- July, 2024
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Charlie Nicholls
Personalising Experiences Across Platforms and Devices with Cross-Device Affinity Targeting
Are you aiming to deliver personalised experiences across multiple touch points? A global 2023 study by Statista found that individuals have an average of 3.6 devices and connections, a jump from 2.4 per person in 2018. Today’s customer journeys often span across a variety of devices—smartphones, tablets, laptops – and both websites and apps.
This multi-device interaction presents both a challenge and an opportunity for marketers striving to provide personalised experiences, especially since 71% of consumers now expect personalisation. Enter cross-device affinity targeting, a cutting-edge strategy designed to meet this challenge head-on.
What is Cross-Device Affinity Targeting?
Cross-device affinity targeting is a sophisticated digital marketing strategy that identifies and targets users across multiple devices based on their interests, behaviours, and preferences. This approach leverages advanced data analysis to gain insights into how users engage with content and products on various devices. By understanding these interactions, marketers can deliver personalised and relevant experiences tailored to each device.
The primary goal of cross-device affinity targeting is to create a seamless and consistent user experience. By tailoring content and offers to an individual’s preferences regardless of the device they are using, marketers can increase engagement and improve conversion rates. Additionally, this strategy helps in building stronger customer bonds, fostering retention, and ultimately boosting customer lifetime value (CLV) and overall revenue.
Commercial Value of Cross-Device Affinity Targeting
The benefits of personalised cross-device affinity experiences are substantial, offering a range of advantages that can significantly enhance marketing efforts and business outcomes.
Enhanced User Engagement
By delivering personaIised content across preferred devices, marketers can strengthen relationships with users.
Example: A streaming service identifies a user’s preference for crime dramas based on their viewing history on their smart TV. When the user accesses the service on their smartphone, they receive personalised recommendations for new crime dramas, as well as notifications for upcoming releases in that genre. This tailored experience keeps the user engaged and more likely to explore and consume content across different devices.
Higher Conversion Rates
A consistent and memorable experience across devices increases the likelihood of purchase.
Example: An e-commerce retailer uses cross-device tracking to follow a customer’s journey from browsing on their laptop to making a purchase on their mobile phone. The retailer sends personalised reminders and offers based on the items the customer viewed on the laptop, leading to a seamless and consistent experience that culminates in a purchase on the mobile device.
Improved Customer Retention
Over time, this strategy enhances customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention, ultimately increasing the lifetime value of customers.
Example: A fitness app tracks a user’s workouts and preferences across their smartwatch, smartphone, and tablet. By consistently delivering personalised workout plans, nutrition tips, and progress tracking, the app ensures that the user remains satisfied and loyal to the service, resulting in higher retention rates and increased lifetime value.
Reduced Churn
When users consistently receive content and offers that match their interests, they are less likely to switch to a competitor.
Example: A music streaming service analyses a user’s listening habits on both their desktop and mobile app. By offering tailored playlists, concert notifications, and exclusive content that aligns with the user’s musical tastes, the service minimises the chances of the user switching to a competing platform.
Increased Revenue
Users are more likely to spend on products or services they find relevant and appealing.
Example: An online fashion retailer leverages cross-device data to personalise the shopping experience. A user who frequently browses shoes on their tablet receives targeted ads for shoe sales and recommendations when they switch to browsing on their laptop. This personalised approach leads to higher purchase rates and increased revenue for the retailer
A Practical Demonstration
Learn how to enable the use case
At Dexata, we have recently introduced a new module on our MarTech Learning Platform, Dexata Academy. This module demonstrates how to create a cross-device affinity use case, specifically designed to personalise customer experiences across multiple devices.
The aim is to identify and engage customers who make purchases from various categories on the website and app of our demo brand, Arena—an online sports store. By integrating data and leveraging an experience optimisation platform like Adobe Target, we can craft personalised affinity experiences. These experiences can be customised for each customer, presenting tailored content based on their preferred categories and other behavioural aspects.
Summary
The benefits of cross-device affinity targeting are substantial, offering a range of advantages that can significantly enhance marketing efforts and business outcomes. This strategy not only helps in creating seamless and personalised user experiences across various devices but also drives higher engagement, boosts conversion rates, improves customer retention, reduces churn, and ultimately increases revenue. By leveraging cross-device affinity targeting, businesses can build stronger customer relationships, enhance satisfaction and loyalty, and maximise the lifetime value of their customers.
Learn how to build this use case by going through the module on Dexata Academy for free today.
Learn How To Enable The Use Case
Explore our module on Dexata Academy. Sign up for free today.
About The Authors
Charlie Nicholls
