In this episode of “Marketing, Demystified,” Jenn Mancusi talks with Zontee Hou, author of “Data-Driven Personalization” and managing director at Convince and Convert, about transforming customer data into meaningful, personalized experiences.
Data-driven personalization: A practical guide to implementation
Customers expect companies to personalize their experience based on their shared history of interactions, including purchases, browsing behavior, and content engagement. Yet many businesses struggle to meet these expectations while managing their customer data effectively.
“Most of our customers have less bandwidth than ever before, because there are so many different messages coming at them at any given time,” says Zontee. “When you think about social media, there are billions of YouTube videos streamed every minute of the day. There are hundreds of millions of searches performed every minute of the day. People are just constantly bombarded with information.”
Marketing teams need to advocate for a seat at the table when it comes to data management. While IT often owns data storage and sales handles input, marketing leaders must help shape how customer data is collected, organized, and utilized.
“Most organizations will find that nobody has real ownership for the usage of the data,” Zontee explains.
In her book, she describes this example: Small businesses like Methodical Coffee demonstrate effective data collection by asking customers upfront to identify their coffee journey stage – whether they’re a connoisseur, casual drinker, or someone looking to learn. This simple segmentation enables personalized content and recommendations that match each customer’s expertise level.
Creating systematic data collection
Zontee emphasizes the importance of marketing having a seat at the data table and recommends:
- Identify key stakeholders for data decision-making
- Create a structure for collecting marketing-usable data
- Implement processes throughout the customer journey to gather relevant information
- Establish proper data hygiene and governance practices
“To get good data, you need to build an infrastructure within your team where you are collecting good data,” Zontee advises. “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, and the second best is today. With data, it’s a very similar process.”
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Balancing personalization and privacy
Some customers prioritize privacy; a plurality now values convenience and relevance in their interactions with brands. Success lies in collecting and using data transparently to deliver experiences that genuinely help customers achieve their goals.
“We might have the solution when it comes to the product or service. But we need to ask them why they make the decisions around it,” says Zontee. Understanding these motivations helps create personalization that truly serves customer needs rather than just collecting data for its own sake.