milkshake 5
we show that we care about them
individually—that they aren’t just another
student—that builds trust with them.”
Similar to the way any brand
approaches the process, Georgetown
University sets out to learn a student’s
interests and affiliations (post-MBA,
affinity and social). Next, it sends an
email tailored to this interest showcasing
the various opportunities the school
has (clubs, events, scholarships). The
move helps facilitate a connection with
a student, alumni or McDonough staff
member working with that curricular/
co-curricular area of interest. The final
step is to extend an invitation to relevant
events.
“There are so many different
opportunities that one can participate in
within an MBA degree program,” Heinrich
says. “There are multiple electives, career
paths, and co-curricular opportunities.
If we know someone is interested in a
certain career path, we can tailor our
marketing efforts to them by segmented
emails about opportunities within their
career path. We can have students or
alumni from their intended degree or
area connect with them and we can also
create and tailor events just for their
interests.”
GOING BIG +
PERSONALIZATION
= SUCCESS
After a number of trial and error
campaigns for a specific services client,
Rhythm Communications decided to hire
a data analyst to help refine its market
pitch to a much more narrow segment.
But CMO and Managing Partner
Amy Woodward Parrish had some
reservations. She was concerned it would
limit their opportunity.
After 12 months of focused efforts,
what Parrish and her team discovered
was electrifying. The program not
only delivered personalized service
features to a narrowed segment, but
also demonstrated that the brand (and
Rhythm Communications) had a better
understanding of the consumer’s needs.
Even better, the client’s revenues grew
by 75%.
Today, as part of its planning
efforts with each client, the Rhythm
Communications’ team begins each
conversation with data analytics and
partners with data analysts to dive even
deeper—information like where they live,
what they read, what they watch and
what they purchase. When you are able
to acquire that kind of data, Parrish says
you can develop relevant visual, verbal
and written messaging—campaigns that
can help leverage two or more traditional
marketing channels that deliver the
personalized campaign elements that
bring it home for the individual consumer.
“We believe in the power of
personalization, especially employing an
integrated traditional marketing strategy
through public relations, direct marketing
and digital advertising, overlaid by a oneto
one marketing strategy,” Parrish says.
And it is no wonder. Today’s
consumers are becoming more
attached to products or experiences
that are created specifically for them.
According to Twilio Segment’s “The
State of Personalization” report, brands
can choose between two options:
personalize or perish. In the wake of the
pandemic, digital technology has set new
expectations and realities. Businesses
must adapt, or customers will walk away
and support their competition.
The report says that while offering
personalized digital experiences used
to be a nice-to-have, they now are
essential. Both brands and consumers
agree, with 75% of brands emphasizing
personalization as table stakes, while
more than half of consumers saying
personalization improves the customer
experience.
“Personalization matters more today
than ever,” Parrish says. “It allows for big
picture messaging to be communicated
and reinforced in the market at large,
then tailored per consumer to make
the messaging personal to one’s needs/
wants. Surprisingly, this mix allows for
more manageable budgets for overall
campaigns because they are more
effective and require less time for
impact.”
In the end, building that bond with your
customers—and finding more and more
ways to strengthen your relationship—is
critical in a landscape where people find
trust and support in communities.
YOUR 5-STEP
PLAN TO
PERSONALIZING
YOUR MESSAGING
The personalization requires
starting simple and testing,
and then iterating and building
on your program’s complexity.
Matthew Vernhout, VP of
Deliverability for Netcore Cloud,
says part of building a robust
personalized experience for users
is determining what you want to
accomplish with personalization
and the data required to make that
a reality. For example, adding the
local weather to your messages
requires knowing where the
consumer is, just like sending a
birthday message needs for you to
know the date. Here’s a 5-step plan
to get you started:
❱ STEP 1: Identify your goal
and purpose of personalization
(hypothesis)
❱ STEP 2: Do you have the data
required, or know how will you
collect the data?
❱ STEP 3: Introduce
personalization into your
messaging
❱ STEP 4: Measure for changes,
adjust and re-measure
❱ STEP 5: Iterate, repeat with
another personalization data point
February 2022