The Future of Personalization: Insights From Industry Experts at Converteo & AWS

Leading brands understand that personalization isn't just a trend—it's a business imperative. With consumers demanding more tailored and authentic interactions, companies are under unprecedented pressure to deliver experiences that resonate on a personal level. As organizations strive to meet these expectations, the challenges and intricacies of effective personalization become glaringly apparent.

In this post, I’ll walk you through how to deploy successful personalization strategies, drawing on insights from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Converteo. Converteo, a leading consulting firm specializing in data and digital performance, has developed a robust five-step process to achieve personalization at scale. This approach, combined with AWS's cutting-edge data solutions, forms the backbone of our strategy to deliver personalization that drives real business results.

Watch the full presentation with Converteo and AWS in French here: Le Futur de la Personnalisation.

Understanding consumer expectations

Consumers are more discerning than ever. They seek genuine, personalized interactions with brands—a trend significantly accelerated by the digital-first consumer experience adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a recent study, 85% of consumers expect personalized experiences, and 80% believe that the experience provided by a brand is as important as its products or services. Despite these high expectations, only 10% of brands feel confident in their ability to meet them.

From my perspective at Amplitude, the key to meeting these expectations lies in the strategic use of first-party data. Both AWS and Converteo have emphasized the importance of this approach as the industry moves toward a cookie-less future. First-party data is more precise, unique to each user, and offers the depth needed to craft personalized experiences that truly resonate with consumers.

The complexity of personalization

There’s no quick fix for personalization. No matter how you slice things, getting it right requires several layers of consumer engagement and data management. Key challenges include:

1. Anticipating consumer expectations: To stay ahead, brands need to predict what consumers want even before they do. By incorporating first-party data into your strategy, you gain a deeper understanding of consumer behaviors, which is essential for anticipating their needs.
2. Providing relevant and unique responses: Personalization efforts need to be real-time, contextually appropriate, and designed to enhance the consumer journey. As Nicolas Frocrain, Senior Manager of Analytics at Converteo highlights, maintaining consistency across multiple touchpoints is crucial. Brands need to leverage the knowledge accumulated at each stage of the consumer journey to ensure a seamless experience.
3. Ensuring ROI: Personalization shouldn’t be pursued for its own sake; it’s essential to ensure these efforts are both cost-effective and lead to tangible, measurable business results. Franck Georget, Partner Strategy Lead at AWS, points out that having a robust data governance strategy is essential to maintain data quality and ensure that personalization efforts translate into real returns.

Converteo’s five-step personalization process

To navigate these complexities, Converteo employs a strategic five-step process for deploying personalization use cases effectively. This methodology ensures that personalization strategies are not only implemented but also continuously refined for the best results.

1. Scoping: Identifying the problem and setting goals

The first step in our process is scoping, where we identify the specific problem to solve. This involves defining clear optimization goals and establishing metrics to measure the performance of our personalization efforts. Understanding the problem and setting precise goals is crucial for the success of any personalization program.

2. Detailing the use case: Defining personalization scenarios

Once we have scoped the problem, we move on to detailing the use case. This step involves clearly defining the personalization scenario, including the expected outcomes and necessary resources. By thoroughly detailing the use case, we ensure that everyone involved has a clear understanding of the objectives and the path to achieving them.

3. Prioritization and complementarity study: Evaluating and aligning use cases

In this step, we evaluate whether multiple use cases share similar characteristics and determine their complementarity or risk of cannibalization. By prioritizing use cases based on their impact and implementation complexity, we ensure that our efforts are focused on the most promising opportunities. This step is vital for aligning different personalization scenarios and avoiding conflicts.

4. Testing: Gauging the impact through A/B testing

Testing is a critical component of our personalization process. We employ A/B testing methodologies to test each personalization instance and gauge its impact. This involves isolating a control group within the target population not exposed to personalization and analyzing performance differences between the exposed and control groups. This rigorous testing process allows us to determine the effectiveness of each personalization scenario.

5. Industrialization and monitoring: Scaling and optimizing personalization

Once a personalization program proves successful, we industrialize and continuously monitor it for ongoing optimization. This involves defining performance thresholds below which the personalization should be reconsidered or optimized and establishing deactivation rules. Regularly checking the impact of multiple personalizations ensures they do not create incoherence or bugs in the user experience. This final step is crucial for maintaining the effectiveness and relevance of personalization efforts over time.

The role of data in personalization

Data is the cornerstone of effective personalization. According to Franck, AWS clients have increasingly realized that first-party data is not just a necessity but also a valuable asset. It allows companies to deploy precise personalization strategies that engage users throughout the conversion funnel.

AWS focuses on three main points to enable companies to make the shift towards first-party data and unlock its value:

1. Data Collection and Governance: Today, users interact with over 20 touchpoints, whether on websites, communication channels, emails, paid search, and so on. Therefore, it is crucial to collect data from all these sources, understand it, and govern it, while complying with local regulations, such as GDPR.
2. Identity and Enrichment: Initially, identity involved creating a unique customer profile from the different sources mentioned above, to understand all interactions users have with the brand across various channels. While third-party data enrichment is becoming increasingly difficult, we are now increasingly seeing the shift towards second-data enrichment through data clean rooms, where partners can work together to share data in a private and GDPR-consented environment.
3. Segmentation and Activation: Once clients have created unique identities, enriched their data, and collected data continuously through governance, they can then segment their user bases and activate these segments across all channels.

The importance of Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)

CDPs—like Amplitude—play a critical role in building a personalization strategy. They unify user profiles from multiple data sources, creating unique profiles that enable precise user segmentation. They also facilitate the activation of these segments across various channels, ensuring that personalization efforts are cohesive and effective.

Nicolas emphasizes this point by explaining how CDPs have become indispensable in managing complex personalization scenarios. According to him, CDPs not only centralize data but also facilitate its activation across different touchpoints, providing a seamless user experience.

Franck highlights the evolving nature of CDPs in the market. He notes the following:“We observe two main trends in CDPs: traditional CDPs that offer turnkey solutions, which are simple to use and generate ROI easily but require data duplication and precise implementation; and composable or modular CDPs that integrate natively with clients' data warehouses, minimizing data duplication and giving clients full control over their data."

The path forward in personalization

The path to mastering personalization is fraught with challenges, but the rewards are substantial. As the landscape of consumer expectations continues to evolve, the need for precise, meaningful interactions grows ever more critical. Converteo’s five-step process offers a structured and effective approach to navigating these complexities, ensuring that personalization efforts are implemented and continuously optimized for maximum impact.

As we look to the future, the integration of AI and machine learning will further enhance our ability to predict and meet consumer needs, setting a new standard for hyper-personalization. Companies that adopt these advanced strategies will not only meet but exceed customer expectations, driving loyalty and growth in an increasingly competitive market.

For brands committed to staying ahead, a strategic, data-driven approach to personalization is not optional—it's essential. Embracing this methodology will empower your brand to deliver unparalleled customer experiences, ensuring sustained success and a significant return on investment. "A robust first-party data strategy is essential for future growth," notes Franck, emphasizing the importance of data-driven personalization.

Watch the full presentation with Converteo and AWS in French here: Le Futur de la Personnalisation.