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Published on: June 3, 2021 / Updated on: June 12, 2021 – Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

Online marketing agency for Esslingen, Göppingen or Geislingen – Image: wavebreakmedia|Shutterstock.com

Personalized customer communication

According to a survey, personalized customer communication has a high impact (30%) and a rather high impact (40%) on the conversion rate in B2B. The higher the conversion rate, the greater the brand awareness and brand identity. It also indicates that you know your target audience, provide them with relevant and effective content, and that they, in turn, are grateful and give you their attention.

Personalized customer communication – Image: Xpert.Digital

This statistic shows the results of a survey on the influence of personalized customer communication on the conversion rate in B2B online shops in Germany. At the time of the survey in 2018, 40 percent of respondents stated that personalized customer communication has a rather high influence on the conversion rate.

5% – Minor impact
25% – Rather little influence
40% – Rather high influence
30% – High influence

Marketing Personalization

Personalization was named the Marketing Word of the Year 2019 by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA). This decision proved well-founded, as personalization has become one of the most essential marketing strategies among industry experts, particularly in the United States. Marketing personalization, or the practice of using personal data to initiate targeted advertising, has been rapidly adopted by brands and companies across various industries in recent years. While the proportion of marketing budgets allocated to personalization can vary, a recent survey revealed that 33 percent of marketers in the United States and the United Kingdom (UK) spend more than half of their online marketing budgets on personalization efforts. This percentage is likely to increase in the future, as advances in technology, data, and analytics allow marketers to personalize customer experiences across more channels and customer journey stages than ever before.

Marketer's perspective: Personalization is key

Marketers are using personalization tactics in their digital marketing campaigns more than ever before. According to a recent survey, the percentage of professionals using marketing personalization in the US ranges from 78 to 96 percent, depending on the industry, demonstrating how valuable personalization has become in today's competitive marketing landscape. In 2020, email was the most widely used digital channel for personalized communication among US marketers, which is not surprising given that messages delivered via this medium are highly customizable, easily digestible, and non-invasive. The email format allows marketers to address (potential) customers by name, personalize subject lines, and tailor the email text to their target audiences. Other popular techniques include customizing product recommendations based on a customer's search and purchase history, a strategy long employed by e-commerce giants.

When asked about the most important benefits of marketing personalization in 2020, industry experts cited the improvement of customer experience, conversion rate and visitor engagement as the main culprits.

Consumers value personalized experiences more than quantitative content

Personalization is becoming not only a competitive advantage but also something customers now value and expect. A 2019 survey on personalized marketing revealed that 90 percent of US consumers surveyed found company messages that were not personally relevant to them annoying. A 2020 survey on the frequency of using personalized recommendations confirmed these findings, revealing that over 65 percent of internet users in the US and UK shop with product recommendations at least occasionally. In today's highly competitive e-commerce market, purchasing decisions are visibly influenced by the relevance of the content. To receive the most valuable suggestions and a personalized online experience, many internet users are willing to share email addresses or other personal data with companies. This data flow and its use for personalization purposes is likely to accelerate in the future as marketing technology, based on machine learning and artificial intelligence, continues to evolve.

Account Based Marketing is a go-to-market strategy that coordinates personalized marketing and sales efforts to acquire and expand target customers.

Account Based Marketing (ABM)

Account-based marketing (ABM) originated in the USA in the mid-2010s, emerging from key account marketing. In Germany, ABM has been actively used since around 2014, but is still not widespread. ABM is a strategic form of B2B marketing. Relevant business customers are considered "target accounts." These are identified, qualified, and approached in a personalized manner. ABM is typically used in marketing and sales departments to acquire large and medium-sized companies as customers.

Account-based marketing makes sense for companies that

- They want to address a small number of high-quality B2B customers in a highly individualized manner.
- have a highly targeted, clearly defined audience.
- Offer high-priced niche products or services.

To deepen existing customer relationships in the long term through upselling, cross-selling and reselling.
not just one decision-maker, but an entire decision-making body (so-called Buying Center) wants to convince of the same business deal.
to optimally coordinate marketing and sales activities.
to identify relevant new customers (so-called leads) early and clearly.
want to conduct targeted automated B2B marketing.

Key tools and topics in German Account Based Marketing

Identification of Target Accounts:

Website user recognition
Intent signals

Qualifying leads:

Company data (Firmographics)
Technical data (Technographics/technographic data)

Addressing and converting:

Account-Based Advertising
Geotargeting by Google Ads
personalized direct mail

Initially, the term "flip-the-funnel" emerged in Account Based Marketing: While in the "classic marketing funnel" many potential customers are approached, of whom only a few actually become customers, in ABM it works the other way around.

A new funnel concept has emerged for Account Based Marketing (ABM): the ABM funnel is depicted as a double funnel in the shape of an hourglass. First, many potential target customers are identified. These are then filtered in a qualification phase. In the third step, a larger group of people is addressed again through entire "buying centers.".

In Europe, data protection regulations, and in Germany the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), place special demands on account-based marketing (ABM). To ensure ABM complies with data protection and GDPR regulations, a strict distinction is made between personal and company-related data. This separation is currently supported by only a few, primarily European, ABM platforms.

Agreement with the statement: “Account Based Marketing (ABM) will replace classic outbound marketing in the coming years”

Account Based Marketing (ABM) – Image: Xpert.Digital

In May 2019, nearly 12.1 percent of B2B marketers from German industrial and service companies fully agreed with the statement "Account-based marketing (ABM) will replace traditional outbound marketing in the coming years." A further 31.1 percent of respondents largely agreed with the statement. The survey included 315 marketing managers from industrial and service companies with 50 or more employees.

12.1% – Strongly agree
31.1% – Largely agree
34% – Partly/partly
12.4% – Somewhat disagree
2.5% – Strongly disagree
7.9% – No information provided

Level of acceptance of account-based marketing (ABM) among B2B marketers worldwide

Acceptance of Account-Based Marketing (ABM) – Image: Xpert.Digital

A survey of B2B marketing professionals worldwide, conducted in September 2019, found that 43 percent of respondents already use Account Based Marketing (ABM) as part of their strategy. ABM is based on a focused and collaborative approach to specific customer accounts by marketing and sales departments, enabling them to view the entire customer journey and personalize the customer experience.

43% – Yes
17% – No, but planned for 2020
20% – No
20% – Don't know

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