Website Personalization: When and Where to Use It

It should come as no surprise that where a customer begins and where they ultimately end up are two entirely different places.

At the beginning of the process, they have different needs and interests than when they're closer to making a purchasing decision.

The HubSpot COS is designed to help businesses connect with visitors, leads, and customers at the right time with a message that carries the most relevance.

Through personalization and smart content, businesses are able to provide prospects and customers with a unique experience based off variables such as life cycle stage or buyer persona.

Ultimately, personalization allows businesses to rely less on assumptions and more on context in order to persuade and convert more leads.

 But when and where does it make the most sense?

Different views for different personas

Depending on your product or service, it’s likely that you work with a few different types of customers.

Your website’s content should be designed to speak to these people specifically, however, even with a narrowed focus, it can still be difficult to convey value to persona A without alienating persona B or vice versa.

Personalization eliminates the need to appeal to everyone by providing you with an opportunity to tailor content to those that matter.

Here’s a great example of persona personalization on Sales Benchmark Index’s homepage:

By allowing the visitor to select an option that best describes their role, they open up the door for a unique contextual experience.

Once they select a roll, their visit will be tailored to their interests each time they return. This prevents them from having to sift through material to extract value, because as a result of personalization, it’s suddenly all about them.

Different experiences for different lifecycle stages

As your visitor evolves from a stranger to a lead to a customer, your website content should evolve with them in order to remain relevant.

As you gather information about them, you can apply it to your site’s content as a way to personalize their experience and keep them engaged.

For example, when a first-time visitor come to our website, they’ll be presented with a default message on our homepage that looks like this:

Once they convert into a lead, the message will evolve into something a little more personal:

This is proof that personalization doesn’t have to remain confined to email. Websites that employ personalization transcend limitations and serve as a valuable tool for marketers to provide the right message, to the right person, at the right time.

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