Hello $FirstName: Profiting from Personalization. How putting people's first name in emails is only the first step towards customer centricity.
By Rasmus Houlind and Frans Riemersma
()
About this ebook
The title of this book Hello $FirstName is a reference to what could very well be the most common example of Personalization in the world. The personalized salutation of often used in an email or a LinkedIn connection request. However, as this book will show, there is much more to personalization than putting people's first name into a subject l
Rasmus Houlind
Rasmus Houlind is a well-known writer, speaker, and consultant in the Nordics. After ten years of consulting within digital marketing and marketing automation, in 2015 he published his first marketing book (in Danish), Hvis det handler om mig, så køber jeg! (If It's About Me, I'll Buy!). In 2019 he followed up with the omnichannel marketing bestseller Make It All About Me from LID Publishing. Since then, he has evangelized omnichannel marketing and marketing automation from his position as Chief Experience Officer with the Nordic martech company Agillic. He has worked with organizations such as Red Cross, PureGym DK, Tivoli, Matas, Bolia, SPORTMASTER, Imerco, Varner-Gruppen, Andel Energi, and Telge Energi.
Read more from Rasmus Houlind
Hello $FirstName - Swedish Case Studies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHello $FirstName - Norwegian Case Studies: Profiting from Personalization in Norway Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Hello $FirstName
Related ebooks
The Experience Maker: How to Create Remarkable Experiences That Your Customers Can’t Wait to Share Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Trusted: The human approach to building outstanding client relationships in a digitised world Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnleashing Innovation: How Whirlpool Transformed an Industry Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Demystifying Public Speaking Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Human Experience: How to make life better for your customers and create a more successful organization Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHyper-personalization Strategies: Unlocking the Potential of Customized Experiences Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnforgettable: New Rules for Business Storytelling Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDesigning and Conducting Business Surveys Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAgile Innovation Playbook: How to develop products faster, cheaper, and better in the modern marketplace Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDesign for Impact: Your Guide to Designing Effective Product Experiments Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMomentum: Six Principles Product Leaders Follow to Engineer Good Products Faster Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAgile Software Development with Distributed Teams: Staying Agile in a Global World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Practical Optimist: An Entrepreneurial Journey Through Life's Turning Points Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBrand Zeitgeist: Embedding Brand Relationships into the Collective Consciousness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReturn on Customer (Review and Analysis of Peppers and Rogers' Book) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsImprov to Improve Your Leadership Team: Tear Down Walls and Build Bridges Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Shape of Engagement: The Art of Building Enduring Connections with Your Customers, Employees and Communities Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGangsta Vision: Recipes to break into product management leadership Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHiring Veterans: How To Leverage Military Talent for Organizational Growth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBrand Storytelling in the Digital Age: Theories, Practice and Application Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA to Z of Pharmaceutical Marketing Voulme 1: Worlds First and Only Encyclopedia V Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsQuestioneering: The New Model for Innovative Leaders in the Digital Age Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDirect To Consumer A Complete Guide - 2021 Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsListen Up!: How to Tune In to Customers and Turn Down the Noise Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe End of the Cow: And Other Emerging Issues Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Accidental Community Manager: A Guide to Building a Successful B2B Community Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDecision Sprint: The New Way to Innovate into the Unknown and Move from Strategy to Action Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Marketing For You
On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Exactly What to Say: The Magic Words for Influence and Impact Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Emotional Intelligence: Exploring the Most Powerful Intelligence Ever Discovered Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Millionaire Next Door Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Psychology of Selling: Increase Your Sales Faster and Easier Than You Ever Thought Possible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Marketing Made Simple: A Step-by-Step StoryBrand Guide for Any Business Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The YouTube Formula: How Anyone Can Unlock the Algorithm to Drive Views, Build an Audience, and Grow Revenue Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best Credit Repair Manual Ever Written Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Win In Court Every Time Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone's Mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Passive Income Playbook Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Freedom Shortcut: How Anyone Can Generate True Passive Income Online, Escape the 9-5, and Live Anywhere Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Passive Income Cheat Sheet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Robert Cialdini's Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion Summary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Write Copy That Sells: The Step-By-Step System For More Sales, to More Customers, More Often Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Start a Nonprofit Organization: The Complete Guide to Start Non Profit Organization (NPO) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Advertising Headlines That Make You Rich: Create Winning Ads, Web Pages, Sales Letters and More Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quiet Leadership: Six Steps to Transforming Performance at Work Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mastering ChatGPT: 21 Prompts Templates for Effortless Writing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/580/20 Sales and Marketing: The Definitive Guide to Working Less and Making More Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Propaganda Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Hello $FirstName
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Hello $FirstName - Rasmus Houlind
HELLO $FIRSTNAME
PROFITING FROM PERSONALIZATION
RASMUS HOULIND
FRANS RIEMERSMA
ARILD HORSBERG
MATTIAS ANDERSSON
Omnichannel InstituteOmnichannel Institute
Copyright © 2023 Rasmus Houlind
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
or used in any manner without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
To request permissions, contact the publisher at [email protected].
