Personalized marketing is sometimes referred to as a “segment of one” or “one-to-one marketing” and is the ultimate manifestation of having gotten to know our customers. Ideally, we know precisely:
What they need
When they need it
How much they are willing to pay for it
Then, instead of merely having a set of products that we try to sell to customers, we can begin to tailor our offerings more specifically to our customers.
Some of the Internet- based companies are beginning to develop applications that recognize customers as they connect to the site and present them with “content” that is likely to be of interest to them. Different customers, therefore, will see different things on the same Web page depending on their previous visits. This means that the customer should never be presented with material that is of no interest to them. This is a major step forward in responding to customers' needs. The single biggest drawback is that this approach is currently limited to a small number of Internet-based companies. However, as other companies shift their business onto the Internet, then the capability for this type of solution will grow.
It is worth noting that the success of these types of application depends entirely on information. It does not matter how sophisticated the application is; it is the information that underpins it that will determine success or failure.
Personalized marketing is sometimes referred to as a “segment of one” or “one-to-one marketing” and is the ultimate manifestation of having gotten to know our customers. Ideally, we know precisely:
What they need
When they need it
How much they are willing to pay for it
Then, instead of merely having a set of products that we try to sell to customers, we can begin to tailor our offerings more specifically to our customers.
Some of the Internet- based companies are beginning to develop applications that recognize customers as they connect to the site and present them with “content” that is likely to be of interest to them. Different customers, therefore, will see different things on the same Web page depending on their previous visits. This means that the customer should never be presented with material that is of no interest to them. This is a major step forward in responding to customers' needs. The single biggest drawback is that this approach is currently limited to a small number of Internet-based companies. However, as other companies shift their business onto the Internet, then the capability for this type of solution will grow.
It is worth noting that the success of these types of application depends entirely on information. It does not matter how sophisticated the application is; it is the information that underpins it that will determine success or failure.