This is a guest post by *Linda Forshaw - Websites have come a long way since the days when they
were essentially an online brochure that presented the same information each
and every time a customer paid a visit. Blogs, RSS feeds, content
management systems - they have all played an important role in changing
brochure-ware into more dynamic pieces of online real estate. Dynamic content
goes one step further.
Dynamic content can be defined as those
aspects of content on a webpage that change according to the profile of a
visitor to a website or the history of their interactions with a company.
Perhaps the most easily understandable example of dynamic content in practice
is that of retail site Amazon who provide different purchase suggestions for
each visitor according to the data they hold about that visitor in terms of
previous searches, purchases, and other interactions.
Adapting website content to each unique
visitor goes a long toward fulfilling the desire of marketers to guide
potential customers and leads intuitively down the sales funnel. By creating
experiences unique to each customer or, at the very least customer segment,
brands can actively engage those customers in different ways; adapting their
approach to each customer to maximise the possibility they will enjoy their
experience and ultimately convert.
Convert? That all important and slightly
magical word that all marketers love to hear. While deploying dynamic content
methodologies does not automatically mean that every visitor to your site or
every recipient of your email will become a paying customer, it does tend to
reward you better results than non-targeted content. According to a Jupiter
Research report The ROI of E-Mail Relevance, a targeted email campaign can result in 18x more revenue
than that of a broadcast campaign. That’s hardly insignificant.
HubSpot, in their free downloadable guide to dynamic marketing, identify four key tools that are required in order to
achieve dynamic content in your marketing mix.
Centralized
Marketing Database
Your database acts as a central deposit for
all the information you hold about a particular contact. It stores historic
download and interaction data.
Editable Web Pages
Dynamic content works best if you have easy
access to your own site. If even the smallest of changes have to go through a
third party, making any updates to your site will result in delays.
Smart Content
Generator
A smart content generator does exactly what
it says on the tin; generates (or hides) smart (dynamic) content blocks. You
set the rules as to how the generator behaves based on information held in your
centralised marketing database.
An Integrated Email
System
This is not essential but a definite
nice-to-have. If your email system is integrated into your marketing database,
you can just as easily deliver dynamic content via email as you can through
your website.
Once you have the key tools in place,
setting up dynamic content is fairly straightforward. It is likely that an
increasing number of businesses will start to use the methodology in their
marketing mix. Will your business be one of them?
*Linda Forshaw is a Business Information Systems graduate
from Lancaster University in the UK. A leading contributor to college ranking
site Degree
Jungle.com, she is a full time writer and
blogger specializing in education, social media, and entrepreneurship. Contact
her on Twitter @seelindaplay.
If
you live in Muscat and are a Liverpool fan then you might know this page
already. Our friends at Muscat
Reds have been in touch as their Facebook page reached 1000 fans, the first
football supporters club in Oman to achieve such milestone.
