How to personalize and target promotions without a CRM program

Introduction

Every brand team knows that certain messages resonate with a target audience while others do not. After all, finding and delivering the appropriate message to the appropriate audience is one of the primary goals of brand marketing. Delivering that consistent message through all touchpoints should be a top priority.

As such, this messaging should also remain consistent through digital promotions – one of the closest trackable touchpoints before a consumer purchases your product. Personalizing your digital promotions allows you to deliver the appropriate message and offer to each of your target audiences.

But what if your organization does not have a CRM program? Is it possible to personalize your digital promotions without CRM?

The answer is: Yes.

By using the right incentive platform, it is possible to personalize your promotions without a CRM program by using information you know about anonymous consumers.

In this whitepaper we will discuss the types of data that can be used to personalize promotions and how to enable that personalization. Doing so could lower redemption costs, increase redemption rates, and help gain market share.

But first…


One-Size-Fits-All Promotions

For many brands, every day brings hundreds or thousands of consumers to their digital properties looking for promotions. Unfortunately, the standard method of delivering promotions on brand pages is to give the same offer and message to everyone.

Huh?

Why would a brand interested in reaching multiple audience types and consumer segments deliver the exact same promotion and message to every consumer that comes to their site?

This method is understandable in FSI, but it’s 2016 – personalization online in real time should be the norm. The opposite is no longer sound strategy.

One-size-fits-all offers (and associated messaging) are the opposite of what you do when you market your brand. It’s also contrary to your business goals. So why does this method persist?

It’s possible many brands and consumer promotions departments do not realize they can personalize offers today, in real time – without a CRM program.

(If you have a CRM program and are not using it to personalize offers, this would be even easier for you.)


Non-CRM Data Sources

If you do not have a CRM program, there is still a reservoir of data that can be leveraged to target and personalize promotions for specific audience types and consumer segments. This data includes the following:

1.    Consumer traffic source:

Where did the consumer come from:

1.  Search (which keyword)
2.  Display (which ad)
3.  Affiliate site (which topic/vertical)
4.  Specific section of your site (where are they in the buying cycle/what’s their relationship with your brand)?

Understanding how a consumer arrived at your coupon page gives clues as to the type of consumer engaging with your offer. Those clues—once identified, categorized, and employed—can trigger the specific promotion(s) and messaging that consumers should see.


2.    Coupon engagement data:

How a consumer has previously engaged with your offer(s) is another signal that can be leveraged to target and personalize promotions.

1.  Is this the first time they’ve seen your offer?
2.  Have they seen your offer and never printed?
3.  Do they print your offer every month?

Each of these scenarios is indicative of a certain type of consumer. Should each of these consumers receive the same offer and message? Probably not.


3.    Coupon redemption data:

Where does your consumer shop? Have they redeemed your coupon in the past? Do they consistently redeem? Do they over-redeem?

Similar to traffic source and coupon engagement data, understanding a consumer’s shopping habits gives clues to identify where that consumer sits in your audience segments and should influence the offer they receive.

NOTE: Where an individual consumer redeems a digital print-at-home coupon is easy to track with RevTrax SmartOffers®. Shopper teams should be all over this data, using it to further enhance and solidify the messaging they are delivering in store.

 

Personalizing Digital Promotions Without CRM

Using the non-CRM data sources listed above, it’s possible to personalize offers in real time without a CRM program, ensuring each audience segment receives the offer and message you’d like them to receive.

If it sounds difficult to leverage the data above, it doesn’t have to be.

Signals like the above can be passed with the consumer to the coupon experience which can update on-the-fly based on the passed signals. This is one of the core capabilities of the RevTrax SmartOffers® platform. Many brands use this technology to deliver the right message and offer to the appropriate audience in real time.

This same technology can similarly be used to match consumer segments with bonus offers and/or messaging specific to their segment, all in an effort to maintain message consistency and enhance the conversation between your brand and your consumers.

And if testing and optimizing is important to you, personalization through the RevTrax platform can be further enhanced and optimized through A/B and multi-variate testing with SmartOffers® and OfferArchitect®, respectively. Optimizing your personalized offers and associated messaging will provide the greatest impact on your promotional efforts.

 

Conclusion: Personalize or Die

Now that was a joke, but seriously…

The ability to target and personalize promotions (and other content) will continue to be the focus of forward thinking marketers. It is one of the best ways to drive consumer engagement and improve customer lifetime value.

Promotion and brand teams reluctant to join this wave will likely see market share chipped away by smarter brands embracing all that digital has to offer – including real-time targeting of promotional offers.

Those that embrace and master this skill first will likely dominate their respective markets. We are already seeing this happen with many of our forward-thinking clients. Will you be one of them?


Need Help?

If your brand is not personalizing this piece of the consumer journey, maybe it’s time you start. RevTrax, with our patented promotions platform, is available to assist in this personalization. After all, providing tools to make the promotions industry smarter is our primary goal.

Contact us today!

 

 

Bonus: Enhancing CRM with Promotional Engagement Data

  • The best part of the strategies mentioned above is that the same data used to segment without a CRM program can also be used to enhance a CRM program. Tying consumer traffic source, coupon engagement data, and coupon redemption data to consumer profiles gives you a clearer view of who your consumers are – allowing even greater personalization and targeting.The best part? This first party data is available to all users on the RevTrax® platform.
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