In the Mad Men days of marketing and advertising, generalized messages thrown to everyone were the best way to get the word out. Actually, in those times, it made sense to keep the messaging as broad as possible to help the world adjust to a rapidly developing consumerist society.  But, as many marketers know, consumers are faced with thousands of advertisements each day, making it increasingly difficult for marketers to break through the clutter and grab the right kind of attention.

More and more, we’re seeing personalized messages that aim to find a solid connection with the one thing that makes a consumer tick. Understanding your audience is absolutely essential when it comes to drafting messages that really hit home.

Today’s marketers tell more compelling stories, using personalized messaging to show consumers exactly how a product or service will solve their particular problem. And in the process of doing so, marketers are breaking through that bland, mundane clutter, and coming out on the side of success.

Digital personalization may be king, but how can we get even more personalized?

We all know about personalization in the digital world. We see it every single day—from email marketing messages that offer suggested products based on past purchases, to those social ads that have us convinced that our phones are listening to our conversations. Digital personalization has entirely taken over—and marketers are seeing some pretty sweet success with it, too.

But when does personalization go from super targeted to super creepy? Sometimes, as a marketer, it’s hard to know how to balance the two, especially with the amount of data on audiences that we’re authorized to use.

Online personalization can do wonders for your brand, especially when you complement it with offline personalization efforts. Using offline personalization, marketers can deepen those already-personalized relationships with audiences.

Make the right kind of connection with in-store personalization.

As many retailers know, the most important part of the marketing process is the time spent with consumers on the floor. But it goes much deeper than simply greeting customers with a smile and a ‘hello.’

When it comes to personalizing the in-store experience, it’s important to keep each, individual customer at the forefront of your strategy. For example, a clothing retail store may assign a “fashion rep” to each buyer. From there, the fashion rep can help the shopper pick out certain clothing items, providing fashion advice along the way. And with COVID-19 limiting the number of shoppers in each store, this gives retailers an opportunity to spend more time with each customer, further personalizing their in-store experience.

With this type of in-store personalization, it’s important that your product or service makes your customer feel good about who they are. Guiding them through the shopping process to encourage try-ons and boost buyer confidence is essential to creating that personal connection between brand and consumer.

Another way to personalize the in-store experience is to provide special offers that are only available offline. Take time to collect consumer data, like birthdays or anniversaries, to make sure you know when to celebrate the exciting times in your customers’ lives.

Many retailers offer birthday discounts or coupons on products that are only available in-store or through curbside pickup. If it’s possible to physically get your customer in your store on a day when they’re already feeling their best, it’s much easier to sell them on more than just the discount they stopped by for.

And with in-store personalization, the real cost is just a little extra attention to detail. No writing or pushing content out into the Internet. No segmenting lists or serving targeted ads. Just your team, making a real connection with the consumer.

Direct mail brings personalization right to your consumer’s door.

Another fantastic—and cost-efficient—way to personalize the offline experience is through direct mail personalization. We aren’t referring to direct mailing from the old advertising days, where boring marketing kits were put together and sent to an entire audience. This is direct mailing with a purpose. Using integrations like Inkit, you can use data-driven direct marketing to personalize the offline experience and grow your business in the process.

Most industry professionals know about email and its success as a top marketing channel. However, even the best email marketing strategies can leave some subscribers behind. With direct mail, you can personally connect with those ghost subscribers in an offline setting to revive the relationship and bring it back online.

Direct mail is also a great way to bring your online campaigns to a real-life setting. Sending out postcards or exciting direct mail pieces that match the overall vibe of your campaign is a great way to get your audience actively involved in the message you are trying to portray. With tools like Inkit, direct mailings can complement email triggers so retailers can send subscribers a postcard or direct mail follow-up for things like cart abandonment.  

Wrap up

We talk a lot about digital personalization and the many ways to break through the clutter of the Internet. But what about connecting with your audience on an even more personal level?

Offline personalization allows marketers to do more than just solve specific problems—it gives you a chance to physically connect your brand with your audience to develop a more authentic relationship.

From in-store personalization to direct mailing, there are countless cost-efficient ways to create genuine, offline connections that go much deeper than your average, targeted display ad.

And when you’re in the business of creating genuine relationships with your customers, you can count that they’ll stick around with you for the long haul.