The Book

of Wisdom
5 essentials for delivering personalized experiences
Introduction

5 pearls of wisdom
to blast past the
hype – and win big
Maybe some of these catchphrases
sound familiar:
“Real-time personalization across all channels and devices.”
“Behavioral marketing.” “360-degree customer engagement.”
“Contextual messaging & offers.” “1-to-1 interactions.”
“Dynamic customization.” Blah, blah, blah, blah (blah).

For nearly 20 years, marketers have been pitched a mind-numbing

array of personalization solutions that have all promised that holy
grail of digital marketing – the ability to connect with customers
and prospects at an individual level, granulated down to the
proverbial “segment of one” – in hopes of turning fickle website
visitors into delighted customers for life.
Ready for the age of
predictive personalization?

Indeed, attracting and retaining today’s marketing-resistant customer means
every industry will soon be led by those organizations that are best able to
deliver – even anticipate – the right content, offers and experiences to meet
each individual’s unique and ever-changing needs and desires.
Dubbed “predictive
personalization,” this
Dubbed “predictive new generation of
This Book of Wisdom is designed to help you move beyond the hype to
harness the power of a new generation of personalization technologies
that go far beyond collecting and reacting to a customer’s last site visit – to
proactively shaping the one that’s happening now. And they do it with tools that
are so easy to use; marketers can manage them without having to rely on IT.

personalization,” technologies is rapidly Move beyond the hype to harness

this new generation
redefining every industry
category. Small wonder,
the power of a new generation of
of technologies is
then, that marketers personalization technologies
rank personalization as

rapidly redefining the #1 most important

Make no mistake: The age of predictive personalization means tremendous
capability to master over
every industry the next five years. opportunities for the brands that judiciously capitalize on the right solutions

category. The problem: Most

and strategies – and considerable challenges for those who fall behind.

solutions are far too
difficult to use, and require heavy IT support. This Which means
marketing remains out of control when it comes to owning and defining
the brand experience.
The Book of Wisdom will give you a framework for approaching this most
critical of business issues – so you can keep your brand at the forefront of
your category, today and for years to come.

Adding to the challenge: Solution providers all seem to employ the same
overused buzzwords. And what they mean by these trendy notions – let
alone how (or even whether) they can truly deliver on them – varies wildly.
1
Principle

Thou shalt not

ask ‘How?’
Before first
asking ‘Why?’
? Know thy customer – on more than
just a first name basis
Call it automated serendipity – the delight visitors sense
when a website seems to magically appeal to their way of
searching, discovering and engaging with brand content,
offers and experiences.
It’s the almost imperceptible feeling that they themselves are driving
an experience that somehow summons up just what they are looking for,
sometimes before they even realize they’re looking for it.
But to enable this level of personalization, the first question to ask is never “How?”
What is the desired outcome of
your personalization initiative?
It’s “Why – and to what end?”
For far too many brands, emphasis is on the mechanics of personalization –
the technologies needed to connect databases and assign rules to things like
IP addresses, cookies and field data. Instead, they should start with “Why,”
which is most effectively defined by tangible business outcomes, such as
engaging with your most profitable customers as VIPs; improving adoption
of a new product line; or creating a new market.
Ask yourself: What is the desired outcome from your personalization initiative?
Brands that start with “how” often end up with cobbled-together solutions
(along with an endless array of add-ons for each new capability they wish
to possess) that can be difficult to use and rarely if ever deliver meaningful
business results.
Brands that start with “why” are far more likely to achieve strategic business
objectives in the most time- and cost-effective way possible.
No two visitors share the same experience
According to a survey from Accenture, 64% of respondents prefer a personalized
shopping experience to an anonymous one. And 75% of shoppers spend an
average of 13% more on brands that offer a “great customer experience.”
So what makes for a great customer experience? For starters, one where
different customers are treated differently – as unique human beings, based on
their own specific interests. At the most basic level, your customers “want to
be recognized; they want to be valued; and they want to be known,” says Penny
Gillespie, a research director at Gartner. “And if they purchased something from
a seller, they believe they have a relationship with that seller, and that the seller
should know them.”
This kind of personalization is about more than knowing your visitor’s name,
address, purchase history and access device, and then merely aggregating it into
a set of pre-defined categories. It’s about memory creation. Customers don’t
think in terms of good experiences or bad. They think about how they feel. When
you leverage all the data you have on a customer to personalize the experience
just for them, you get a customer who is happy. One that grows loyal as you earn
their trust. Faithful customers will not only continue to buy from you, but will
become an advocate of your brand to others.
To be effective, the technology should painlessly deliver predictive personalization
capabilities. Capabilities, that dynamically react to, and even anticipate, which
offers and experiences are most effective for each unique visitor in real-time,
based on that visitor’s behavior as it’s happening, along with their interests, user
profiles, lifetime value and more.
No two visitors ever experience a brand in the same way, even if they belong to
the same overall customer segment or “persona.” If your business “why?” is to
delight each individual prospect and customer on a personal level, your website
experience should be “hand-crafted” to be as unique as every one of your visitors.
2
Principle

Thou shalt remember

context is everything

Build thy success on who, what, when,

where, how & why
There’s no point selling diapers to Empty Nesters, or long-term
care insurance to teenagers. And when variables span not just
demographics but social, mobile and location-based connections,
context becomes all-important.

Harris Interactive, for instance, found that 74% of US consumers

feel “frustrated” by irrelevant website content. Factor in the multiple
devices, places and quite frankly the on-demand expectations of
today’s consumer republic, and the potential for frustration – or
excitement – grows precipitously.
It’s no wonder McKinsey estimates that extending personal relevance not The technology platform you choose should take care of all of this for you
just in one digital touch point, but consistency across all of them, can lift – so there’s no need to try and do this by hand, to the extent that that would
customer satisfaction up to 20% and revenue up to 15% while also reducing even be possible.
costs up to 30%.

Which means, if you aren’t rapidly deploying personalization capabilities, your

competition will be more than happy to beat you to the punch. Honor what’s personal – and keep it private
Knowing a first-time visitor has clicked on an ad banner featuring a certain It goes without saying that a careful balance must always be maintained
call-to-action points to interest. Recognizing that the visitor is in a certain city between providing relevant content, offers and experiences and avoiding the
means you can serve up directions to your nearest retail location, or offer a free “creep factor” – the sense that you’re spying on your visitors.
pass to an upcoming event for a product demonstration. By maintaining the
But think about it. In the physical world, who doesn’t appreciate the attentive
engagement, the visitor dives deeper, perhaps even registering for that free
sales clerk who knows you’re on the lookout for a blue blazer to go with those
event pass, or scheduling an appointment.
jeans you bought last month, or the barista who knows how to conjure up your
Suddenly, a profile is assembled, capturing the fact that the visitor uses morning jolt of caffeine just the way you crave it – and who has a hunch you’d be
a laptop at work, a tablet when commuting by train, and a mobile phone very interested to know there’s a fresh supply of those frosted maple scones
throughout the day (from several locations), and that the city in which she you salivate over.
clicked on your ad is not the city or she actually lives in. Boom: A world of
The same is true of digital personalization that creates the sense of a user-driven
personalized opportunities arise. A highly-individualized email offering a
experiences that are just intelligent enough to emphasize content and offers
discount at your store near the train station can include a QR code sent via
based on personal context.
mobile phone, for easy redemption.
The fact is, one 12-month study from HubSpot found that personalized calls-
And ongoing multivariate testing opens up infinite permutations for boosting
to-action have a 42% higher response rate than offers that are the same for all
sales, encouraging shares, rewarding referrals and so much more. Thanks to
visitors. And despite negative news stories about online privacy, nearly 60% of
advanced analytical technology under the hood, effective solutions allow you to
online consumers say they’re okay with websites collecting personal information
weight content, behavior, offers and more, in-visit and over time. Which means
as long as it’s used for their benefit.
the more fine-grained personalization can become with each interaction.
As Gartner’s Gillespie puts it, shoppers want to be recognized and valued. Your
With the best solutions, analytic technologies take all of this information into
personalization solutions should give your brand that personal, human touch. They
account, statistically identifying the best piece of content to present with each
should not have your customers frightened they’ve done or revealed too much,
successive moment – ensuring more meaningful conversations with every
wishing they could shake unwanted advances that seem to know a little too
customer, every time they visit.
much about them.
3
Principle

Thou shalt test,

test & test again

Covet thy conversions – and never leave

them to chance
A/B testing is no longer enough.