Paperback: 978-87-974428-0-7
Ebook: 978-87-974428-1-4
Audiobook: 978-87-974428-2-1
First paperback edition April 2023.
Edited by Hazel Bird
Cover art and Layout by Tobias Frost @ StudioFrost
Omnichannel Institute
Copenhagen, Denmark
OmnichannelInstitute.com
ADVANCE PRAISE
Hello $FirstName is one of the best books on personalization I've read. Rasmus Houlind and his co-authors provide an excellent blueprint for implementing real-world personalization capabilities and developing the organizational capital to apply them effectively.
- SCOTT BRINKER, EDITOR, CHIEFMARTEC.COM
It's continually important that we talk about personalization from a unified perspective and understanding. This book helps us achieve that common ground.
- FIONA SPOONER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, CONSUMER REVENUE, FINANCIAL TIMES
Incredibly insightful views on personalization – the largest and most rapid ROI projects that our clients are implementing. Hello $FirstName is a must-read for B2C commerce in 2023.
- DOUG WEICH, CEO, SOPHELLE
Personalization within marketing is extremely challenging but if done correctly, will become the key to your success. Hello $FirstName is by far one of the best books to help you navigate this complex universe and map out the crucial strategy needed. A must-have for every modern marketer!
- FREDRIK SALZEDO, DIRECTOR, GLOBAL MARTECH AND AUTOMATIONS, HBO MAX AND DISCOVERY+
Personalization might be all the rage right now but it's an amorphous beast that means different things to different brands. There is a real risk of derailing the movement towards more personalized customer experiences if we fail to define what it is, what it isn't, and what the common standards should be. I'd urge any customer-focused marketer to order Hello$FirstName today!
- DAN BRAIN, CO-FOUNDER AND CONTENT DIRECTOR, MAD//FEST
In the pursuit of a seamless customer experience and with today's digital possibilities, personalization has rightly become one of the most hyped marketing terms. This compact, coherent, and practice-oriented book not only offers novices a very good introduction to the topic, but certainly also inspires experts and helps organizations with common goal setting and efficient implementation through a comprehensible, uniform language. A definite reading recommendation.
- JESPER REISMANN, FORMER SVP OMNICHANNEL, HUGO BOSS
A long-awaited, essential guide for marketers aiming to crack the code on profitable personalization of customer journeys. Maximizing return on investments in marketing automation, personalization technology, AI and data is not only about doing things right, but also about doing the right things. This book is inspirational in both areas.
- JANNEKE TRANÅS MARINO, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT CONSUMER MARKET AND CX, GJENSIDIGE
Hello $FirstName gave me this weird feeling of reading about our daily work struggles at HBO Max but with a unique solution oriented approach to help us improve. The book is truly a valuable deep dive into the world of personalization.
- PIER LUIGI SPAGNA, VP OF EMEA RETENTION AND ENGAGEMENT, WARNER BROS.
In a time where relevancy is critical in laying the foundation of customer experience and customer interactions, this idea of personalization and its effect on brand love is essential. Hyperpersonalization surrounds us whether we, as customers, like it or not. As marketers, there’s a stronger need to wrap our heads around the concept and leverage all its strength. This is a must read to be better able to move forward.
- FRANÇOIS-YVES CAYA, DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND CUSTOMER STRATEGY , DESJARDINS GROUP
FOREWORD (1 OF 2)
Personalization. A conflicting, complex, seemingly endless topic that meanders between the great and the awful. The good and the evil. With everyone talking about it perpetually, and every year being the year of personalization, why do brands still struggle to make it work? For all the inherent belief in it as a marketing discipline and all the evidence that it works, there are very few publications out there about how to do it. Whatever it is. Until now.
