The ultimate guide to cross-channel personalization

In our Hitting the Mark report, we analyzed the marketing performance of 100 brands. The results revealed that personalization isn’t the problem. Relevance is.

Most brands are adding someone’s first name to an email. But that doesn’t mean the message actually matters. In fact, just 23% of consumers say the marketing they receive feels relevant to them. That’s a big gap and a real opportunity.

So while emails may look personalized on the surface, they often miss the mark when it comes to timing, context, and intent.

That’s where cross-channel personalization comes in. When you connect your data across email, SMS, web, mobile, and beyond, you can move from surface-level personalization to experiences that genuinely reflect what your customers want and need.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to:

• Drive stronger engagement, conversions, and loyalty
• Turn customer data into meaningful, connected experiences
• Deliver consistent messaging across every touchpoint
• Use automation to personalize at scale

What is cross-channel personalization?

Cross-channel personalization, also known as multi-channel personalization, is more than adding a name to an email. It’s about creating a seamless, connected experience that feels relevant no matter where your customer interacts with your brand like:

• Email
• SMS
• Website
• Mobile app
• Even in-store

By using customer data and past behavior, you can deliver experiences that actually matter. That might look like:

• Recommending products based on previous purchases
• Sending promotions through the channels your customers prefer
• Offering support tailored to their past interactions

When done well, cross-channel personalization helps your brand feel smarter, more helpful, and consistently in tune with your audience.

Key strategies for effective personalization

Here’s some key strategies you can use to kick off your personalization strategy: 

Data collection

Collecting and analyzing customer data is important for understanding your audience. You can collect zero-party and first-party data to gather valuable insights directly from your customers. 

Zero-party data is information that customers voluntarily share with a brand, which can include:

• Preferences
• Interests
• Feedback

You can build trust and gather highly relevant data by proactively asking customers for their input.

Whereas, first-party data is collected from email clicks, your website, or an app. It includes information such as:

• Browsing behavior
• Purchase history
• Demographics

Implementing a simple script on your website can quickly help you to collect this data. With a solid data collection strategy in place, you can make cross-channel personalization work for your brand.

Data analysis

After collecting important data, the following step is to perform a thorough analysis. By unifying data from across your CRM, ecommerce store, automation platform, and more, you can get a clear insight into your customers’ preferences and behaviors.

The expansion of AI functionality in recent years means it’s easier than ever to analyze data and create bespoke customer experiences. You can use predictive analytics to make educated guesses about your customer behavior. 

This includes when your customers are most likely to purchase again or to identify those who are at risk of churning. This helps you to deliver timely and personalized recommendations that drive customer engagement and boost sales.

Customer segmentation and targeting

Once you have a solid understanding of your customers, it’s time to segment them into smaller, more targeted groups. A powerful method for customer segmentation is eRFM (engagement, recency, frequency, monetary) customer modeling. This method provides a comprehensive view of your customer’s value and potential.

By tailoring your messaging to specific segments, you can deliver more relevant and impactful content. For example, you might send personalized product recommendations to frequent shoppers or offer exclusive discounts to first-time buyers.

Creating a consistent brand voice

A consistent brand voice is essential for building trust and recognition. This means using the same tone, style, and language across all your marketing channels. Develop clear brand guidelines that outline your brand’s personality, values, and messaging. By using these guidelines, you can ensure that your brand’s voice is consistent and authentic, no matter the platform.

How to personalize across channels

Cross-channel personalization is all about creating a smooth and consistent experience for customers across different platforms. Here’s some effective strategies to make every interaction feel personal and customized.

Cross-channel coupons

Using cross-channel coupons is a great way to enhance engagement and drive sales at various touchpoints. Set up a unified coupon system that generates and tracks offers seamlessly across all channels.

Each coupon can be tailored to a customer’s behavior and their current stage in the buying journey. For example, a new visitor to your website might encounter a pop-up inviting them to share their email in exchange for a discount for first-time customers.

On the other hand, a returning customer could receive a targeted email featuring a different discount to encourage another purchase. If you operate a physical store, think about using QR codes to connect your physical and digital channels, making it easy for customers to redeem their coupons.

Product recommendations

Imagine walking into a store and being greeted by a sales associate who presents you with exactly what you’ve been looking for. Personalized product recommendations can replicate this experience. By analyzing user behavior across various channels, you can create a list of tailored product suggestions.

Whether customers are browsing your mobile app or checking out your website, offering them relevant items boosts the chances of conversion. The key is to keep your recommendations current and responsive to their evolving preferences and needs.

Dynamic content

Dynamic content can tailor your message based on the viewer. By updating visuals and messages in real time according to user preferences, you make sure that what you present remains relevant.

