Does content personalisation risk breeding contempt?

Even though the internet is an intimate medium, the old saying still holds sway. Too much familiarity with your customers might result in provoking a proverbial slap. Think about the mass, but personalised emails you receive every day. The newsletter lists you are on. The websites you visit that remember your name. Sometimes it's nice to be the recipient of a small gesture of personalisation and other times it just seems kind of ... phony.

Personalised content can be a very powerful and appealing feature to your website. But too much in the wrong way can also turn users off. As long as you're asking: what will be helpful to my customers? And not: what groovy thing can my content management system do? Then you should be able to find the right balance.

More and more often, the internet is drawing analogies with the corner store, the local neighbourhood, the shared community. As the number of sites and the amount of information increases exponentially, users respond by narrowing down their trusted sites and becoming return visitors to those with whom they develop loyalty and trust.

Just like having your favourite shops to which you navigate for sports shoes, special occasions, hobby magazines or ice cream. In this context, personalisation makes sense. In the shoe store, the attendants may well know your name. Or at least they will be able to see your gender, size and perhaps a record of past purchases in the store. This is useful to you as it saves you time.

So if you are selling a product (or range of products) online, personalisation could be a wise move. If a new or existing customer is looking for something specific, they will usually have the time and patience to either answer a few questions, or drill down through a few screens to make sure they get what they want. As they do this, you can gather information about them in a non intrusive way, which will then be of assistance when they return.

Amazon is the most touted example of online personalisation that works. This is because the process is invisible. You make a purchase. Next time you visit, suggestions or specials pop up that compliment that purchase. Books by the same author or on a similar subject. Of course Amazon has the advantage of being a massive company with an enormous data base - of both customers and products. But with dynamic content you can initiate a similar process with your own data base.

Keep any questions or field selection processes brief and easy to navigate. Especially when gathering data early on. If you then reward the information customers give you with something concrete (such as a special offer) it is likely they will accept the personalisation and happily return to your site. Thus developing the relationship further.

There are two main problems to be aware of when it comes to content personalisation. Time and privacy. And they are two of the biggest factors that influence people's internet use.

If your personalisation process requires a user to choose between various features, modes, designs, start up options and menu choices, chances are they will jump out rather than go forward. Web searching is all about time. Personal and social network sites are a different matter. People set them up specifically to be statements of personality and style. But this means they have neither the time nor the need for their mortgage broker's website to demand the same level of personalisation.

Abuse of information is the most feared element of any online transaction. You have to gain the trust of your customers before they will give you too much information. And even if they use your site regularly, it will be for a specific purpose and one that may have nothing to do with them disclosing details about themselves. If any new or existing customer gets a sense you are asking for more than they are willing to give they won't hang around and they certainly won't be back.

Be realistic. If your customers visit your site to buy gifts on a regular basis, an element of personalisation is probably acceptable. Similarly, if your business with them is related to ongoing knowledge (such as car servicing or beauty therapy), personalisation can make interactions fast, efficient and valuable. But don't personalise content for the sake of it and never at the expense of confidentiality or efficiency.

Trying to predict customers' tastes and interests too much may result in you stereo-typing them, alienating them and possible even limiting unexpected queries and purchases. Human beings are complex and changeable so be careful not to narrow down the options available to your customer by controlling what they see.

Learn more about auto-responders and reputation management.

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