Why website personalization technology is a B2B game changer
According to Email Monday, 55% of top B2B organizations have already implemented marketing automation technology. That means well over half of the most successful business to business companies are experiencing the benefits by incorporating this marketing technology. And, there are countless benefits. 91% of marketing automation users say it is “very important” to online marketing success, according to Invesp. Even back in 2013, Lenskold marketing found that 63% of companies are more successful than their competitors thanks to the help of marketing automation. In the past six years, the capabilities of software have gone through the roof — imagine how many more companies have embraced software since then.
Technology can help streamline teams, speed up processes, and even take repetitive jobs off of your marketers’ hands. One of the most valuable aspects of software, is its ability to take quality data and use it to create personalized content. Personalization software is a gamechanger for marketers. It enables your team to undertake personalized marketing — an approach that is taking the marketing world by storm. From accurate product recommendation to personalized website content, it is changing the face of B2B marketing as we know it. But, according to Dynamic Yield, only 5% of marketing execs masterfully use data to find personalization opportunities through machine learning. It’s time to go back to basics and explore why personalization is crucial to B2B success.
Website personalization basics
“Personalization is the automatic tailoring of sites and messages to the individuals viewing them, so that we can feel that somewhere there’s a piece of software that loves us for who we are.” – David Weinberger
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Personalization is all about creating unique experiences, giving the audience exactly what they are looking for, and building great customer relationships off the back of this. It benefits the customer and offers huge rewards for businesses that adopt it. Real time personalization works by tailoring the way a user experiences a company website based on who they are. There are various ways businesses can decide to do this. Businesses can split their customers into groups that share similarities and determine who their most valuable customers are. This is called segmentation. You can learn all about the different types of segmentation here. There is no right or wrong way to apply these to your business — but behavioral targeting offers several benefits for B2B organizations. You can learn more about that here.
Think about the most successful companies out there — brands like Amazon, Facebook and Pandora. They didn’t come to be by producing generic content. One of the reasons they achieve such success is because they know that audiences demand personalization. They do it, and they do it extremely well. According to Instapage, 74% of customers are frustrated when website content is not personalized. And, personalized homepage recommendations influenced 85% of consumers to buy. So, it is not only expected, but it also proves successful. And, website visitors are happy to help, too — more than half of consumers are okay with providing personal information as long as it benefits them and is used responsibly. It is clear that brands need to adopt some level of personalization to keep up with the industry players. The proof of success can be seen in the stats.
The different types of website personalization technology
Site personalization is a broad term that covers a lot. There are different types of personalization and a number of ways to use it. It can alter the appearance of websites — it can change the greeting to meet the user, edit the language used and the images presented to the visitor. This is an incredible feature for B2B organizations that are embracing account-based marketing (ABM). Accounts that are high priority for businesses will receive an experience that meets their needs and matches their values entirely. It can use data to take accurate product recommendation to the next level. Software can make personal recommendations based on previous purchases — this presents a great opportunity for cross-selling, upselling and improving customer loyalty all-round. The same goes for content recommendations — technology can recommend content to users based on content they’ve previously engaged with. This improves relevancy and makes the user feel heard and understood. Personalized marketing tools can also send prompts and reminders to aid users through their buyer journey.
Webeo, for example, creates personalized user experiences based on IP address. This is ideal for B2B companies — especially those embarking on a journey towards ABM personalization. When a website visitor lands on your site, their experience will be tailored based on the business they are visiting from. If that business is a key account or industry segment, your website appearance and content will be tailored to suit them.
Cookies vs IP
One of the key benefits of personalization that is based on IP address, is that there is no need for cookies. Traditionally, cookies — files stored on computers containing data specific to a person and a website — have been used to tailor online experiences. While they have their benefits, they only work if a user has already visited a site. And, because of modern data protection regulations, most cookies need to be enabled or allowed by users. This can restrict marketers — although it is important to remember that data protection does not exist to limit what marketers can do, but instead to ensure safety. Webeo has access to the largest global IP database, and can personalize experiences in real-time whether the user has visited the site before or not. Give loyal customers an experience that reminds them why they returned, and first-time visitors an experience that makes them want to come back.
If you are a B2B organization looking to take your website to the next level, it’s time to embrace the power of website personalization. Discover Webeo and see how it can transform your static website to give each visitor an experience they won’t forget. Book your free Webeo demonstration today!
