62% of client-side respondents are currently personalising their marketing activity".

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Updating your website with new content is not enough to successfully drive traffic to your website or blog. You have to create a dynamic web experience through personalised content. Without any content personalisation, marketing efforts will be static and produce low engagement. Personalised content changes the experience a user has with your site environment and encourages communication and engagement.

There are two main kinds of personalisation approaches:

1. Explicit Personalisation           

This type of personalisation is based on and triggered by interactions with a user. Insight or information into a user can be obtained from different so called dimensions like customer preference and profile, history and recent activity, context, time of day, social preferences, interests and other CRM-driven knowledge. To simplify the process, visitors are usually broken down into segments.

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2. Implicit Personalisation

Implicit personalisation does not require a user to provide any details or log in unlike explicit personalisation. Most experts say that implicit personalisation is the true goal of every personalised website. The idea behind this is that users visit a website and their clicking activity is tracked and monitored. Each of the user’s incremental clicks are then used to determine what content to show the visitor according to the items they have selected or blog posts they have chosen to read.

Explicit Personalisation + Implicit Personalisation = Adaptive Personalisation

The development and management of explicit and implicit personalisation has lead to the creation of so-called “adaptive personalisation”. This type of personalisation does not require any set up. Adaptive personalisation predicts the experience of the customer and the content they are looking for before and during any interaction that takes place. This technology is still in its early stages, but given time will surely make its way in the CMS world in the near future.

How To Personalise Customer Experience

Being relevant is one way to effectively engage customers. Any website that features content, messaging, images, promotions and other offers that are relevant to their customers will have a greater chance of visitors and users finding them interesting and directly engaging with the website.

1. Enhance user experience

Optimising user experience will reduce the overall drop-off rate. 2013 research by Monetate and eConsultancy found that in-house marketers who personalise the user experience see (on average) a 19% sales improvement. Web site personalisation has the ability to increase the usability of the website and makes it easier to use. A website that is easy to navigate, use and contains relevant content will engage visitors. You can improve visitor interaction in 4 ways:

• Track what visitors are doing and identify where they spend most of the time when on your website
• Offer a simple and secure payment process
• Optimise navigation and search features to be user-friendly
• Eliminate content which is irrelevant to your target audience

2. Localisation

To make your campaign more successful, you have to localise the website experience with your target audience efficiently. Creating a website that will cater and appeal to local tastes, culture and currency will help increase conversion rates. If your brand or service is internationally recognised, create different versions of your website to target a global audience.

3. Personalised loyalty programs

If you already have regular visitors or buyers, another great way to encourage them to purchase what they need is to market personalised loyalty programs. A personalised loyalty program can deliver meaningful and relevant messages to your audience and they will be eager to hear about your latest news or promotions.

4. Recommendation engines

Through recommendation engines, the customer will receive suggestions based on the products that they have clicked or previously shown interest in. Amazon has made this practice very popular as the emergence of big data made its way into mainstream marketing strategy.

5. Sending personalised emails

Experian's 2013 Email marketing survey found that personalised emails generate six times higher transaction rates as compared to non-personalised emails. Personalised email provides positive brand impressions and is one of the best tools to increase conversion.

6. Social networks

Social networking sites can help merge a customer’s social life with their website experience. Features such as social log in, social sharing and social invites can do this. If customers are happy with your product or service, they can use these social channels to provide reviews or share their new favourite brand with their friends. Users are more likely to consider a new product or a service if they have read a good recommendation posted by someone they know on their social network.

7. Personalised live chat

Providing your visitors or customers with the service of talking to a human at your company will give them a better experience. Having a personalised chat will not only make a website personalised, it will also add a new level of customer satisfaction. Providing chat software can engage your visitors as you give them real-time solutions to their issues.

8. Responsive web design

Almost everyone is connected using their mobile wireless devices. Smartphones and tablets are the preferred hardware today to get connected so your website should have a responsive design. Ensure your site works on all mobile devices, be it Android, Windows or iOS.

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These tips may not cover everything to make your content more personalised but it can offer an excellent starting point for you to begin customising your website for success.