As we approach the horizon of 2016 marketing trends, real-time interaction management (RTIM) isn’t just on the cutting edge, it’s where the holy grail of one-to-one targeting lives.
Marketers have been trying to achieve lift in their campaigns through richer segmentation for years. Due to high costs of building more granular targets, however, traditional testing and optimization tools are delivering diminishing returns. Yet, studies clearly show that a more personalized, one-to-one targeted approach is the key to creating revenue uplift.
One-To-One Marketing
One study by Amplero evaluated the revenue uplift from nearly 3,000 different targeting definitions. It revealed the closer targeting gets to one-to-one personalization, the higher the revenue lift.
Intuitively, this makes sense because the more an offer applies to an individual’s specific set of needs and preferences, the more likely that person is to embrace it. This is where RTIM shines because not only does it take into account each customer’s behavior and interests, it also brings in the essential element of life that is so crucial to every decision we make: timing.
The more an offer applies to an individual’s specific set of needs and preferences, the more likely that person is to embrace it.
It’s All In The Timing
We’ve all heard the adage, “Timing is everything,” and when it comes to modern day marketing, this reality couldn’t be more true. Consumers are now mobile — they’re always “on” and “connected”. It’s now possible to reach customers throughout the day, when and wherever they are.
Defined as “marketing that is based on up-to-date events”, RTIM allows the content of a marketing message to dynamically change based on an endless array of factors, such as time of day, current location, and weather. It delivers in-the-moment utility and value through contextually relevant experiences in the customer journey via each individual’s preferred touchpoints.
Forrester analyst and report author of The Forrester Wave™: Real-Time Interaction Management Q3, Rusty Warner writes, “The RTIM market is evolving rapidly, as [customer interaction professionals] seek to leverage analytics to deliver contextually relevant, real-time experiences across both digital and offline channels.” Here’s why:
1. Customers Prefer Personalization
When content is relevant to your customers’ interests, needs, and preferences, it has a greater chance of capturing their attention. In fact, 74% of consumers get frustrated when website content appears to have nothing to do with their interests, and 61% of consumers feel better about a company that delivers customized content, and are more likely to buy.
2. Privacy Concerns Are Dissipating
Millennials are leading the way in sharing their personal information in exchange for more customized, relevant experiences with brands. This markedly liberal approach to privacy allows marketers to truly get to know their customers. For instance, 61% of consumers prefer personalized offers even if this results in less privacy, while 34% of millennials say they don’t worry at all about digital privacy.
3. RTIM Boosts Revenue
Research from Econsultancy found that “businesses that use real-time personalization technologies see an average uplift of 19% in sales.” This revenue boost makes sense because appealing to people’s interests in a relevant way - at the right time in the right place - creates the most compelling conditions for actual conversions to take place.
In their brand new Wave report The Forrester Wave™: Real-Time Interaction Management, Q3 2015, Forrester Research, Inc. has cited The Message Cloud by SmartFocus as a Strong Performer in the real-time interaction management (RTIM) providers market. Download your complimentary Forrester RTIM 2015 Wave Report and find out what Forrester Research, Inc. says about RTIM and SmartFocus.