Multivariate testing has long been an essential tool for boosting

conversion rates using proven, scientific research methods. Instead
of agonizing over wording for a teaser or call-to-action, between this
graphic element, or between that navigational placement over this,
test it all – and let the data and your customers show you the way.
Even a 5% increase in conversion rates can mean hundreds of thousands Thou shalt never read a book by
of dollars in additional revenue for many businesses. And according to
eConsultancy, the average increase for brands that personalize website
its cover (or its URL)
experiences is 19%. Communications tools that allow and encourage bite-sized, continuous testing of
specific pieces of content – across multiple channels – makes it faster and easier to
Unfortunately, most brands are either too rigid, or too haphazard, in their
create more relevant experiences for each visitor.
testing methodologies. They schedule testing revs too far apart, or test a
single set of variables against the aggregate of all site visitors. This kind of
approach
Even in the best testing
Marketers are always gets to the
scenarios, the veracity of data
A 5% increase only reflects a specific point in surprised how fast a unique DNA of an
engagement, not
in conversion time, instead of on an ongoing
basis.
“winner” is identified. just determining

rates can mean Making matters worse:

which offer URL

hundreds of Marketers all too often look for
an individual “winner” in their
thousands tests, and try to leverage that
of dollars in winner across as many visitors
as possible.
additional Instead, testing should be
gets the most clicks. Most important of all, it brings changing dynamics to the fore
fast enough to change course when necessary.
If that offer for a demo at an upcoming event isn’t working for visitors more than
20 miles away, stop offering it – and start featuring an alternative call to action.
And what works for visitors in Miami may not work for visitors in Montreal (or for
Miami customers who happen to be in Montreal for the day), so change up offers

revenue. continuous – and calibrated in real time.

to find the best match for Marketers are always surprised how fast a “winner” is identified for visitor
each specific visitor. The segments based on their profile, location, purchase history, real-time behavior
best systems automate this kind of testing process as much as possible to and more.
enable trends to surface quickly – taking the guesswork and time-consuming
Through ongoing, automated testing, your customers might just be surprised,
analysis out of your operations.
too – and delighted by the brand experience.
4
Principle

Thou shalt not

be ‘data-late &
a dollar short’

Real-time data collection shalt never prove

fruitful without real-time action, too
Analysis paralysis is an unfortunate side effect of many personalization
solutions. Running a test is meant to provide data to facilitate
a successful decision, thereby reducing the amount of stress,
guesswork, and time it takes to develop an experience.
But far too often, marketers pore over the data and delay decisions, making Take thy visitors at their word
the whole process inefficient – and risking a loss of relevancy and context
with your customers. Your visitors are providing both explicit and implicit information about
themselves and their interests every second they’re on your site. So why not
This is also an issue that’s inherent in the technologies themselves. Most
leverage it in the moment? If a visitor indicates she is 42 and lives in Millsberry
marketers do not realize that the majority of personalization solutions collect
New York, take her at her word.
data in real-time, but then put it in a database to be assembled and analyzed
so that the next time that visitor returns, the site offers up more relevant If that visitor clicks on
content and offers. the tab for running gear at

That’s not engagement. That’s a costly delay.

You have about your retail sporting site,

The one-time gift purchase of a baby carrier for his sister six months ago doesn’t six seconds to trust that they have at
least a passing interest in
mean your visitor is now interested in a special deal on bottle warmers,
get a visitor to running. When they click
too – though he might have been at the time. on a specific brand, trust

Likewise, that amazing offer on a new BBQ grill at your nearest retail
spend another that they’re open to deals

location isn’t going to be nearly as compelling to your visitor in February 30-seconds on for that brand. Pretty
simple stuff, right?
as it would have been last May, when she actually bought it from you
before moving her family three states away.
your site - and The fact is, you have

Context – time, purchase history, location, etc. – is only true context if it’s you’ve got to about six seconds to get
a visitor to spend another
acted on in real time. Just because specific content and offers may have
been highly relevant for that last visit, that doesn’t mean they’re still relevant
keep earning 30-seconds on your site

on the next. As a result, you end up data-late and a dollar (lots and lots that engagement – and you’ve got to keep
earning that engagement
of dollars) short.
in 30-second in 30-second increments.
You should only consider solutions that reactively and proactively address
each customer based on a unique set of factors - who, what, when, where, increments. Only content and offers
that are relevant, specific,
why and how – in actual real time. tailored and personalized

Next time is always too late – if there’s even a next time at all. will keep engagement going. The moment that moment ends, it’s over.

