When advertising largely dominated marketing, the focus was on catching as many fish in your net as possible. Marketers sent out mass emails and generic communications that could speak to anyone with a heartbeat and a wallet. But in the past year, there’s been a shift from globalization to personalization. Today, the focus of marketing is to narrow your scope and target your ideal clients — not just anyone who will work with you. Enter personalized marketing.

What is Personalized Marketing?

Also known as one-to-one marketing or one-on-one marketing, personalized marketing is a strategy in which a business leverages data and technology to deliver individualized messages to their clients and prospects. Personalized marketing can be used on multiple platforms, including social media, direct mail, email, website searches, and advertising.

How Personalized Marketing Works

This powerful marketing tactic has been used by companies on you in your daily life. If you go to Starbucks every day and order the same item, eventually the barista will start recommending similar items that pair with the drink. When you purchase or search for something on Amazon, you’ll see recommended products, which are personalized to your searches and interests.

Let’s look at how personalized marketing can be used on different platforms:

Website Searches: Using tracking cookies, businesses can learn about customers’ interests. This is how Amazon can recommend such personalized items. Using advanced algorithms, Netflix knows to recommend certain movies or shows based on other movies or shows you watched and rated.

Social Media: On social media, businesses will sponsor posts and target a specific audience. Social media platforms, like Facebook and LinkedIn, let you target a segment of people you want to reach. You can define an age range, job title, company at which they work, location and other interests, so your message can be highly tailored to these people.

Advertising: Similar to social media sponsored posts, PPC and Google Ads let you target specific types of people and feature ads on websites or searches that relate to your services. For example, a financial advisor could target people searching for banks or looking for financial advice.

Email: Using information stored in your CRM, you can send personalized emails on clients’ birthdays or suggest action tips based on their age or recent life milestones. Some email platforms also allow you to insert what is called a “first name tag,” so even your mass emails address each contact individually.

Personalized Marketing for Small Businesses and Financial Advisors

It’s easy for big businesses with advanced technology and e-commerce tools to personalize recommendations for customers. But how can financial advisors with a limited marketing budget and schedule realistically implement personalized marketing strategies? For advisors who don’t use CRMs or marketing automation tools, personalized marketing will likely be too time-consuming. But there are some personalization strategies you can still implement.

To start, customize your content to your niche. This relates back to the idea that less is more with your service offerings. While you certainly can be a full-service firm, think about what services are of greatest importance to your clients, whether it’s college planning or risk management. Another way to personalize your content is to focus on prospects and clients in your local area. Host events at your office, conduct seminars at a local library or college, and highlight your local area in your website’s photography to build a strong connection and influence in your community.

If you do use a CRM, like Redtail, and marketing automation tools, such as FMG Suite, check out our next post to learn about a few simple personalization strategies you can implement