What you’ll read:
- Netflix is an expert at personalization.
- By constantly collecting data, building products based on customer data, creating a cohesive, and constantly improving their personalization efforts, they pave the way for sales and marketing teams looking to create an unforgettable user experience.
Looking for a new show or movie to watch but not sure what to choose? Netflix knows. Just look at the “Top Picks” or other categories displayedin your dashboard. From its homepage to the emails it sends subscribers, Netflix puts on a master class when it comes to personalization. While the streaming service recently announced its first subscriber loss in a decade, they’ve still experienced tremendous growth from their business model: increasing subscribers from less than 22 million in 2011 to nearly 214 million in 2021.
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Netflix says personalization is one of the company’s pillars, focusing on providing each customer a different view of their content that adapts to their interests: “It enables us to not have just one Netflix product but hundreds of millions of products: one for each member profile. Each experience is personalized across many dimensions: the suggested videos and their ranking, the way videos are organized into rows and pages, and even the artwork displayed.”
They achieve that goal of providing a personalized experience by combining multiple algorithms, machine-learning tools, and A/B testing to meet each customer’s needs. This approach allows the user to spend less time finding something to watch and more time actually enjoying Netflix’s product. Luckily, this concept isn’t only something Netflix can use and benefit from. Check out these four lessons marketers and sales teams can learn about personalization from Netflix.
1. Constantly collect data
The more you know about someone, the more accurately you can personalize his or her experience. That’s why continuously gathering data on your audience is so important. From what their customers search for or watch to how long they view a piece of media, Netflix tracks everything they can with its users. Take this same approach by using every touchpoint and engagement you have with your customers to gather data and expand their customer profile. That could be interactions on your site, social media pages, app, support message, in-store visits or from an online purchase. Once you have that information, ensure you have a comprehensive system that allows you to clearly see the information to create data-driven marketing and sales decisions.
In addition to collecting data, it’s also important to look for new ways and technologies to gather more. What metrics work best now may change in the future, so continue to reassess your processes. Data is king, and like Netflix, you want as much as customers are willing to give to stay at the top.
2. Build products based on data
It isn’t enough to know things about your customers: You need to put that data to use with your products and services. Yes, sending targeted content based off of subscriber data is good. But what if you launched an entirely new product or campaign solely based on that data? That’s exactly what Netflix does with its original content. They have a 93% success rate with original content, providing more proof that personalization from data works. Think original shows like Stranger Things and Emily in Paris.
That type of approach requires marketers and sales teams to think proactively about campaigns and their offerings. For example, if a clothing brand sees that customers are purchasing pants primarily online but returns are increasing, they could market a virtual try-on tool for pants. Or, they could create a campaign that features customer photos who purchased those items so the shopper can see how the items look in real life—like what Pink Lily does on its product pages:
3. Create a cohesive, personalized experience
There’s more to Netflix than actually streaming a show or movie. First, the brand needs to get customers to its dashboard to start watching. To do that, they send email campaigns that are as personalized as their platform, like in this example:
The email looks like they’re viewing a show right on Netflix and the content is based off of their viewing history. Subscribers can clearly tell who the email is from and for . Marketers and sales teams need to provide a clear brand persona across each platform they use, ensuring a personalized user experience no matter where they interact. That includes social media ads, posts, web content, landing pages, apps, or anywhere you’re reaching customers.
4. Never stop personalizing
Netflix created binge-watching where customers continue going from one show or movie to the next. Marketers and sales teams can do the same thing, minus the “Are you still watching?” pop up that makes us all wonder how it got so late. The trick is to make your personalization a continuous part of the sales cycle so customers don’t have a reason to leave your site, app, or social page.
When a customer finishes a show or movie, Netflix will suggest something similar or a media that matches other data they’ve collected on them. Likewise, marketers can ensure another personalized experience awaits their customer when they complete one experience—whether that’s after they read a blog on your site, open an email, hit a landing page, or make a purchase.
Have multiple customer journeys they can follow that target them, and include a call to action (CTA) in each one. Consumers expect clear CTAs that show them what to do next, so make sure you provide them with a personalized follow-up action so they can continue binging your brand.
Get proactive with personalization
Netflix is known for its personalization because it continues to evolve its techniques to provide a perfectly tailored user experience. Brands that are able to seamlessly integrate personalization into their marketing and sales will be the ones to stand out from the competition. The demand for targeted engagements will only grow, so companies need to set themselves up now to have the right technologies in place to attract and retain customers.