5 scientific reasons why content personalization is so effective

How does personalisation increase conversion rates?

In our experience, effective content personalization increases conversion rates, boosts lead generation and cuts cost per lead. It might be intuitive to believe a personalized message is more effective than a one-size-fits-all message, but intuition isn’t the driving force here – what does the data show?

We have now served millions of personal content recommendations, and the evidence now shows an increase of 20%-30% in conversion rates, across all on existing traffic and content. Behind these numbers, there are several cool scientific reasons why this works so effectively.

Access resource – Web Personalisation guide

Our E-learning topic will show you the options for delivering more persuasive, relevant dynamic web content at relevant points in the onsite customer journey for B2B and B2C sites. As well as the techniques and tools available for personalisation based on audience characteristics and behaviour.

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5 ways personalisation enables you to generate more return from your content strategy

Here are five reasons why personalisation is effective, the first from the perspective of the marketer and four from the point-of-view of the online visitor:

1.  Take the economically-efficient choice and go after the low hanging fruit

If you are in marketing today you probably noticed that you are faced with a wide array of opportunities where to invest the marketing budget. Indeed, you are already frequently working with more than a hundred software programs. And you are already paying so much to get the visitors to your website - you spend on content planning and production and SEO and then on media, and now, if you’re successful, you have an audience at your virtual door and you are confronted with three major problems:

• 1. The user has already made up her mind - according to CEB, 57% of the customer purchase decision is complete before a customer ever contacts the business.
• 2. 98% of visitors will remain anonymous, making it very difficult to decide where they fit in within your array of desired personas.
• 3. And then there’s this: combine the median business site load time of 3 seconds with the fact that the majority of visitors leaving after 15 seconds - and you have only 12 seconds to engage with these anonymous visitors who already know what they want.

By converting the visitors who are already at your website – the low hanging fruit – you can generate leads of the same quality at a cost of 3 to 6 US Dollars, according to BrightInfo’s data. From the economic standpoint of measuring alternatives, that is very efficient.

2. Cut through the paradox of choice

With so much content, a visible real-time offering counteracts this phenomenon, described so eloquently in this TED video. In short, in terms of customer satisfaction, it is true that some choice is better than no choice. But it is not true that infinite choice leads to greater satisfaction than limited choice. Having a large and diversified arsenal of content is usually a smart strategy, as it helps to cater to bigger crowds. But each visitor is at risk of getting lost by trying to compare different offers that compete for his limited attention span.

3. Reduce a related effect – Analysis paralysis

Analysis paralysis is an anti-pattern, a state of over-thinking a situation so that a decision is never eventually taken. This happens when a decision is considered as over-complicated, with too many detailed options, so that a choice is never made, rather than try something and change if a major problem arises.

Even worse, when people start to look for that optimal or perfect solution, they not only fear making any imperfect decision, but they start imagining that there is an ideal solution.

Once they don’t find it in those 15 to 30 seconds they spend on your website, their image of your product or service may remain negative for a very long time. In addition, anything that they do actually try out or buy will most likely be compared to that imagined solution – and reality often fails to meet imaginary expectations.

4. Cut the rate of horrible decisions: Extinct by instinct.

Ironically, extinct by instinct is the opposite effect of analysis paralysis, and is also true on your website: No single website can overcome the overall information overflow. Your website is part of a vast amount of information every qualified lead has to go through and process each day, and some of them will make their decision based on hasty judgement or a gut-reaction.

With more and more of the decision-making process happening BEFORE the visitor ever gets to your website, you want to make sure that his decision-making is as accurate as possible as soon as he shows up on your radar.

Content personalization can limit the amount of fatal decisions based on hasty judgement or a gut-reaction that result in unsatisfied customers. With so many competitors out there, having unsatisfied customers is not a thought you want to entertain.

5. Prevent users disorientation

Another closely related phenomenon, disorientation, can be tackled by shortening the funnels – the track a consumer takes through your website. This is especially important in websites that offer numerous products, services, and content, and experience high bounce rates.

Plenty of our clients place a lot of emphasis on page-views, often thinking the more the merrier. But, as we just as often reply, there is also some danger there – that is, to show the wrong pages.

You never ever want a visitor to think, 'wait, why am I even seeing this?' Instead, focus on leading visitors in the right path, by highlighting the way through their personal interests.

Image credit: Freepik