The Benefits of Personalised Marketing: Why I Need It
Want to know how to get more responses from your outreach? Create a deeper connection with your audience? Stand out from the sea of other content?
The strategy I'm about to share is one thing:
Personalisation.
And, I have to remind myself this: the major advantage I have against bigger companies is personalising EVERYTHING.
If you don't know me, my name is Denzil Duke. I'm currently a freelance digital marketer helping small businesses get more customers. The portfolio I'm building is to help land a marketing role in Brisbane, Australia.
For today's article, I'm going to look at two aspects of personalising your marketing:
- Reaching out to people/strangers
- Creating content
Outreach
Has this ever happened to you? You'll have a business pop up in your inbox. You skim the email. Your name is all in lower case. It feels cut-and-paste.
What are your chances of responding?
Low. Almost zero.
As humans, we like messages and solutions tailored just for us. Familiarity is why we respond to our friends more than strangers.
So, here's three ways I personalise my warm and cold outreach.
#1 Compliments
A month ago I did some warm outreach with my followers on Instagram about my marketing services.
Firstly, I'll do some research about them by looking at their social media posts. Find something they've done recently. Then, when I'm emailing or in the DMs, I give a compliment about that.
Make it genuine and specific to them. Have some actually thought go into it.
(As a skill, finding the good in people is great to have.)
To clarify, the compliment is NOT the important thing. It's the effort of actually doing your research .
Because if you give a compliment about something they care about, they are more likely to respond. And who doesn't like talking about themselves?
#2 Provide A Personalised Solution (Lead Magnet)
Moving away from warm outreach...
With the product or service you sell, is there something you can give to a prospect that solves a specific problem of theirs?
I'll give you an example. There was this Japanese restaurant that I found through the local newspaper. I looked them up and noticed they didn't have a website.
I'm a stranger to them. How do I have higher chance of them opening my email?
Leading with value by creating a free website. Something that most people charge $500-$2000 for.
I gave it away for free.
Personally, if someone spent hours on a website and gave it for free, the least I can do is respond.
(Funnily enough, they haven't responded to my emails yet. But, they did open it.)
#3 Record Loom Videos
This tip's from a tech sales bootcamp I attended a while back.
There's this app called Loom where you can record your webcam and computer screen at the same time.
A part of my strategy creating a free website is also recording myself showcasing it. Essentially, to show the prospect that I am a real person.
When you send a cold email, or a cold DM, if you can show that you are a real person, and, you went out of your way to record a video message just for them.
They're more likely to respond.
(In my case of the Japanese restaurant, they still haven't yet.)
Content
This section of the article covers how to personalise your content creation in three ways.
#1 Integrate Your Personality Into The Content
When you market, leverage human connection.
When I look at small businesses, one way they can differentiate themselves from the competition is by being in front of the camera.
Why?
It's easier to connect with a human than a brand/company. One is made of flesh and bone. The other is a set of ideas and values.
I shared this idea when I was with an American client talking about changing his profile pic from a logo to his headshot. I gave the example of Apple. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, has more followers on X than Apple.
Anyone can be faceless. It's the brave few who can show their faces and present themselves to the world. Presenting vulnerability but also the opportunity for human connection.
#2 Stories
This is how I integrate my own personal stories into my content.
Whenever I'm talking about a specific topic, I might elaborate with something that has happened in my life that connects.
Because when someone consumes my content, they'll emotionally connect with my experiences and refer back to their own.
Back to my American client, he said the reason he subscribed to my YouTube channel because he found out I was part Indonesian like himself.
It's almost engrained into our DNA how stories are the bridge for humans to connect with.
And guess who you're customers are?
Humans.
So, share stories from your own life. That way, others can connect with your personal story and your company's brand.
(If you're looking for advice about story telling, I'd probably look at someone like Vinh Giang.)
#3 Relate To Other Topics
My dad's a golf professional that does golf coaching. A part of that coaching process is relating stuff to other sports.
For example, he might ask, "what sport do you play?"
You might say rugby. In the golf lesson, he might relate the body's rotation hitting a golf ball like passing the ball in rugby league.
Why?
The way we learn is by connecting something we already know to something we don't.
(Do you see what I did there? I related marketing to golf coaching!)
This becomes powerful when building an audience and brand. You can connect your brand to positive associations people have about your product/services.
So, what is your unique spin on your niche?
For myself, I'm a digital marketer who learns Japanese and piano. Who also is interested in communication, sales, self-improvement.
By having different topics to draw from, I can add more value to the main niche: digital marketing.
What Have We Learnt?
All these approaches will take more time – without a doubt. I've spent hours on personalising my outreaches or content, and it won't garner me the results I'm looking for.
In the beginning, it's about performing the exercise and getting the reps in. You will become a better marketer if you practise personalising your strategy.
(I know I have.)
So, to give everything in a nice summary.
Outreach
- Do some research and open with a genuine compliment
- Provide a personalised solution
- Record loom videos
Content
- Integrate your personality into the content
- Share your stories
- Relate other topics to your main niche