By Patty
Seybold
As technologies evolve, so do customers’ needs and desires. In the 30+
years that we’ve been chronicling customer-critical technologies, we’ve
witnessed an amazing shift in the degree to which marketers, merchandisers,
and advertisers can target offers and deliver truly personalized recommendations.
Personalized Recommendations Often Delight! Today, there are amazing
(and affordable) technology services that e-marketers can use to
personalize the recommendations that we see on their web pages, in
the emails they send us, in mobile apps we use, in the SMS messages
we receive, and at the point of sale. When well-tuned, these personalized
recommendation engines provide amazingly relevant suggestions, offers,
and promotions.
When Do You Want Personalized Recommendations. In general, we’ve
found that customers react positively to highly relevant and personalized
ads. But hate it when they receive irrelevant pop ups at inopportune
times. The “when” part of the equation is relatively easy.
When we’re looking, shopping, and searching, we’re open
to personalized, relevant recommendations. But when we’re engaged
in another task, we hate being bothered with offers and recommendations,
no matter how personalized they are. But there are times when it’s
OK to recommend things to us—e.g., when we’re relaxing,
browsing, hanging out, at leisure.
