Dive Brief:

• Just over one-quarter of consumers say brands understand their interests “very well” when it comes to personalization, according to a survey of 800 consumers released last month by Site Impact.
• Just over half of respondents say brands either misunderstand what they are looking for or fail to update what they know about shoppers quickly enough.
• Nearly 3 in 5 consumers say they regularly receive marketing for items they looked at once but never seriously considered buying. Another one-quarter say they are frustrated by brands assuming that just because they made one search they have interest in that subject forever.

Dive Insight:

Even when personalization feels helpful, it can also feel invasive. Ineffectual and overly knowledgeable personalization both have negative impacts on customer trust and, in turn, retention.

Nearly one-third of consumers say that while personalized marketing has become more relevant, it is becoming more invasive as well, according to Site Impact.

Consumers often react negatively when a brand’s marketing follows them across social media, website and email channels. Three in five customers say this practice is annoying, feels like harassment or feels invasive, while just 14% say they are impressed when a brand shows up consistently across different channels.

The key for brands to avoid being perceived as invasive is to be transparent about how and why they collect customer data while giving customers control over their personal information, according to Julie Geller, principal research director of Info-Tech Research Group.

Shoppers should have the opportunity to see what information is being used, why it improves their experience, and how they can change their personalization preferences, according to Geller.

Brands that fail to provide transparency can come across as creepy even when they provide helpful personalization.

“Recommending the next logical product, simplifying a returning customer’s experience, or remembering a stated preference can add value,” Geller said in an email. “Referencing highly specific behavioral or location data may be accurate, but it can also make the customer wonder how the brand obtained that information and whether it is relevant to their needs today.”

Brands can suffer when they offer inaccurate or invasive personalization, according to Site Impact.

More than 2 in 5 of consumers say they have stopped doing business with a brand due to its personalized marketing feeling too repetitive, personal or off-base, according to the survey. Another one-third of consumers say that, while they haven’t abandoned a cart due to problems with personalization, they have been tempted to leave.

“Personalization should reduce effort and improve the experience,” Geller said. “When it becomes a demonstration of how much data the brand has collected, it stops feeling personal and starts feeling transactional.”