Does Personalisation Work? Yes, When it’s Communicating Value

When it comes to data, marketers have never been richer than we are today. But to what extent is this unprecedented data wealth a good thing? 

On one hand, we’re able to target our audiences with an unprecedented level of detail. On the other hand, an over-reliance on data to hyper-personalise communications can lead to a discordant experience for customers, and one with the potential to undermine the effectiveness of our ads. There’s a delicate balance to be struck - so what’s the formula for striking it? 

The classic example to illustrate the problem is one which we’ve almost certainly all experienced. It’s when, fresh with excitement from booking a holiday, we’re stalked across the internet by ‘targeted’ ads imploring us to, er, book another one. Often on the same dates. This is the difference between data intelligence and data wisdom - these ads are intelligent enough to know I’ve been looking at holidays, but not wise enough to realise they’d be better off selling me a suitcase for the trip I’ve probably already booked. 

Personalisation can be a great tool, but the truth is that it’s easy to get wrong. The more data you collect, the greater the risk of it being outdated, or that it might have been taken out of context (think of the poor parent who’s YouTube algorithm offers them nothing but Ryan’s World, for example). 

Anecdotally, this sort of thing seems to happen all the time. It’s what occurs when marketers don’t get the balance right between personalisation and value. “Personalisation” is a very broad church - a branded email opening with “Hi, Emmeline” is technically personalised, as is something as sophisticated and creative as our yearly Spotify Wrapped playlists. 

Spotify Wrapped is a great case study in a brand finding the perfect balance between personalisation and value to generate relevance. The reason our Instagram feeds are flooded with Wrapped content at the end of every year is because these playlists mean something to us - they tap into the age-old idea of finding our identity in the bands we listen to. It’s ingenious marketing not because of the raw data involved, but because of how it’s used. Spotify knows that it’s giving its customers something of value, so there’s a greater enthusiasm on behalf of audiences for the brand to use the data it holds about them and their listening habits. 

That promise - and delivery - of value is intrinsic to the success of any personalised campaign. When we enter our email addresses to sign up to a brand’s newsletter, we’re doing so because we anticipate some kind of benefit. Discounts, exclusive or early products, rewards, or simply valuable information about the brand. This is CRM 101. We’re not signing up because we desperately want to see more ads for the brand in question; we give our data away as the price of being offered something of value. That’s how brand loyalty works in 2024. 

Another example of an effective use of data is Sainsbury’s ‘Great Fruit and Veg Challenge’ from last year. As part of the initiative, users of the supermarket’s Nectar loyalty program received more points - and thereby saved more money - by buying fruit and vegetables. Ingeniously, customers could earn at least 1,000 extra points by completing “three personalised portion tasks” based on what Sainsbury’s knew about their shopping habits. It’s a neat combination of data, value, and tone - the brand was never telling its customers what to eat or what to buy, but did make clever, gamified use of data in order to make good on its longstanding commitment to promote healthier choices.

When it comes to promoting healthy choices, there’s a fine line to be walked between relevance and creepy, invasive, or outright insulting messaging. We all know that it’s important to eat healthy foods - but nobody wants their supermarket to guilt-shame them for buying crisps. The success of the Sainsbury’s initiative came because it walked that line, using data to personalise rewards rather than call its own customers out. Again, it’s all about offering value. 

Ultimately, effectiveness is about the right blend of value and personalisation. When it comes to communicating the value of the product or service you're offering, personalisation can be a potent tool - but it has to be used wisely. Without anything valuable to connect to, your communications risk falling flat. 

Personalising your communications can lead to relevance, but being personalised is not automatically the same thing as being relevant. So unless you know you have something to say or offer that’s worth your audience’s time, brands are best off avoiding personalisation for its own sake.