This is exactly why I decided to write a book about personalization myself – The Personalisation Paradox (UK spelling, I know). Only to find that at exactly the same time, 1,000 km away, a very senior chief experience officer with a track record of more than 20 years, at one of the best marketing automation platforms in the world, Agillic, and already a twice-established author, was writing a book about personalization at exactly the same time. Personalization books are like buses; you wait around for ages for one and then two come along at the same time. It was game time.
It was important for Rasmus Houlind and his co-authors to add value by dispelling myths, providing evidence, and combining sources of material to enable genuine practical application. It wasn’t the why or the what that was important, but the how. As practitioners, the ‘how’ is what we all need support in, and the dedication of Rasmus and his team, spending a whole year creating content for us all on our personalization journeys, is to be admired.
I instantly became green with envy at the much wittier book title, Hello $FirstName, and even more so at the desk research. On the back of their extensive first-hand experience with clients in the Nordics, Rasmus held numerous workshops with expert panels of practitioners, carried out countless interviews, and gained access to behind-the-scenes academic studies.
Having been with Rasmus throughout the journey, in which we have turned competition into friendship, I can honestly say after reading Hello $FirstName that it is unapologetically simple yet thorough. Arriving at a unified definition of personalization that takes into account all forms of marketing is no mean feat. I’ve changed my mind on multiple occasions from reading some of the content and evidence the book provides. The case studies are boutique yet relatable – and, ironically, personal.
Rasmus and his co-authors put all of this into practical applications that can be used by all, in both the Bowtie of Personalization and the Pyramid of Personalization. I feel this is the start of something really useful for brands. Their approach appreciates that personalization is part of a wider marketing belief system, not an insular siloed tactic on a website usually restricted to recommendations. To that end, this book really is unique in helping us to think about what personalization is and is not, and what it should be.
If, like all of us, you’re struggling to personalize, or achieve another level in your personalization efforts, reading Hello $FirstName will give you much inspiration and practical conviction. And don’t worry – you’re not alone. Rasmus and his co-authors appreciate that this isn’t easy. To that end, they provide enough context for your 30,000 ft view and enough detail for your 3 ft view. The result of which is a nice bow (tie) of supremely simple, a-ha moments of added value.
- David Mannheim, Author of ‘The Personalisation Paradox’
FOREWORD (2 OF 2)
There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.
Bringing ideas to life is a thrilling and rewarding journey that requires passion, dedication, and perseverance. It’s the process of turning dreams into tangible realities that can transform and improve our lives.
I met Rasmus Houlind, the primary author of this book, when I first took the helm of Agillic. My first encounter with this energized evangelist of personalization affected my way of dreaming, observing, understanding, analysing, and executing our business strategy and perhaps most importantly our way of defining our company purpose. I believe that personalization should rightfully be used to transform customers from anonymous consumers to valued individuals, creating a powerful bond between brands and their audiences. Yet, this is rarely a given and many brands never get there – even if they’ve invested heavily in the technology to support it.
When the idea of Hello $FirstName was born, I was thrilled to support Rasmus and his co-authors, Frans Riemersma, Arild Horsberg, and Mattias Andersson – all great movement leaders and co-dreamers from different countries. I realized that a profound treatment of personalization – what it is, what it isn’t, and what it actually takes to succeed – would benefit everyone involved in marketing or even business today.
That’s why I am delighted to introduce this book on the personalization movement. It is a comprehensive guide to understanding and implementing personalization strategies in marketing. The book covers both the fundamental principles and the mindset of working in personalization with real-life examples told by experts, many of them partners in our ecosystem. One of the strengths of this book is its ability to demystify the process and make it accessible to readers of all levels of expertise and from various marketing disciplines. Whether you are a business leader, marketer, or technologist or if you’re working within advertising, marketing automation, or product recommendations, this book provides clear and actionable insights that can help you and your team to design, implement, and measure effective personalization strategies.
This book is also timely, given the rapidly evolving nature of technology and consumer behaviour. Rasmus and his co-authors have done a brilliant job of addressing these trends and providing practical advice for staying ahead of the curve.
Finally, I believe this book is essential reading for those concerned with future readiness in business. Personalization is not just a trend but a fundamental shift in how businesses engage with their customers. A transformational change.
I’m certain you’ll enjoy reading this book as much as I have. It’ll help you and your team work together with a host of new ideas and a new-found clarity about personalization. Use it to take personalized communication to new heights – heights we previously could only dream about.
