How to get buy-in for personalization technology

If you’re reading this, you’re likely already tuned in to the digital marketing power of personalization. 

You know that, applied correctly, personalization provides a more relevant and valuable experience for visitors to your website or ecommerce store, and, in turn, more customer insight and increased conversion rates for you — or at least, your brand. 

So. If you and your team understand the value of personalization software tools, but haven’t yet implemented any for your site, you’re probably quite keen to get started. What’s stopping you?

Don’t worry, we get it: Digital transformation of any kind is never as simple as that. Not only will you need to take time to identify the right personalization technology for your organization, but convince higher-ups to greenlight the investment. 

In other words, before pitching personalization technology to your team leader, manager, or C-suite, you’re going to need to be able to make your case, and get buy-in from the relevant decision-makers. 

And that’s what this post is for — so, with that said, let’s go through the key steps to getting buy-in for personalization technology. 

Finding the right software

Start by doing your research. Explore the market, speak to colleagues, leverage free account tiers and product demos. Your goal is to compare and consider all the features, difficulty levels, costs, and capabilities of each personalization tool.

The key capabilities of strong personalization tools include:

• Customer data capture.

• Advanced audience segmentation.

• Native artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

• A/B testing and digital experimentation.

• Out-of-the-box analytics capabilities.

• Tight integration with content management systems. 

• Customer and performance analytics.

• Ease of integration with existing company tech tools.

• Easy onboarding and accessibility for non-technical teams.

• Developers resources.

• Excellent customer support.

For an example of personalization software in action, check out  Contentful Personalization. Deeply integrated into the Contentful Platform, it's designed to help content teams personalize content without the need for developer intervention. 

Making your case

Now that you’ve identified the best personalization solution for your team, it’s time to plan how you're going to explain why you need it, and why it's the best option for your organization. 

It’s going to be easier to make your case if you can break the process down into the following key steps: 

1) Demonstrate your current workflow's problems and areas for improvement

Whether you're investing in a personalization tool for the first time, or want to change an existing tool, you’ll have encountered challenges that have brought you to this point. Define those challenges so that you can present them to the relevant stakeholders convincingly.

You could, for example, highlight inefficiencies in your current workflow. If you're using multiple tools and workflows for data collection, segmentation, tracking, or any other parts of the personalization process, the constant switching between environments is likely to create fragments — leading to delays, missed marketing opportunities, and so on. 

Or, maybe you have limited developer resources and your current system is too complex. This dependence on developer support can slow down marketing work, and lead to bottlenecks. It’s also worth noting that the more complicated tools are often more expensive.

Inaccurate data is another big issue. Data is fundamental to a successful personalization program, so if that data is not stored and segmented in the same tool you’re using to manage and launch your campaigns, it may be outdated. That kind of data accuracy issue can be solved by personalization tech with real-time data capture capabilities.

2) Explain how the selected software solves the identified problems

Now it's time to prove how the solution you've identified provides everything you need to improve your current processes and will elevate your personalization efforts in a meaningful way. 

If you’d selected Contentful Personalization (for example) you could emphasize the following key points:

• It's an all-inclusive, comprehensive tool that covers all your data, segmentation, personalization, testing, and reporting needs.

• The tool is powered by AI technology that automates manual processes and suggests strategic personalization experiences based on customer behavior and other factors.

• The tool supports integration with data sources like your CRM and CDP.

• No developer expertise is needed. The vendor offers comprehensive training, onboarding, and operational support. 

• The implementation and AI efficiency of the tool represents a significant competitive advantage. 

Companies that invest in personalization tools with rapid activation typically experience the best results. You could support your case for a new solution by referencing other examples of customer success with personalization technology. 

3) Show how competitors are investing in personalization

Competition is an important motivating factor when you’re seeking to encourage buy-in. If you're currently behind your competitors in the personalization game, you may be missing out on opportunities with new and returning customers, or falling behind on customer retention goals. 

With that in mind, whether your team is just starting to get serious about personalization, or you need to upgrade your current performance, it's important to act sooner rather than later. The majority of customers now expect companies to deliver personalized experiences —- and become frustrated when they don't. That's why more and more businesses are making it a priority.

It’s also worth pointing out that personalization accelerates growth. Research shows that companies that prioritize personalization uplift revenue by up to 15% compared to companies that don’t. Find examples of competitors that are excelling at personalization in order to demonstrate how you’d benefit from closing the gap.

4) Present a roadmap for the proposed tool and updated program

Once you've laid out all the reasons why the company should invest in the new personalization tool, provide stakeholders with a plan for how you’ll implement it, and how the personalization program will evolve. 

Define these key considerations:

• Implementation timeline and process owners: Present the estimated timeframe for each step of the process, including the individuals who will be responsible for each stage.

• Integration strategy: Explain how the new tool will integrate with your team's existing systems, such as your CRM and CDP platforms. Emphasize ease of integration and how the tool will help in consolidating data for more accurate and comprehensive customer profiles.

• Training and onboarding: Outline a plan for training the marketing team and other relevant stakeholders on the new tool. The plan should include initial training sessions, ongoing support, and resources for self-learning.

• Pilot program: Consider running a pilot program to test the tool's capabilities on a smaller scale before a full rollout. This will help identify any issues early and give you time to collect feedback from your team.

• Performance metrics and reporting: Define the key performance indicators (KPIs) that you’ll use to measure the success of the new personalization program on the customer experience. These can include customer engagement, conversion rates, and revenue growth. Provide a plan for regular reporting and analysis to track progress and demonstrate the tool's impact.

• Continuous improvement: Emphasize the importance of ongoing optimization and continuous improvement. Explain how regular updates, feedback loops, and data-driven insights will be used to refine personalization strategies and maximize ROI.

5) Reiterate the benefits

After you've pitched your solution, including how it solves your current problems and how you’re going to implement it, seal the deal by showing some real success stories or customer experience feedback. Give examples of how other companies use personalization to grow, with reference to specific success metrics. 

Here are some of the ways Contentful Personalization had an impact for customers:

ABM personalization 

Persionio, an HR management company, revolutionized its ABM strategy with personalization. Using Contentful Personalization, the company tailored and targeted its homepage messaging according to the company size of their audience. The results of this personalized messaging and user journey resulted in a 46% conversion increase for small businesses, 45% conversion increase for enterprises, and 16% more demo requests.

Paid traffic personalization 

Successful interior design brand, Ruggable, personalized its website content for visitors coming from two primary paid campaigns: cat owners and dog owners. This approach led to a 25% increased conversion rate.

Loyalty personalization

Direct-to-customer pet food brand, Pets Deli, segmented its customers based on purchase history. It used that history to offer every customer unique promotions to meet their needs and preferences. The result was a 51% increase in conversion rates during Black Friday.

Location-based personalization

A large consumer packaged goods brand, replaced its default home page banners, product features, and CTAs with versions tailored to the user's geolocation. This personalized experience helped align content with customer preferences, and resulted in 78% more conversions, a 30% increase in engagement, and a 28% increase in customer satisfaction.

Make Contentful Personalization your next priority

Top-tier personalization means understanding how your digital content should appeal to your audience, and what tools you need to make that happen. So, if you're searching for your first (or next) personalization technology tool, look no further than Contentful.

Contentful Personalization helps brands around the world create personalized digital experiences that resonate with audiences, build strong customer relationships, and drive engagement. Integrated within a headless CMS, Contentful Personalization enables users to apply AI-powered personalization features at the click of a button, streamlining content workflows, and making life easier for marketers. 

If decision-makers need more convincing, why not take a look at examples of our native personalization tools or get in touch with our team to talk through your next steps?

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