The website personalization tools we recommend in this article enable you to segment visitors and then deliver personalized messages of the 'next best product' or 'next best content' within containers on your website as with the classic Amazon personalized recommendations (read their published methodology from this fascinating whitepaper from back in 2003).
I originally wrote this post in 2010 when there were fewer personalization options. I have updated it annually since with recommendations provided via social media - do get in touch if you have a suggestion. The latest update includes the new Google AI Recommendations framework that was introduced in January 2021. A serious new competitor has entered the market to disrupt competition and perhaps reduce fees for retailers.
This is the latest update where we compare the full range of options from free personalization tools to low-cost and enterprise services across these five categories:
The opportunities for applying personalization are now much wider than the initial retail product recommendations. This definition of personalization from my Digital Business and E-commerce management book shows the opportunities for applying personalization in all types of business.
"Digital experience personalisation is the dynamic serving of customised content, product or promotional offer recommendations to website visitors or app users based on their characteristics and intent behaviour to support conversion and long-term engagement goals".
Although many of us will have experienced personalization through retail product recommendations like those from Amazon, the definition shows the relevance of personalization to all types of businesses. For example, even B2B companies that don’t sell online can use personalization to recommend relevant 'next best content' offers to sustain prospects’ interest in a business and so nurture them toward a sale. Use our website personalization module to find out more.
Web personalization
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Learn MoreWhen web personalization services first appeared, they were part of expensive analytics solutions only available to the largest businesses, but today there are many services suitable for small businesses. These are two of the original services which are available today in a new guise and then a completely 'new kid on the block'.
The second category we review here is specifically for e-e-commerce search and merchandising giving automated product placements using aggregated behavioural data (those that viewed this, also viewed that) and personal recommendations (you previously bought this and might like that).
These options can be considered the top retail personalization services that should be on your long-list for comparing if you're looking for a service that is separate from your e-commerce or content management solution.
If you're looking for a structured comparison between personalization services, I recommend this table-based feature comparison of personalization services from agency Freshegg.
Our advanced Learning Path module helps Business Members learn how to apply Conversion optimization to their own businesses.
Conversion optimization
Part of the Digital marketing strategy and planning Toolkit
Learn about the principles and best practices for setting up a simple AB test and a broader CRO programme
Learn MoreAccording to the comment from Damien of Digicon, Sitecore, Kentico and Adobe with Target have built-in tools to personalize content based on various rules, such as geolocation, search terms, referrers, lead scores and also provide more advanced personalization based on user behaviour and profiles.
Episerver has an interesting approach to personalization which they describe as 'No-rules personalization: more intelligence, less-work'. Rather than traditional rules-based personalization used by many of the specialist services, this applies machine learning and statistical analysis to visitor behavioral data to tailor category and product pages without the need for rules configuration.
The open-source e-commerce solution Magento also has personalization extensions available such as Product Personalization, Commerce Stack.
Evergage is recommended as a tool that fits best in this category that has a wide range of options for serving personalization for content marketing in different placements on a site. Other alternatives for B2B personalization or non-retail consumer personalization are:
In the same way that content management systems now integrate personalization, marketing automation systems have now started to include this option. These include:
At the end of 2018 Amazon made their Amazon Personalize service freely available, as part of Amazon Web Services. It’s billed as ‘Real-Time Personalization and Recommendation for Everyone’. As part of this initiative, Amazon have made their internal Machine Learning developer courses available as have Google. Today, their courses cover the fundamentals of machine learning and deep learning as well
Of course, personalized recommendations aren’t limited to websites only, as you will know from Amazons’ newsletters. To learn more, I recommend this article explaining the inner workings of email marketing recommendation engines which reportedly boost click rates by 50-400%. It shows what to look for when finding the right tool to serve the recommendations inside your newsletter.
An infographic by freshrelevance demonstrates the combined effectiveness of email and web customization for their clients in 2019.
Thanks for all the comments sharing options in the post so far, please share others you recommend to build this list via our Twitter @Smartinsights. Or, join us as a Free Member to keep up to date on the latest developments.
By Dave Chaffey
Digital strategist Dr Dave Chaffey is co-founder and Content Director of online marketing training platform and publisher Smart Insights. 'Dr Dave' is known for his strategic, but practical, data-driven advice. He has trained and consulted with many business of all sizes in most sectors. These include large international B2B and B2C brands including 3M, BP, Barclaycard, Dell, Confused.com, HSBC, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, M&G Investment, Rentokil Initial, O2, Royal Canin (Mars Group) plus many smaller businesses. Dave is editor of the templates, guides and courses in our digital marketing resource library used by our Business members to plan, manage and optimize their marketing. Free members can access our free sample templates here. Dave is also keynote speaker, trainer and consultant who is author of 5 bestselling books on digital marketing including Digital Marketing Excellence and Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. In 2004 he was recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as one of 50 marketing ‘gurus’ worldwide who have helped shape the future of marketing. My personal site, DaveChaffey.com, lists my latest Digital marketing and E-commerce books and support materials including a digital marketing glossary. Please connect on LinkedIn to receive updates or ask me a question.
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