When it comes to buzzwords in ecommerce, ‘personalization’ and ‘customer journey’ are top on the list. Every ecommerce marketing manager around will tell you how they’re continually testing and optimizing to drive more conversions or boost AOV, and yet 64% of shoppers say they feel retailers don’t truly know them.
We believe a big component of showing your shoppers you know them is by providing a personalized experience at multiple points throughout their shopping experience—from acquisition through to advocacy.
A strong, personalized experience can:
Shorten the time to value (and thereby the time to checkout)
Boost AOV by providing the right product recommendations at the right time
Create loyalty by making customers feel like they’re recognized and understood
If you still think you’ve got your bases covered when it comes to creating a cohesive customer journey that delights shoppers, think again!
In this blog, we’re taking a look at two scenarios at different points in the buyer journey:
Acquisition, with a customer who knows almost nothing about your brand
Retention, when you’re looking to drive repeat orders
With each scenario, we’ve also spotlighted three strategies, from beginner to advanced, where adding a little personalization can go a long way.
Acquisition: Social media influencer campaigns
Influencer attribution can be painful to track down, leaving brands with two choices: pay top dollar for influencers who seem to have legitimate followings and impact, or accept softer metrics like social follows, page views, or social post performance as measures of success.
What if you created a unique buying experience for a customer based on them arriving on your site from a social media influencer campaign?
Beginner
On the most basic level, the landing page they arrive on could feature the same product(s) the influencer was promoting in their post, as well as an endorsement quote and photo of the influencer. Suddenly your customers know they’re in the right place and are reminded why they’re there in the first place. This assurance will make them feel more trusting of your brand, and that much more likely to convert.
Intermediate
Take things a step further by adding a custom nav element that only shoppers who come from the social post see, like a specially curated collection of that influencer’s other favorite products. Suddenly you’re opening up more opportunities to connect that influencer to your brand, specifically for customers who care about the influencer and what they have to say. Brands that partner with dozens or hundreds of influencers can re-segment their site across each campaign they run, giving better line of sight into which influencers are driving the most bang for your buck.
Advanced
Tailor the entire site experience based on the driving influencer campaign. The items the influencer loves could be pinned to the top of your collections, with a seal or icon representing that it’s favorited by them. Upsells or cross-sells that appear in the cart could all be from the influencer’s favorites as well, with a custom call-to-action above them.
The more your site is aligned with the influencer’s post, the more likely the shopper is to convert.
PRO TIP: We’ve given you an example that hones in on influencer marketing, but this same approach could work just as well with any acquisition activity, including your Google Shopping Ad buys.
Retention: Reading email signals to segment your customers
What your customers respond to in an email should directly connect to what they experience on your site. And not just within a single session, either. This may sound simple, but you’d be surprised how often people get it wrong.
Beginner
The most basic example of creating continuity between your email and website is by providing 1:1 personalized recommendations within your emails, driven by each email subscriber’s browsing or buying history. If a customer sees a product they like, they should be able to click right into it instead of being taken to a generic collection page.
Intermediate
A more advanced example is an email with multiple calls-to-action that aren’t necessarily specific to a product. When a customer clicks on a hero image or CTA in your email, you should read this as a signal to their interest and adapt your site experience accordingly. This might mean curating the collection the customer has clicked into so the products that were featured in your email are surfaced at the top of the collection page, versus the ‘vanilla’ or default view customers visiting your site from other means might see.
Advanced
All too often, email is treated as separate from an organic site visit, apart from showing customers what they’ve recently viewed. In actuality, you should be using every email interaction as data points to inform all future visits to your site for each customer. For example, if you find one customer only ever clicks onto your site when you’re promoting sales, segment them as a bargain hunter and tailor the site experience so the next time they visit, you’re spotlighting deals front and center on your hero image and home page recommendations. Even reorder your navigation.
If you’ve got an engaged customer on email, don’t leave that data in a silo or only have it inform one-off interactions. Take what you learn from email and give that customer a tailored experience no matter how they get to your site the next time around.
PRO TIP: Again, while this example is specific to how customers interact with your emails, consider any method you use to reconnect with customers as a way for them to signal what they’re interested in. SMS, social, and even in-store behavior are all ways to better understand what your customer wants, so you can adapt the site experience for their future visits.
Building a more coherent and engaging customer journey
All of the scenarios we’ve outlined in this blog post sound amazing, right? But have you actually tried or experienced any of them? What we’re talking about is the next wave of personalization—one so critical yet so accessible that you simply cannot ignore it.
When you combine artificial intelligence with the signals your customer sends when interacting with any piece of your acquisition or retention marketing strategies, the results can be spectacular. We help thousands of ecommerce brands do just that, creating customizable buyer journeys from the moment someone lands on your site and carrying on through repeat visits.
If you’re interested in learning more about LimeSpot and how it works with Omnisend, contact the LimeSpot team to learn more.
Create an omnichannel experience without increasing your workload. Start Omnisend Free!
Francis Pilon, Head of Global Partnerships at LimeSpot
Over the last 15 years, Francis has accumulated a wealth of expertise in ecommerce stemming from roles in both product and agency settings. He always seeks opportunities that generate remarkable outcomes and value.
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