So anyone that actually knows me, knows that I happen to work for a marketing software company based in the DC area.  I’ve always had a keen interest in marketing because of its effects on pretty much every aspect of our lives, but there were many aspects of it that I did not fully understand until I began this job.  As our sales engineer I routinely work with our sales team to go out and spread the gospel about the true value of our product.

Now of course we make a tool for creating best of breed landing pages, microsites, blah, blah, blah, but the true value in our product is offering personalization in marketing campaigns.  It almost never fails anytime I talk to a marketer these days, they are always looking for the next big thing.  Unfortunately the shelf life of a Chief Marketing Officer in many companies is less than 18 months.  That means from the time they are brought in, which is usually a bad situation they were hired to fix, they have 18 months to turn things around and get moving in a different direction towards effective marketing campaigns.

I am still rather shocked at the amount of marketing related information I receive on a daily basis that is of no relevance to me.  I typically shop online spending at least $100 with each purchase.  From the moment I land on a site, data is gathered that reports on every activity I do while I’m there.  Most time this results in a sale, because I know what I’m looking for, and other times I’m just browsing around for what I want to buy on my next shopping spree.  I typically buy the same type of items, men’s clothes and shoes, but no store seems to be smart enough to know that that’s what I’m on their site for.  I receive emails every few days about new discounts and sales that are going on, but many times they are not for items I am looking for.  Sometimes when I get to the online store, I have to wade through all the stuff that doesn’t come in my size and drill down to what I can actually wear.

I’m now 31 years old so I think my clothing sizes are pretty well set.  Chances are that I will wear around a size 13 shoe for the rest of my life.  So if you know what size pants I wear and what size shoe I always buy, why not only show me that content?  This is what personalization is all about and this is what marketers are going to start having to do alot more effectively in the coming months and years to run effective marketing campaigns.  It does no good to send a message out to 300,000 people that ultimately resonates with no one.  The key to effective marketing is to deliver personalized content on an individual basis  that shows shoppers  such as myself what’s in it for us.  So the next time I get an email about this week’s sale, show me items that actually come in my size.  If you want me to attend your events, trying sending me information on events that are actually in my local area.

Fortunately I do work for a company that makes this very easy.  At OnDialog our solution allows marketers to deliver personalized messages to individuals that speak directly to them and engage them in ways previously thought impossible.  Although we have a great tool for this, there are tons of resources our there for marketers to get moving in the right direction.  The biggest key is collecting data on people, then using that data to deliver the correct message.

If you are a marketer I challenge you to find ways to personalize your campaigns, and I promise you the results will astound you.