Everyone is getting into the personalization game. How do we make it more real for the customer? How do we personalize the service or delivery? How do we connect with our consumer? How? How? How?
I ask, how will apartments.com do it given their new relationship with Omniture? This press release from Omniture gives us some insight;
By implementing
Omniture SiteCatalyst and Omniture
Discover, Apartments.com is now able to constantly measure traffic to
and from their Web site and simultaneously use multi-level segmentation to
understand and evaluate where conversion events, like media interaction and
direct contact to properties, have occurred. Apartments.com can measure and
compare multiple user segments in real time to identify the most valuable
user segments, increase overall site conversion by analyzing user fallout,
and optimize overall campaign performance and content placement by
measuring users’ search patterns.
My question is how do you really ever segment the population? It goes so far beyond making generalizations about zip codes, income, gender, etc… I am anxious to see how they collect the data, what data they collect and what assumptions they are going to make about it.
I think sites like Brent Williams Aptconnect.com or Urbane’s: The Urbane Lobby will become more and more relevant in the field of segmenting. Truly rewarding segmenting comes down to personas and the scenarios you create for each. For a deeper understanding of each check out The Soccer Mom Myth and Waiting for Your Cat to Bark. The more real the persona, the more real the scenario, the more real the useful data. Brent’s site will farm the most critical data the apartment industry has ever seen. To me, then and only then can you create the most compelling, connective and collaborative segmenting. Then and only then will we be able to truly give the consumer what they really want/need.
Have a compelling and connected Tuesday! M