- Emre Gürsoy, CEO of Agillic
CONTENTS
Introduction
I. What is personalization?
1. The hype of personalization
Consumers expect personalization – and brands had better deliver
The tech hype of personalization
Has personalization technology become mature?
2. What is the problem with personalization?
Three branches of marketers
Is personalization worth it?
The branding sceptics
We need a clear definition of personalization, now
3. Defining personalization
Personalization vs customization
Actual vs perceived personalization
Implicit vs explicit personalization
Targeting
Segmentation vs personalization – not a binary distinction
Two academic definitions of personalization
A practitioner’s definition of personalization
Personalization is not an ‘either–or’
4. Why does personalization work?
When things get creepy
When do consumers find personalization creepy?
Personalized vs personal
B2B business development – pretending to be personal?
Creepy personalization or just a coincidence?
5. Marketing without personalization
The personalization–value equation
Short- or long-term value creation
Using strong value propositions for easier marketing
Getting the format right to engage your audience
Achieving more value via high reach
Adding extra value to your marketing through personalization
II. A practitioner’s view on personalization
6. The Bowtie of Personalization
A glimpse of hyper-personalization – what’s ‘knot’ to like?
Dramatizing the knot in the bowtie
True personalization magic happens before the channels
Central management of insights and content drives efficient personalization
The art of the possible
Websites and apps mash it up
Deciding on your communication channels
Owned media before paid media
The new channels
The power of repetition
Insights come from data
Quantitative data drives insight; qualitative data drives messaging
All models are wrong – but some are useful!
From Bowtie to Pyramid – what does good look like?
7. Insights, part 1: Segments
How are segments built?
Turning segments into personas
Methods of segmentation
Advanced segmentation – behavioural clusters
Value-based segmentation
Using value-based segments to optimize paid media spend
8. Content, part 1: Messages
What is a message?
Variations from channel to channel
Adapting message variants for different segments
Using cultural differences in message variants
Beware of poor translations
Using parametrization for extra personalization
Creating value for customers in your messages
Category entry points
Value creation in a broader perspective
Using message variants when repeating a message
Focusing on messages when working outbound
Is it really for me?
Personalizing the choice of communication channel
9. Personalization in campaigns
Defining the term ‘campaign’
Value creation in personalized campaigns
Increasing sales to prospects and customers
Increasing the efficiency of campaigns by reusing dynamic logic for content
Saving costs by optimizing ad spend and avoiding returned orders and dissatisfaction
Charging suppliers money through retail media
Maturity levels for personalized campaigns
10. Insights, part 2: Moments of truth
What is a moment of truth?
Moments of truth belong to the customer
Discovering vs creating intent
The danger of creating an unintended intent
Finding moments of truth
Dynamic data indicates a moment of truth
Absence of data can also indicate a moment of truth
Digging deeper into moments of truth
How Google uses the term ‘moment of truth’
Algorithmic indications of moments of truth – using AI and advanced analytics
Not all moments of truth are marketing’s responsibility
Moments of truth matter the most within marketing automation
11. Personalization in marketing automation
Value creation in marketing automation
Segments and content feeds are secondary in marketing automation
For marketing automation, consider value over the long term
The three primary value drivers of marketing automation
Increased top line – retail
Increased top line – subscription
Decreased customer churn
Cost savings
Beyond sales – chasing the next best experience
What are the most effective flows?
Maturity levels for marketing automation
12. Content, part 2: Content feeds
Using content properties to group, sort, rank, filter, and mark
Generic grouping of content
Advanced grouping of content
Sorting and ranking
Filtering
Marking
Personalizing content feeds
The right feed means more than the ranking within it
Echo chambers or sources of inspiration?
Using content feeds wisely
13. Personalization on inbound platforms
Relating inbound platform construction to the Bowtie of Personalization
Creating inbound platforms from insights
Core customer experience comes before personalization
Personalization in near real time
Personalizing content feeds vs personalizing messages
The order of personalization on inbound platforms
Start with ‘My’ pages
Personalize content feeds
Add personalized messages
Hiding unnecessary content is also personalization
Value creation from personalization on inbound platforms
Increasing top-line sales
Reducing service costs
Reducing churn
Maturity levels for personalization on inbound platforms
14. Tying it all up in the Bowtie of Personalization
Getting back to the knot of the bowtie
What does ‘good’ look like from the customer’s point of view?
