This article in a nutshell:

• Despite all technology available to today’s marketers, there still seems to be a disconnect between the level of personalization marketers believe they provide, and what their customers actually experience
• Salesforce has changed how companies manage data with CRM, below are four ways to take full advantage of what Salesforce offers for top-notch marketing

In season one of Mad Men, executives from Lucky Strike enlist the creative team at Sterling Cooper to rebrand their cigarettes after the government makes it illegal to advertise that they’re safe.

The men from Lucky Strike are concerned about what they can possibly say to customers to dissociate their product from what it is being called — poisonous. To which the charming Don Draper steps in and says, “We have 6 identical companies making 6 identical products; we can say anything we want.”

Comparing marketing today with marketing in the 1960s is like comparing apples to oranges — they’re both fruits … and that’s about it.

Back then, advertisers told consumers what to think and what to buy. You saw an ad for a new product in Good Housekeeping, you went and bought it. Competition was limited, and customers weren’t empowered with information — other than what they saw in print ads and on billboards. And the only customer data that companies had access to were sales numbers and feedback from consumer test panels. There was little to no ability to personalize advertising, and there was certainly no consideration given to the Customer Experience.

Marketers today are in a much better position to understand their customers, what with the technology available to personalize the marketing experience. But there seems to be a disconnect between the level of personalization that marketers believe they provide, and what customers are actually experiencing. In a report from SAP Hybris and Forrester Consulting, 66 percent of marketers rate their personalization efforts as very good or excellent, while only 31 percent of customers actually think companies are consistently delivering personalized, cross-channel experiences. Whether promotions are too frequent, not frequent enough, or simply don’t align with customers’ interests, many marketers seem to be “missing the mark” (pun intended) when it comes to connecting with customers.

Customize and personalize with Salesforce

Salesforce revolutionized the way companies manage customer data with their CRM product. And while it’s still the foundation for managing your customer relationships in the cloud, Salesforce has grown, acquired, and innovated its way to so much more.

The company now boasts a suite of solutions that can help you track customer journeys and deliver personalized, unique marketing experiences. Here are 4 ways to make your marketing stand out with Salesforce:

1. Don’t set off without your (journey) map.

Before implementing any new marketing strategies, consider taking a holistic look at customer interactions by developing a journey map. Customer journey maps illustrate the steps customers go through when engaging with your company, and include online experiences, in-store experiences, and/or experiences with your products or services. Salesforce’s Journey Builder allows you to visualize and map these paths, while helping you increase campaign performance and truly personalize the marketing experience

2. Never underestimate the power of a good website.

Whether on a laptop or mobile device, your company’s website is often the first place a customer will interact with your brand. Of course you want to make a good first impression, so it’s important that websites are beautifully designed and user-friendly. Salesforce’s CloudPages makes it easy to create branded, dynamic web pages with personalized content. The best part is, CloudPages makes it easy for anyone — even those with little programming knowledge — to create beautiful, interactive web pages that will capture crucial customer data and provide a great online experience for customers.

3. Give product recommendations (that people actually want).

If you’re a frequent online shopper like me, you’ve likely experienced getting product recommendations that don’t exactly match your interests. (Dog collars? But I don’t even have a dog.) Thanks to Salesforce’s Predictive Intelligence capabilities, you can deliver personalized recommendations based on what your customers are actually interested in. Powered by data science, the software allows you to learn each customer’s preferences and automatically provide them with personalized recommendations and offers. Not only will your customers appreciate that these offers are actually relevant to them (and be more likely to do business with you again), but you’ll likely see higher conversion rates as a result.

4. Stand out in the inbox with relevant email.

Despite what you may have heard, email is notdead — it’s evolving. In general, people still trust email and rely on it as a primary communication tool. And although social media has become the preferred channel for engaging with friends and family, when it comes to marketing, email is more cost effective and yields a higher ROI. The biggest complaint most consumers have about email is that there is just too darn much of it. But while there is a lot of email “noise” out there, it’s possible to stand out in the inbox with timely, relevant messages. Salesforce Marketing Cloud allows you to create, send, and track dynamic, targeted emails. And when you connect Marketing Cloud with your Sales and/or Service Cloud, you can get a complete 360 degree view of the customer — and deliver an even more personalized experience to your customers.

About the Author: Nicole Klemp is a Staff Writer at Appirio, a global cloud services company that helps customers create next-generation worker and customer experiences using the latest cloud technologies. Nicole has worked in digital marketing for nearly a decade, studied marketing at Indiana State University, and has an MBA with a focus on management and leadership.