From email newsletters to website banners and app interfaces, personalized experiences can significantly boost user engagement. Dynamic content keeps the experience fresh, making customers feel that every interaction is uniquely theirs.

Recently browsed

Helping users continue from where they left off is a powerful strategy. Displaying recently browsed items across different channels serves as a convenient reminder of what caught their interest, simplifying their buying decisions.

If they checked out a new pair of sneakers on their desktop or explored some gadgets through your mobile app, showcasing these items during subsequent visits or on other platforms can gently encourage them to make a purchase.

Social proof

Including social proof into your cross-channel strategy can greatly enhance your success. That’s because 66% of customers are more likely to purchase a product when they see evidence of social proof, making it an essential tool for brands.

However, our Hitting the Mark research indicates that only 19% of brands feature user-generated content (UGC) and reviews on their home pages, while only 26% use social proof on conversion pages. Displaying reviews, ratings, and testimonials throughout all interactions with your brand helps build trust and encourages customer action.

Seeing a thumbs-up from a friend or reading a glowing customer review on an item they’ve been eyeing can significantly influence users’ purchasing decisions. Integrate these elements seamlessly into emails, apps, and websites, ensuring customers encounter positive feedback at every touchpoint.

Push notifications

Push notifications can serve as a helpful reminder that encourages browsing to turn into purchases. Customize these messages to add value, whether it’s a nudge about an abandoned cart or a special offer tailored to previous purchases.

It’s important that these notifications resonate with user interests and behaviors, ensuring that customers stay engaged without feeling bombarded. Striking the right balance is essential, so think about offering helpful updates that come across as a friendly reminder instead of unwanted spam.

Examples of successful cross-channel personalization

Let’s explore a real-world example of brands that have effectively implemented cross-channel personalization:

Blue Sea Holidays

Blue Sea Holidays optimized and automated customer engagement across email and website channels by using the combined power of Dotdigital and Fresh Relevance. The company created personalized and visually appealing emails using Dotdigital’s email builder and used Fresh Relevance’s AI-driven capabilities for dynamic content personalization.

The personalization strategy includes:

• AI-powered email recommendations: Fresh Relevance’s AI personalizes each email with specific recommendations based on the destination page the customer visited

• Seamless email delivery: Dotdigital ensures that these personalized emails are delivered efficiently while maintaining an attractive design

• Social proof: The emails incorporate valuable information such as “People like you browse” and “People like you buy,” leveraging social proof to enhance engagement and conversions

• Dynamic website content: Visitors to the Blue Sea Holidays website experience personalized content, with recommendations and offers tailored to their preferences and behavior

By implementing this cross-channel personalization approach, Blue Sea Holidays has created a cohesive and relevant experience for their customers across both email and website touchpoints. 

Choose Dotdigital as your cross-channel personalization solution

Dotdigital is the ideal choice to elevate your cross-channel personalization efforts. With a suite of powerful tools and an intuitive platform, you can deliver highly targeted and engaging customer experiences. Here’s some of the benefits:

• Comprehensive integration: Dotdigital easily integrates with various marketing tools you already use, making it a seamless addition to your existing setup. Whether it’s your CRM, ecommerce platform, or social media channels, Dotdigital connects them all, making sure that your customer data flows smoothly across different platforms

• Cross-channel capabilities: Dotdigital provides a comprehensive suite of cross-channel marketing tools under one platform, allowing you to reach customers across email, SMS, push notifications, live chat, and WhatsApp. This unified approach helps you to create consistent and personalized experiences across all customer touchpoints

• Advanced personalization: With Fresh Relevance, Dotdigital offers enhanced cross-channel personalization capabilities. This integration empowers you to drive excellent customer experiences at every point in the customer journey. You can use advanced website and email personalization tools, including countdown timers, weather tools, image personalization, and advanced product recommendations

• Intelligent automation: With Dotdigital’s powerful automation features, you can set up personalized campaigns that run like clockwork. Automate your email marketing, SMS, and more, all while maintaining a personal touch. This means less manual work for you and a consistent experience for your customers

• Data-driven insights: Dotdigital provides valuable insights into customer behavior and engagement. With detailed analytics and reporting tools, you can track your campaigns’ performance and fine-tune your strategies. More importantly, you can use this data to truly understand your audience and tailor your messaging accordingly

• Scalability: Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, Dotdigital scales with your needs. As your business grows, the platform can easily adapt, providing advanced features that support even the most complex personalization strategies.

With Dotdigital as your cross-channel personalization partner, you can effortlessly create impactful marketing campaigns that enhance engagement and deliver results across various channels.

Get started with cross-channel personalization today

Creating meaningful connections with your customers relies heavily on cross-channel personalization. By adopting effective strategies and using platforms like Dotdigital, you can create personalized experiences that resonates with people across various platforms.