People don’t love marketing that knows their name. They DO want products and messages that are genuinely relevant to their lives.

A freshly published review in the International Journal of Research in Marketing says personalization has become the heartbeat of modern marketing.

Companies have more data than ever, more AI than ever, plus more ways to tailor messages to you than ever before.  

Yet lots of folks still find personalization yicky.

We’ve all had that moment. You visit a website and it cheerfully greets you by name, recommending products based on your browsing history.

Instead of feeling important and understood, you feel creeped.

That’s because personalization and helpfulness are NOT the same thing.

Knowing MY name doesn’t somehow make YOUR offer better. Tracking my clicks doesn’t automatically solve a problem I may or may not give a rip about tomorrow.

Legit relevance comes out of understanding what I’m trying to accomplish now, then presenting a solution at the best possible moment.

The study highlights that the most effective personalization doesn’t simply target who receives a message and shout that person out by name.

An online platform popping up your name and browsing history is not at all the same as your personal tailor remembering what fabrics you like and the length of your inseam.

Ideally, online personalization optimizes what you see, when you see it, and where you should encounter it, if at all.

In other words, relevance is contextual, purposeful and considerate.  

The best product marketing doesn’t make buyers go, “How the f**k does it know that about me?”

It makes them think, “Wow. THIS is exactly what I needed!”

Want to make your product irresistible? That’s what we do as product marketing consultants at Graphos Product, helping innovators turn need-driven ideas into market-ready successes.