You’re planning the creative for an upcoming campaign.
Fearfully, you remember the never-ending creative process of your last campaign. You’ve learned design takes time. The back and forth revisions are REAL. This time, you’re prepared. This time, it’s going to be different.
You’ve identified your audience. You have a reusable video from your television and out-of-home campaign. You’ve got this.
Weaving in and out of the morning crowds, you’re reviewing the creative plan on your phone.
You remember it’s Karen’s birthday. Karen, you know – your ‘friend’ from grade school. The one who you haven’t talked to since grade school. So, you log onto Facebook to wish her a happy birthday.
Scrolling through your feed, you come across your latest Starbucks fav: the Salted Caramel Mocha Frappuccino. As you look up, imagining how delicious it would taste, you see a Starbucks up ahead. A coincidence or personalized creative at its finest?
What is personalized creative?
As a savvy internet user, you’re served personalized content daily. The creative is relevant and tailored specifically to you, based on customer data like online behavior and location.
Ever think – Wow, Netflix, you really get me!? Curated based on your previously viewed content, Netflix suggests shows you’re most likely to enjoy.
Considering the vast diversity in user’s taste and preference, Netflix customizes the title artwork for each user. Take Stranger Things for example. Different title artwork is shown to each user based on viewing history through a personalization algorithm. Within the Netflix feed, some viewers see Eleven with blood trickling from her nose. Others see the four boys on their bikes. Karen, the hopeless romantic she is, might see Nancy and Jonathon.
Which title artwork were you shown?
Why is personalization important?
Personalization has become so woven into the way brands do business that consumers have come to expect it. A recent study by Monetate found that 79% of companies who incorporated a personalization strategy exceeded revenue goals. And, according to Epsilon research, 80% of consumers are more likely to do business with a company if it offers a personalized experience. Not only do customers want and expect personalization, but they also value it.
How to get personal with your social campaigns.
For most companies, achieving personalization might seem out of reach. So it comes to no surprise that the two biggest reasons marketers don’t personalize content is due to “not having the bandwidth/resources” or they “don’t have the technology”.
How can you – a busy, yet resourceful advertiser – use personalization in your creative strategy?
Facebook Dynamic Ads
If you currently advertise on Facebook and Instagram, then you’re likely familiar with the retargeting capabilities. Step up your retargeting personalization with dynamic ads. With this approach, instead of individually creating an ad for each of your products, you create an ad template that automatically uses images and details from your product catalog. Built with relevant products you’d like to advertise. Facebook will dynamically show products that users have already engaged with.
Pro-tips: Want to acquire new customers? Exclude recent purchasers and extend your retention window.
Facebook Dynamic Creative
Whether you are prospecting for new customers, or simply wanting to reach your existing audience, you can (and should) take advantage of personalized messages. Facebook’s Dynamic Creative product will automatically run countless A/B tests, simultaneously; testing combinations of creative, copy and your CTA’s – all in the same place.
Pro-tips: Facebook’s Dynamic Creative placement functions best when it has lots of variations to test. Try using Creative Blueprints to quickly generate dozens or even 100’s of creatives for the algorithm to test.
Creative Blueprints
Creative Blueprints is an easy-to-use tool that allows advertisers and designers to take an existing image and quickly generate countless personalized ads that are customized to specific audiences and business objectives. Quickly edit CTAs, colors, copy, offers, products, images & locations. Creative can then – with the click of a button – be exported and optimized across all social placements and platforms.
Pro-tip: Take advantage of the variety of ad iterations to test and help you understand what works and why.
Conclusion
Despite the time and energy, you know how much it means to Karen that you wish her a happy birthday. Not one of those generic – Have a great day! You deserve it! 😉 – messages, but a heartful and detailed account of how all those days laughing in the school cafeteria meant so much to you.
While as an advertiser you don’t have resources to pull the heartstrings of each and every Karen, Sarah, and John, you can speak to them with a tailored Salted Caramel Mocha Frappuccino message.
In short, personalization is a must-have for your social marketing campaign. Whether you’re planning or designing creative, understanding the importance of personalization will help you reach and engage new and tried-and-true audiences. Learn more about how you can apply personalization to your next campaign and make life easier for your team to deliver high-performance ads.