Thinking out loud - Why aren’t we personalising more?

As marketers we have an abundance of statistics and research telling us that personalisation delivers in terms of customer expectations and ROI. The issue is that most marketers are faced with short term KPIs. It’s ultimately about this month’s sales figures and the quarterly board reports.

Justifying the ROI into personalisation (beyond just using a customers name) and automation is often difficult. Sales are relatively easy to measure (so we value that metric). The benefits of personalisation are of real value but often we find difficult to measure.

And of course, delivering the capabilities required takes time. Not every marketer walks into a job where the customer journey is mapped out, all of the data needed is in a single place and the technology needed is fully implemented. As a result it looks like a daunting prospect. Unless, a view is taken that we look at the road ahead but complete the journey in stages, building capability and stacking up the successes en-route. Perhaps looking at one channel at a time or one particular part of the customer journey.