Why not trust what your customers are telling you – and what your data
says about them and their value to the company – and act on it right now?
5
Principle

Understand thy
relationships & keep
them holistic

Only a 360-degree view of thy customers

can prevent costly blind spots

To be effective, there can be no blind spots in personalized

engagements, no loss of fidelity.

Indeed, the most powerful personalization technologies don’t

just act in real-time based on visitor behavior and context.
They act based on the full view of each visitor’s behavior, and customer’s
own unique profile, as measured across every brand touch point. Without this
kind of multi-touch point awareness, you’ll never succeed at fully maximizing
conversions, up-selling or cross-selling efforts, or long-term retention rates.
Unfortunately, most solutions today use inference – they extract probabilities
based on your total customer base, or the behaviors and histories of everyone
who fits the closest defined “persona.”
That’s a major flaw. To be effective, you must be absolutely certain you know
– not infer – how each individual engages and interacts with the brand.
Recall the ancient proverb, “The Elephant & the Blind Men.”
Five blind men are asked to describe an elephant. One, touching the tusk
describes the creature “like a tree.” Another, touching the ear, says it’s a soft,
fluffy thing. It’s only after a sighted man walks by and describes the fullness
of the animal that the five men realize that each and every one of them is
blind. Of course, if the sighted man were deaf, he still wouldn’t be aware of
the elephant’s trumpet. It’s just the same in website personalization.
In many organizations, one team manages & monitors email marketing,
another social media sentiment, another e-commerce, another mobile text
marketing, and so on.
Thou shalt cultivate correctly – or
suffer the consequences
Indeed, this real-time relationship building can’t just occur within the context of
a visit to your site. It must also be integrated with lead generation and cultivation
via your outbound marketing operations. If personalization solutions are
disconnected from the dynamics of customer interactions outside the site, they
cannot really enable you to “know thy customer’ inside the site.
For example, take a customer whose version of your product is three years
old. He doesn’t read email, avidly responds to text, visited the site two
months ago and clicked on a “coming soon” teaser for the new model that he
owns, messaged customer service to ask about an availability date, expressed
exasperation with customer service in social media when he didn’t like the reply,
and just happens to be within six blocks of a retail location, might just react
favorably to a text message with a QR code to get 20% off the new model if he
makes his way to the retail location sometime in the next few days.
Putting it another way by recalling Principle #2, if “Context Is Everything,”
then everything is context.
Figure 1. The Four Components of Customer Engagement
Honesty Flexible
Values Timely

Asked to describe a customer’s behavior or preferences, each team might Principled

Morality
Reliable
Thorough

describe a completely different person. But with solutions that dynamically Honorable Accessible
Personal
Ethical Active
connect all elements from all touch points in real-time, your website can
properly assess the situation to offer up the most effective content, offer or
experience based on an holistic, 360-degree view of that customer.
Rational Emotional
Value Trust
Quality Enjoyment
Detail Commitment
Innovation Empathy
Physiological Understand
Inventive Contentment

Gartner RAS Core Research Note G00256956,

Use Personalization to Drive Digital Customer Engagement, Penny Gillespie, 22 Oct 2013

CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY

© 2014 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
 Wisdom to Win By
Wisdom isn’t what you learn
– it’s what you do with it.

After reviewing the 5 Essentials for Delivering Personalized Experiences

contained in this Book of Wisdom, you’ll now be armed with the most important
litmus tests for selecting a personalization solution.

A solution that fails any one basically fails them all.

A solution that excels at each is far more than the sum of its parts. It is a powerful
weapon for supercharging the effectiveness of your brand’s digital operations
– online and off – through the power of predictive personalization.

Learn more
We’d be delighted to elaborate on any and all of the 5 Essentials for
Delivering Personalized Experiences.

Along the way, we’d love to demonstrate how the Sitecore® Experience
Platform™ not only delivers on each, it defines them – through the only
solution built from the ground up to deliver relevant, personalized content,
offers & experiences in real-time.

To schedule an appointment, contact:

Dan Rousseau
603 296 1732
dro@sitecore.net

sitecore.net