Marketers are drinking their own Kool-Aid when it comes to wanting personalized offers, but the average consumer is less likely to care about receiving marketing messages tailored to their needs and interests, according to a new study.
A study by Denver-based Placeable of 1,000 U.S. consumers and marketers conducted in February and March finds that marketers are becoming exactly the type of consumer they’d like to target. But in their pursuit of attaining the perfect personalized, targeted offer delivered at the right place at the right time to the right person, it might serve them well to remember the average consumer is less enthusiastic about receiving that message.
While 72 per cent of marketers in the survey said they’d want to receive personalized offers, only 55 per cent of consumers said they’d want the same. Marketers were also more likely to use their mobile devices to look up information on their way to a store (39 per cent) compared to the non-marketer population (22 per cent). Most consumers, 71 per cent, said they preferred to look up information about a business at home before leaving for it.
But that doesn’t mean marketers should be dissuaded from serving up offers to potential customers. In fact, doing so may come at the expense of losing business to a competitor. When Placeable asked if a consumer would go to a competitor business that gave them an offer while they were looking up information on a business, 61 per cent said they’d take it. That number was even higher, at 73 per cent, for restaurants.
“Beyond simply posting offers that can be found during the search process, marketers must focus on providing relevant and timely information to consumers,” the research document advises. Consumers “value offers that are timely and personalized to meet their needs. Perhaps more importantly, marketers need to know that the value of these special offers can sometimes even outweigh brand loyalty.”
Takeaway lessons included in the full report from Placeable include a reminder that marketers relying on business directories to convey location and storefront hours information could be exposing their customers to their competitors. While using location-based offers to woo those customers is a good idea, keep in mind they may not be quite as keen as a marketer feels about them.
