Advertising works best when it speaks to people’s wants, needs, and desires in a way that is in accordance with their mindset and motivations at the time. As marketers, we know that. Consumers only dislike advertising when it interrupts them for no good reason. They do however want to be reached by messaging that is relevant to them, when it is relevant to them, and they know that brands have the data to do it now. No wonder they get so frustrated when served irrelevant ads – there’s simply no need for it.
With more data than ever available as to consumers’ motivations and behaviours, brands can be extremely specific in terms of targeting with messaging to appeal to not only those differing motivations but also based on where people are in the purchase journey. It’s the kind of data and targeting that only could have been dreamed of years ago but with a huge reach. Now, brands can talk to everyone while still being individually relevant. And they can do it featuring personalities that feel more accessible and relatable to their target audiences – influencers.
Targeting multiple audience personas at scale
Brands often have a key target audience, and within that core demographic will be multiple different audience personas, each having their own preferred way to shop and different motivators for purchase.
In order to create personalised messaging for each of those audience personas at scale, brands and agencies need to approach production in a non-traditional way. Instead of thinking about shooting each ad as a separate entity, a modular approach needs to be taken so that all assets created can be combined in hundreds of different ways to create the personalised assets needed.
It’s not just about the personalisation of the messaging and creative idea itself though. To be as personal as possible, influencers can be used as the models in this content ensuring that consumers see people that are like them in the communications and who are real. People feel they know influencers intimately now, therefore choosing the right ones can really add a new layer to the embodiment of a brand’s personality.
Implementing a mass personalisation strategy
By creating hundreds of pieces of beautiful content using influencers, brands can not only target multiple audience personas but can also re-target consumers at different stages in the purchase journey with tailored content and messaging. The content can be edited to work across all digital paid media outputs in a range of formats to best appeal to each persona. This offers thousands of combinations as to how that content could be used, putting efficiency and effectiveness at the forefront.
For example, Billion Dollar Boy recently created a campaign for Soap & Glory, for various audience personas where some are motivated by lifestyle elements, some product ingredients, and others, peer-to-peer reviews. The 642 pieces of influencer content created from the three-day shoot were edited in a way that would bring out the lifestyle aspects and messaging that each persona would respond best to.
The brand could then target each audience with relevant content at the right time with the right message at scale whilst not only celebrating real relatable women but ensuring that the brand’s unique tone of voice remained true through every piece of content delivered.
Why influencers?
Influencers are inherently personal. People feel like they know influencers and trust what they say. Influencers have become the new celebrity, but rather than being inaccessible as celebrities and models always used to be, people form deep personal connections to influencers as they let us into their lives on a daily basis.
Using data for a test-and-learn approach
Brands can continuously monitor and track how ads perform against different target audiences in different stages of the purchase journey using technology platforms and paid channels. They can then change and optimise the messaging and content edits over time based on what is performing best. We know from the years of people running DM advertising and re-targeted dynamic ads that personalisation works. There’s a reason: no matter what media is being used, who the target audience is is always a key focal point.
Advertising has always been developed to reach specific audiences. We can just get a lot more granular on those audiences and how communications are changed to fit them now. What’s more, effectiveness can easily be measured across a variety of KPIs depending on the campaign, from brand awareness or perception shifts to CPMs, CPEs, or ROAS.
Mass personalisation at scale
As influencer marketing becomes a mainstay of the marketing mix, expect to see more brands collaborating with influencers to create agile, efficient, and relatable content that reaches the masses at the right time, with the right message, and at scale.
