Every person is unique, with their own set of thoughts and emotions.
The same goes for the way they react to a website or email.
If you want your customer’s experience to be personalized, there needs to be an emotional touchpoint-something that resonates with them on a personal level.
Here are five ways you can connect emotionally with your customers and create a personalized digital experience.
1. Their past experience with your brand
Were they on the mailing list for a promotion?
Do they remember when you responded to their customer service issue online and solved it quickly?
These are all parts of someone’s history with your company, which can be used as an emotional touchpoint.
If they had a positive experience in the past, mention it in the email.
If they had a negative experience, let them know you are sorry and offer to make it up to them!
Either way, taking the time to show your customer that their past interaction mattered is an emotional touchpoint worth considering when crafting personalized messages.
Research by McKinsey shows that leaders in personalization have increased revenue by up to 15% and improved the efficiency of their marketing spend by up to 30%
2. Their future goals
What are their plans for the new year?
Do they have a goal to start saving money, or maybe they want to work on investing more in themselves?
This is information you can use as an emotional touchpoint when crafting your marketing messages.
If someone told you about their goals, include them in next month’s email.
Include a tip to help them with their goals, or maybe even offer an extra discount for the next three months!
There are endless opportunities to create personalized messages by including some of your customers’ plans in what you share with them now.
On the other hand, if they mention that they want to start watching their spending, maybe offer to send them a monthly budgeting checklist.
Either way, the personal touch of including your customers’ goals in marketing messages will garner your trust and creates an emotional connection with them-thus making those digital interactions more personalized!
This is just one example of how this could be done; there are many ways to create personalized messages by focusing on your customers’ future goals.
So don’t forget to ask them about what’s important to them, and then use their answers as an emotional touchpoint for your marketing!
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3. Their emotions
What makes them laugh?
How does your product make them feel?
Or, even better: what would they want to see in the world that you could provide for them or give away as a promotion?
Investigate how people react when using your site and try to find patterns between their emotional reactions.
If someone loves your product and shares their story on social media, reply with a personal message.
It will show them that you care about their experience.
If someone writes to say they had a negative reaction while using it, apologize for the inconvenience and offer help in fixing the issue.
And don’t forget to ask people what they want!
Most of the time, people are looking for something that makes them feel good.
Your product or service may not be a perfect match if it doesn’t do this consistently-even if you have lots of other features.
So take the time to find out how your customers react emotionally to your site or product.
4. Their personal values
What are their life priorities?
Where do they want to see themselves in five years?
Are those goals a priority for them right now?
A person’s values can be found out through conversation or by looking at what they share on social media.
If you’re promoting your product, ask yourself: is this something my customer would want?
If you’re working on a marketing message, ask yourself: is this something my customer cares about?
People are looking for whatever they value most.
It could be their family or it could just be the desire to find balance in their life.
Take some time to think about what your customers care about most and use that as an emotional touchpoint for your marketing.
The more personal the message, the more likely they will remember you!
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5. The memories they’ll make
People want to feel a connection with you.
What can you share that will help your customer remember their experience?
Maybe the friend who recommended them, or how excited they were when first starting up on your site…
Whatever it is, take some time to think about what aspects of interacting with your brand have made a good memory.
Maybe it was the customer service they received when the product didn’t work for them, or maybe it’s how much they love your company and everything you stand for!
A study by Accenture found that 91% of consumers are more likely to shop with brands who recognize, remember, and provide relevant offers and recommendations
There are probably lots of memories to be made with your brand-you just need to think about which ones will make people want more!
Remember Facebook’s “Year in Review” video?
It was customized to include the things that happened in an individual’s life during the last year.
For instance, if they got a job or became pregnant.
This makes for a great personalized message because it includes the memories of people’s lives.
Include a “Year in Review” email campaign in your marketing plan and ask for their permission to include the interactions that happened this past year.
If you want to create an emotional connection with someone, share aspects of what they’ve done together so far.
Conclusion:
Personalizing your digital experience can be as easy as remembering who they are, what they’ve done in the past, and how their emotions may have changed.
It’s about making them feel important-like you’re paying attention to them specifically!
The more personalized the experience is when a customer or prospect interacts with your company on digital platforms, the greater chance that person will continue coming back for future interactions!
The next time you reach out to a customer or potential customer, remember these five emotional touchpoints that make digital interactions personal.
Ali is a digital marketing blogger and author who uses the power of words to inspire and impact others. He has written for leading publications like Business2Community, Inc. Magazine, and Marketing Profs. When not writing, he enjoys spending time with his family.