Mike Harris, VP EMEA at Monetate

Five years ago, many brands would have argued that personalisation isn’t really worth doing. Fast forward to today and it’s a very different picture. According to eConsultancy, 96 per cent of retailers now believe that personalisation is right for their business. Despite those figures, only 6 per cent of retailers have adopted personalisation.

If digital marketers understand that providing highly relevant and engaging personalised experiences to customers can dramatically increase conversion rates, online sales and loyalty, then why aren’t more brands adopting this practice?

There are three common misconceptions that exist among marketers when it comes to making personalisation work to their advantage. Firstly, many marketers still persist with website optimisation in the hope that A/B or MVT testing will deliver a personalised experience. The reality is they’re doing quite the opposite – delivering a sub-optimal ‘one-size-fits-all’ experience.

Secondly, marketers believe that personalisation is complex and will create huge amounts of additional work for the digital marketing and IT teams. This couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s very easy to start with the basics using your existing resources and scale the program over time as it delivers ROI for the business.

Thirdly, many digital marketers don’t think they have enough data to do deliver effective personalisation. The reality is that most organisations have plenty of data at their disposal. This includes on-site behaviour, contextual information, web analytics and CRM data – all easy to access and readily available.

The truth is that personalisation is far easier than most digital marketers think. Any web, email or mobile interaction can be personalised and linked across channels. It’s not difficult, complex and does not require armies of digital marketers or IT. Your team can get started today on delivering personalised experiences in just a few minutes.

Those brands that are doing so today are reaping big rewards.