Showing the same content to everyone may cause you to lose 80% of your potential buyers, according to Epsilon Marketing. What is dynamic content and how can it help you avoid this
significant loss?
What is dynamic content?
Dynamic content means changing the content on a webpage, ad, or email, based on a viewer’s behavior, preferences, and interests.
Software automatically generates this content when a viewer sees a webpage, an ad, or when sending an email. This gives a more satisfying experience and means more buyers.
Why is this so powerful?
Some people are ready to buy and don’t want to be bothered with more details. Others won’t buy without more information or comparing items elsewhere. Dynamic content allows you to appeal to these vastly different audiences at the same time. It also builds trust and relevancy. People feel like you understand them. How many people browse an Amazon product, only to buy something else featured on the same page?
This content also guides people through a sales funnel. Some are aware of a problem, but not convinced that you can solve it. They need far different sales content than someone already convinced you have the solution.
Years ago, people wanted their phones to do more. Apple’s campaign “There’s an app for that” convinced them to buy iPhones. With Apple’s popularity now, ads only have to show the new model, causing a massive rush to buy it.
How do you decide to change content?
The following data helps you decide:
- Location Data – Target higher or lower-income neighborhoods.
- Buyer Personas – Is your audience mostly middle-aged and female?
- Buying Behaviors – People browsing or buying baby formula may also want diapers.
- Customer Lifecycle – If they followed directions, they’ve nearly used all the supplements they bought – time to buy again.
- Pages or Events Visited – If they viewed an event signup page but didn’t reserve yet, offer them tickets when they return. Offer an upgrade to buyers who visit again.
- Time Spent On The Site – People who spend more time may want even more details or comparisons.
- Engagement Metrics – Customize your offers using viewer clicks, scrolling, search keywords, or pages visited.
What are some examples of dynamic content?
Amazon shows several items for each of these categories:
- Pick up where you left off
- Keep shopping for…
- Products related to this item
There’s also dynamic content in email. You can dynamically insert a recipient’s name, or customize a subject line or email text to match a person’s interests. You’ve also likely seen retargeting: ads that follow you, promoting whatever you’ve previously browsed.
Dynamic content vs static content – what’s the difference?
Static content means words or media delivered to all viewers as-is, without any further modification or processing. Think of static web pages – far easier to create, yet nothing to make them personal.
Small brochure or portfolio websites still use these.
Dynamic content requires a web application. The software evaluates viewer interests, then picks from content options stored in a database. This happens when creating an email or browsing a
web page.
Successful content is often a mix of dynamic and static content.
Developing a dynamic content strategy
How will your dynamic content lead viewers to make beneficial choices? Here are more questions to help you form a strategy:
- What do I want the viewer to do?
- Which path do I want this customer to follow?
- What kind of content will help them more?
- How does this person interact with my brand (i.e., search, social media, email)?
How to implement your new strategy
If someone already responded to an offer, obviously you want to show them a different offer. Suppose people are filling out your survey or quiz. Set up the content so certain choices will add more questions to the form. Use this extra information to tailor your offers to the participant.
Looking at pages visited helps you predict a prospect’s intentions. Why not show them content that moves them further through the sales funnel?
Email nurturing campaigns do this. All your content covers a broad topic containing many subtopics. When a visitor gives you their email address, they are choosing one of these subtopics. Send them emails linking to more content on this subtopic or interest.
How can dynamic content help people decide to buy?
Smart marketers will create a number of incentives designed to get email opt-ins. After someone has already given you their email address, why not just give them other incentives or freebies without signing up?
Don’t hassle them to sign up again and again, just to get more of your incentives. Of course, you’ll want to track which incentives they want, so you can make them better offers.
Always make the most relevant offer possible. Case in point: people want winter clothes during some times of the year or in some parts of the country. At other locations and times, they want summer clothes.
If someone browsed a marketing topic, show them more content about marketing – not leadership or a different topic.
What does this mean for you?
If you’re not using this marketing method yet, you’re missing out. A full 80% of people base their buying decisions on whether content is personalized or not. Simpler and more cost-effective methods to personalize your marketing are appearing all the time.
Dynamic content requires planning and effort, yet it’s a worthwhile investment that pays dividends.
