An Order of Personalization Please, Hold the Creepy

Targeting and personalization are proven methods to effectively increase the appeal of your marketing efforts, and as a result, their success. However, just like so many other effective tools, these must be used correctly or the hoped for uptick in effectiveness could actually turn into a depressing downtick.

We’ve all seen personalization done wrong and I think you’ll agree, it usually comes across as a little creepy, maybe even more than a little. So, how do we know if we’re using personalization correctly?

First, ask yourself the question, why are targeting and personalization effective?

They are effective because you offer products that are more likely to appeal to the consumer and because your message is more warm and personal. Think of the old time ma and pop store where the store owners know everyone who comes through the door. They know who just got married, who might be thinking about it, who just had a baby, who is working on building another room in their farm-house, who just acquired a huge number of cattle and is working on repairing a fence.

But the reason ma and pop don’t come across as creepy is because there is a relationship there which promotes dialog and everyone involved knows they got their “data” through natural means. They either got their information straight from their customer or from another customer who knows them.

There are reports that the national retailer Target is identifying pregnant women by their purchases and target marketing to them. We see here that even big companies have trouble figuring out how to target and personalize appropriately. The point is, a pregnant woman may be keeping the pregnancy secret, but Target doesn’t know that because they gained their data through artificial means—means that some feel invades privacy. Ma and Pop would either be in the dark about the pregnancy or would know that it’s a secret and act accordingly.

Here are some simple rules to help keep your marketing warm and personal without the creepy:

1. Normally, use naturally obtained data for Targeted marketing.
2. If you use artificially obtained data for Targeting, make it subtle and seemingly random (an envelope full of baby offers isn’t subtle or random).
3. Never use artificially obtained data for Targeting if the data might be sensitive.
4. Use ONLY naturally obtained data for Personalization. Period.
5. Use opportunities provided by teller interactions, social media interactions, and online surveys to gain more data through natural means.
6. Whenever you use data that a recipient might be surprised you have, remind them how you got the data: Hey, on a recent questionnaire we sent you, you indicated you were interested in abc…or, Hey, when you were in our branch recently, you indicated you were interested in xyz.
7. Let people know you use targeted and personalized marketing and tell them how they can opt out.

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