Personalization is the act of tailoring a service or product to accommodate specific individuals or groups. It involves collecting data on individuals, including web browsing history, web cookies, and location, to create a more relevant experience for the customer. Personalization is used by companies and organizations to improve customer satisfaction, digital sales conversion, marketing results, branding, and website metrics, as well as for advertising.

Personalization is different from customization, which allows the customer to intentionally modify the experience themselves, while personalization modifies the experience without any effort from the customer. Personalization can be rolled out across many design disciplines, but it is having a particularly big impact in digital design (website and apps) and marketing communication.

There are many reasons why an organization may choose to personalize. It can increase engagement, drive conversions, foster loyalty, and improve a number of other KPIs. Personalization marketing has real advantages for companies: it can reduce customer acquisition costs by as much as 50 percent, lift revenues by 5 to 15 percent, and increase marketing ROI by 10 to 30 percent. Companies with faster growth rates derive 40 percent more of their revenue from personalization than their slower-growing counterparts.

The four pillars of personalization are:

• Data: Collecting and analyzing data to understand customer behavior and preferences.
• Content: Creating personalized content that resonates with customers.
• Delivery: Delivering personalized content to customers through the right channels at the right time.
• Measurement: Measuring the effectiveness of personalization efforts and using data to refine and improve them.

Personalization is important because customers expect it, it creates a better customer experience, and it’s good for business. A successful personalization program requires cross-disciplinary project teams and a commitment to agile management.