Your personalization strategies are outdated...

Personalization changes as your brand grows. Early-stage companies often rush toward advanced tools or overly complicated segmentation before their customers or their business is ready.

The better approach is to start simple, test, measure, and then gradually add complexity only when it clearly moves the needle.

In this newsletter, I'll share detailed results from real-world personalization tests we've conducted. You'll see exactly what worked, what didn’t, and why so you can apply these insights directly to your own personalization strategy.

How Personalization Evolves with Your Brand

Brands typically move through a clear progression with personalization, and recognizing where your business currently stands makes all the difference between an investment that pays off or wasted resources.

Early stage:

Start with foundational A/B testing and basic optimization of your site. Before diving into complex segmentation, focus on improving core site experiences like navigation, search accuracy, product descriptions, and clear pathways to purchase.

Intermediate stage:
Once you have reliable baseline data, introduce simple, behavior-based segments:

• Window shoppers: Users who've browsed multiple products without adding to cart.
  

• Researchers: Users who've added items to cart but haven't purchased yet.
  

• First-time buyers and repeat customers: Users segmented by purchase history and frequency.
  

At this stage, simple personalization, such as targeted recommendations based on past browsing or purchase behavior, can lead to meaningful improvements. But don't assume personalization alone solves everything. 

Always test segments independently before scaling.

Advanced stage:

Now it’s worth investing in deeper personalization tactics. Consider capturing zero-party data through surveys or preference quizzes and leverage that data to build tailored one-to-one experiences. At this point, investing in tools like a Customer Data Platform (CDP) becomes valuable if you manage it wisely. Keep data collection purposeful and actionable to avoid drowning in irrelevant details.

Also critical at this stage: Build clear criteria for how users enter and exit segments. Segments should evolve dynamically based on user behavior changes. Revisit them regularly, as outdated segments can negatively impact performance.

The goal throughout each stage is purposeful personalization that clearly enhances customer experience and genuinely improves your business metrics. Not personalization for its own sake.

Start With Your Brand’s Current Capabilities

Effective personalization depends on two core factors: 

1. Your team’s sophistication 

2. The tools you use.

If your business is relatively new to personalization, focus first on simple segments based on customer behavior, like returning buyers or frequent visitors, and then personalize experiences accordingly.

Once you’ve built up that baseline, introduce more targeted segments using deeper insights, such as purchase history, channel origin (email, ads, referrals), and geographic location.

An important and often overlooked step: 

Talk directly to customers who've experienced your personalization. For instance, if someone clicks on a "buy it again" recommendation, trigger a quick survey asking how they felt about that personalized suggestion. Keep questions open-ended and customer-focused, not overly technical.

Similarly, when collecting zero-party data through surveys or quizzes, frame questions around clear customer benefits. For example:

• If you sell supplements, ask customers for their age, gender, location, and activity level. This information is clearly relevant to product recommendations.
  

• If you sell clothing, gather data on sizing, style preferences, and geographic location to make smarter seasonal recommendations.
  

Additionally, revisit your segments regularly. Document your personalization strategies thoroughly, using clear customer journey maps that detail how each segment interacts with your site. This practice prevents outdated strategies from harming your business over time.

Finally, measure more than just major conversions like transactions or add-to-cart rates. Track micro-actions, like successful site searches, smooth navigation clicks, or accurate product discovery, even when customers misspell names. 

These smaller interactions signal trust and ease of use, critical indicators that your personalization strategy is working.

Balancing Automation, Segmentation, and Human Insight

The right mix of automation, segmentation, and human insight changes as your brand grows.

When you're starting out, keep automation simple. Create basic behavioral segments like first-time buyers and returning visitors and view test results through those lenses before scaling.

As you grow, introduce more nuanced segmentation based on user behaviors, locations, or purchase frequency. Clearly define how customers enter and exit each segment and revisit these regularly to ensure smooth transitions without gaps.

When using advanced tools like a Customer Data Platform (CDP), don't over-collect data. Only include actionable, meaningful data points. Excessive data leads to confusion and ineffective personalization.

Always lean on human insight and regularly test your assumptions. For example, while desktop visitors used to dominate purchases, many brands now see stronger conversions on mobile and tablets, especially among younger audiences. Stay aware of these shifts and adapt your segments proactively.

Take a slight detour with me. I am starting to see some brands traffic rising on tablets. And it’s happening for two reasons. 

First, the older generation of shoppers is using tablets more and more. 

Second, the generation of kids raised on tablets is just beginning to have their own buying power, and we’re seeing it in the brands they engage with. They’re just as comfortable on mobile devices as they are on tablets and maybe more comfortable than they are on desktop devices. 

If your brand has shoppers from either of these two ends of the age spectrum, you should be keeping an eye on your tablet experience. Now, back to the main route.

Lastly, prioritize real-time personalization. Logged-in or returning visitors should experience an evolving homepage based on their historical behaviors and preferences. This approach ensures your personalization strategy consistently aligns with your customer’s changing needs.

Case Study: How Segmentation Lifted Conversions for Lovely Skin

We ran an experiment with Lovely Skin to refine homepage product recommendations based on customer segments: window shoppers, researchers, new customers, loyalists, and hyper-loyalists. 

By shifting from a generic "most popular" recommendation to segment-specific personalization, like affinity-based recommendations for repeat buyers, we increased overall transactions by 3.2%.

More importantly, conversion rates surged dramatically among customers who engaged directly with the personalized recommendations by 18% on mobile and 26% on desktop. However, we learned simpler isn’t always better. 

Window shoppers and researchers clicked far less when given popularity-based recommendations, indicating the need for nuanced segmentation at each stage of customer maturity.

Takeaway: Adjust your personalization strategy based on segment sophistication and behavior, and regularly validate with real-world tests.

Final Takeaways

Start simple. Begin personalization efforts with straightforward segments (first-time visitors, returning visitors, and previous buyers) and scale complexity slowly as you learn more about your customers.

Clearly define segment transitions. Make sure customers have logical ways to enter and exit segments. Regularly evaluate these to avoid ineffective or intrusive experiences.

Use data intentionally. When employing advanced tools like CDPs, focus only on actionable data points. Collecting too much unnecessary data creates confusion and hampers decision-making.

Regularly test and adapt. Customer behaviors and preferences evolve. Frequent testing ensures your personalization strategies remain relevant, effective, and profitable.

Don’t underestimate small changes. Even basic personalization adjustments, like our Buck Mason test, can deliver significant revenue wins. Always measure carefully and scale what works.

Personalization done well is intentional, iterative, and responsive to change. Keep testing, stay curious, and make sure you're always leading with what truly benefits your customers.

Looking forward,

Brian

P.S. Ready to improve your conversion rate but don’t know where to begin or don’t have the team to support it? Let’s talk.