User:Pxb/sandbox

Traditional Marketing, even when very well done, generally communicates the same messages to all guests. It is message centric (what do I want to say?). Individual Marketing is a newer concept that recognises and treats each guest as unique and communicates to each guest differently. It is audience centric (what does this person want to hear?).

To be involved in individual marketing, a company will have to change their behaviour for each individual based on what information they have for the individual, the individual’s personal attributes (age, gender, nationality, languages know etc.) as well as information the individual discloses.

While brick and mortar stores can attempt to market in such a way, individual marketing came to the forefront with the advancement of information technology and the abilities that these systems bring with it.

Build a bear is an e.g. of an existing company on how a product can be tailored. Children have different parts that they can put together as they wish and purchase a completely customized soft toy.

There are many examples of Internet marketing that uses individual marketing strategies. Websites like eBay and amazon show you customised ads and product by using all the data they have and then match that with what products were previously looked at/browsed, bought and what are people with similar interests looking at. The products that rank the highest will be recommended to you while related ads will pop up on the periphery.

In today’s age, the most essential ingredients to conduct individual marketing successfully are computer programs and software. These can capture personal data of the customer and help keep track of the customer’s past behaviour and preferences. Using these type of technologies not only help increase efficiency but cost less money in the long haul. It is also likely that the customer will pick up from where they (or others with similar preferences) last left off and continue to build on previous knowledge. Successful companies that conduct individual marketing will showcase the deep understanding of their customers that they serve and that will help enable them to be successful as happy customers will pass on their word of mouth and will likely return to the same source.

Advantages of Individual Marketing
More revenue generation from existing customers:

Individual Marketing can be highly effective in increasing revenue for a company’s existing customer base. An existing customer is aware of the brand and with the help of individual marketing, their attention can be funneled to up or cross sell other services and products that the same company promotes. While mass marketing may attract new customers, individual marketing focuses on maximizing sales to existing customers. For e.g. Sweetbeam is an Individual Marketing firm that markets to in-house guests in luxury hotels by creating unique briefs for each client. These are then broadcasted to guests based on their personal attributes and preferences resulting in a higher retention, higher satisfaction rate and higher return rate than guests exposed to only Traditional Marketing on the property. Rather than pushing a lot of messages to the guest that they don't care about, SweetBeam ensures each guest receives the messages they are most likely to want to know about. Guests who receive Individual Marketing feel individually catered to.

Customer Retention:

One of the most important effects of Individual Marketing is that it makes the customer feel special, understood and looked after. This creates loyalty within all your current customers and hence makes it difficult for competitors to poaching clients. When a customer has previously had a good experience with a brand, they tend to stay loyal even if there may be more attractive prices offered from other brands. Insert a poll result.

More effective and less expensive:

While initially individual marketing may seem to appear as time and resource incentive, it is important to understand that while generic advertising may seem easier, it becomes irrelevant, wasteful or even annoying if reaches consumers who will never need your product. Mass-marketing approaches are in decline, according to the book “Essentials of Marketing,” by Charles W. Lamb and colleagues and there seems to be valid reason for this. The advances in technology in the last few decades gives marketers access to detailed information about their target market and makes individual marketing more effective and less expensive.

Convenience:

Individual marketing is helpful to customers when they have to decide quickly and don’t have time to shop around extensively for what they need. Once clients realize the precision of the content that is being delivered to them, they start trusting the recommendations and this makes it very convenient from the customers point of view. For e.g. some clothing websites will ask for permission to save your sizes so only items available in your size and relevant to your past purchases will show up.

References: