Personalisation need not be beyond reach for medium-sized or even smaller online services. Implementation can be built using ready-made tools or even a very simple customised solution.

Domestic, easy-to-use solutions are offered by companies such as Nosto and Frosmo. Whereas Frosmo offers comprehensive content personalisation within the online service, Nosto focuses more purely on product recommendations and provides omnichannel functionalities from email content to brick-and-mortar personalisation solutions.

For more general content personalisation, platforms available include Optimizely, Dynamic Yield, and many others. Typically, the prices of these services are not presented publicly; instead, customers are directed to contact sales. Costs typically range from a few hundred to thousands of euros per month, so they are not suitable for everyone. Nosto's pricing is based on a percentage of sales generated through it, which is a pleasantly low-risk model.

Google offers personalisation through the Optimize 360 product, with personalisation functionalities available only to premium customers. Therefore, due to its costs, it remains out of reach for many of us.

Starting light

For many, a lighter customised solution might be a worthwhile alternative. A customised solution may cost more during the implementation phase but can pay for itself in the short term, as there are no recurring costs for its use.

In a customised solution, the starting point is typically three definitions:

• Which contents or functionalities can be personalised?

• Which target groups are aimed to be identified?

• How can the target group be technically identified?

Let's take a simple example of customised personalisation.

1. A customer considers buying a car and visits the car dealership's website.

2. On the site, they use the car search and explore the cars they have found.

3. Information is collected from the customer's behaviour regarding the car models and search criteria they have used (make, transmission, body style, fuel type...)

4. The customer leaves the site but returns the next day to continue their search for a suitable car.

5. As soon as the customer lands on the site, they can be shown recommendations for cars identified as suitable for their needs.

When implementing this type of personalisation, it is wise to keep your feet on the ground. The implementation should start simply, and its value should be verified through analytics. Once the groundwork has been laid, personalisation can be made more complex.

Three different types of user events should be discernible from analytics:

1. The user is identified as belonging to a specific target group.

2. The user is presented with targeted content.

3. The user interacts with the personalised content.

This way, we can track how effectively the user can be identified and what additional value personalised content brings to the service's functionality.

It is also important to remember that the usability of the service should not rely too heavily on personalised content. Users must always be provided with sufficient generic content and functionalities to ensure that poorly or incorrectly functioning personalisation does not sabotage the service's usability.

Now is the right time to bravely consider what could be achieved through personalisation in your service. Even a small action can bring great results and help take that crucial step ahead of competitors.

Interested? Would you like to hear more about personalisation and our solutions for your company?