The realistic end goal of the personalized customer experience
Less engaged customers will experience less personalization
Measuring the value of personalization
Identifying your metrics
Using control groups
Using proxy metrics
Do the math – all the way to the money
Maturity levels for a personalized customer experience – the Pyramid of Personalization
III. The prerequisites for personalization
15. The basic foundations for personalization
Three areas to manage well before investing in personalization
Solid core offering
Brand trust and demand
Access to plentiful customer data
Data types
Special considerations for FMCG
Value propositions with frequent engagement create more and better data
16. Data and personalization
Is your data clean?
How much data is needed to make personalization profitable?
Re-evaluate often!
How to scale permissions and data
Persistent customer log-ins
17. Conversion rate optimization and personalization
Prioritizing between CRO and personalization
Shifting from CRO towards personalization
When to shift from CRO to personalization
So, who is personalization not for?
IV. Organizational maturity for personalization
18. Models of organizational maturity in personalization
The Omnichannel Hexagon
A realistic view on organizational maturity within personalization
Productization in marketing
The back end of the Pyramid of Personalization
19. People and skills for personalization
Enter the marketing technologist
How about the creative skills?
How the 5M model applies to personalization
Applying these skills to the Pyramid of Personalization
Shifts in focus
Shifts in composition
Shifts in operating model
Size matters
Insourcing vs outsourcing
Maturity levels for people and skills
20. Marketing technology
Systems of record
Will a customer content platform (CCP) emerge?
Atomization and aggregation
Go for best-of-integration
Growing your stack’s maturity
Rightsizing your martech stack
Using atomization and aggregation to rightsize your martech architecture
Maturity levels for marketing technology
21. Governance
How does governance apply within marketing?
What is subject to governance when it comes to personalization?
Governance topics imposed by law
Data processing, privacy regulations, and consent management
Governance topics imposed by other departments
IT Governance
Procurement processes
HR policies
Brand guidelines
Governance topics you should consider imposing
Personalization accountability
Data operations
Marketing operating model
Contact and suppression policies
Retail media policies
Martech governance
Maturity levels for governance
22. Achieving organizational maturity for personalization
The glass ceilings and how to break them
Breaking the glass ceiling between the Hack and Pack levels
Stabilize the performance of your core platforms
Transition your team of builders to a team of executors (Makers to Marketers)
Secure resources for both campaigns and marketing automation
Secure data quality and format for marketing automation
Switch from a project-based to a hybrid operating model
Change from a simple ESP to a real MAP
Breaking the glass ceiling between the Pack and Stack levels
Establish cross-functional teams
Centralize data and insights
Centralize production and orchestration of content
Realign your incentives and personalization accountability around customer-centricity
23. Conclusion
About the authors
Acknowledgements
Notes
INTRODUCTION
The title of this book, Hello $FirstName, is a reference to what could very well be the most common example of personalization in the world: the salutation often used in an email or a LinkedIn connection request. In the article ‘A History of Direct Marketing’, Nat Ross traced the earliest use of personalized direct mail all the way back to 1870. ¹ In 1940, marketers working for Time magazine discovered that personalized salutations increased response rates for direct mail by as much as six times. ²
Although this effect has now largely worn off, most of us still regularly receive emails or direct mail with our first name copied in, either in the subject line of the email or at the beginning of the main part of the communication. Some will also have seen examples of this having gone wrong, where the letter or email actually says ‘$FirstName’ – revealing some of the underlying logic of how communication is personalized.
However, as this book will show, there is much more to personalization than putting a person’s first name into a subject line. So much more, in fact, that there is now considerable hype on the topic. Indeed, in his book, The Personalisation Paradox (2023), David Mannheim demonstrates how researchers, practitioners’ associations, and technology providers have dubbed every single year between 2015 and 2022 ‘the year of personalization’! ³
Obviously, technology providers, agencies, and personalization professionals have a natural interest in keeping the hype alive to sell their services. If you take the promises of the average technology vendor at face value, personalization – and especially hyper-personalization at scale – is ‘the new black’ and more is always better. With the right technology – namely theirs – it will all be fun and easy and you will be able to deliver a hyper-personalized customer journey based on AI and predictive analytics to all customers in no time, and money will fall from the sky like sweet summer rain.
Amazon and Netflix are probably the two single most impressive cases regarding personalization, and over time they have been kind enough to share a lot about their processes and results. ⁴ But these cases don’t stand alone, by any means. There is a whole array of positive cases to be inspired by.
However, the seasoned marketer knows that these successes don’t create themselves! It takes hard work from a lot of people