Don't Let Anybody Kid You, It's All Personal - Say Media

amp8220It39s all personal every bit of businessamp8221 Mario Puzo The Godfather2013 has been the year of responsive design and with good reason Like many seismic changes on the Web it was catalyzed by a problem Readers were moving off the desktop to mobile phones and tablets and ad dollars were leaving with them So digital publishers social platforms and startups rushed to create solutions that would deliver a great content and ads experience on any device But now that the dust has begun to settle on responsive it39s time to revisit the original motive behind this move creating a more personal content experience for readersDon39t get me wrong responsive design has been an absolute necessity and has taken us far but the pressure to fix a problem shelved an even more powerful opportunity to use data and technology to personalize Here39s an analogy to illustrate my pointamp8216Next Pleaseamp8217Every day I visit the deli next to my office After 4 years the woman at the register continues to greet me even in the context of a 4pm emptydeli snack run as quotnext pleasequot which despite my exotic looks is not my name The only adjustment she has made is to remember I pay by credit card and not cash responsive to platform not the individual There are so many opportunities to personalize the fact that I don39t take a bag I prefer chopsticks and no soy sauce or that after 4 years of loyal patronage dropping the credit card minimum from 8 to 7 could prevent stressful daily negotiations that make me feel like a strangerThe OpportunityIamp8217m aiming this plea directly at content publishers as weamp8217ve lost some ground to social platforms and even ecommerce sites which already leverage registration to effectively personalize experiences To extend the deli metaphor as publishers we donamp8217t always know who steps up to the counter so we need to use context clues to do the best with what weamp8217ve got Here are three readily available reader nuggets dying to be designed againstWhere a reader is coming from Source data can shed amazing light on who is visiting your site Are they coming from search looking for something specific Are they taking a chance on a friendamp8217s recommendation via social Are they stumbling in from a content discovery engine waiting to be hooked by a headline What mood mode are they in when they come to your site Are they a brand new user exploring your content and site design for the first time trying to figure if and how they might explore your site Are they a returning user warming up to your brand but not quite sold Are they a daily loyalist looking for a bit of surprise and delightHow are they engaging How would you treat an actively engaged reader someone scrolling sharing commenting differently than a passive droponthepageandsleep readerThe design implications of this data are fascinating There are millions of ways you might change the landing page experience sitewide navigation or the way you surface content recommendations Imagine how a personal welcome message for each user based on the cues above can feel dramatically more intimate than amp8216hi visitor number 105234amp8217 Weamp8217re already experimenting on this with some of our brands even the simple gesture of tracking what youamp8217ve already read can make a readers experience personal Thereamp8217s an incredible opportunity here and Iamp8217m not the only one talking about itWhatamp8217s also appealing about this type of personalization is its potential to shift the data conversation to a benefit instead of an intrusion By creating a discernible value to the reader suddenly Big Data can become a trusted friend not an enemyThere is a great war being waged on content on the Web portals social platforms and visual readers are giving consumers every excuse to circumvent online publications in favor of personalized content aggregation Moreover the battles are no longer fought in the name of site traffic but for true readership Sure as publishers we can fight for the scraps of search traffic or play into algorithms in the hopes that quotviral trafficquot will meet our readership goals but what weamp8217re really yearning for is loyalty In business be it a deli restaurant hotel or website you win loyalty with a truly personal experienceEd Urgola is Senior Director at Say Media Follow him on Twitter edurgola Say Media is a digital publishing company that creates amazing media brands Through its technology platform and media services Say enables its portfolio of independent content creators to build passionate communities around key consumer interest areas such as Style Living Food and Tech For more information visit wwwsaymediacomRead all Say Media39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Say DailyCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

Become a Thought Leader.
Share your thought leadership article with industry professionals & have them archived in Thought Leadership

Don't Let Anybody Kid You, It's All Personal - Say Media

Publish date

Channel

Archived in

"About That with Carl Mayer:" Alaina Donnellon (Episode 10: Political Spending) - By Carl Mayer

More Videos:

Become a Thought Leader. Share your thought leadership article with industry professionals & have them archived in Thought Leadership

Don't Let Anybody Kid You, It's All Personal - Say Media

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

"About That with Carl Mayer:" Alaina Donnellon (Episode 10: Political Spending) - By Carl Mayer

The payment was successful

Cookies

Become a Thought Leader.
Share your thought leadership article with industry professionals & have them archived in Thought Leadership