A Step by Step Guide for Location Based Personalization

Location-based personalization has quickly become one of the more popular ways brands use it to enhance the user experience of their website visitors! Indeed, more and more companies are using location-based personalization as they tap into the global market. But what is location-based personalization? and how can you use it? Well, this article will answer all your questions about it.

What is Location-Based Personalization?🌍

Location-based personalization is the process of tailoring the website's content according to the customer's geographical location. Using geolocation technology, websites track the customer's location on their device, such as IP addresses, GPS coordinates, Wi-Fi signals, or mobile network data. This information is then used to customize the website content to be location-specific.

For example, a clothing website selling hand painted scarves will use location-based personalization to show its Australian customers their winter collection in the month of June, while its US customers will be shown their summer collection when they log on to the website at the same time.

What are the Benefits of Location-Based Personalization?

Location-based personalization has numerous benefits for your online business, as stated below:

Increased customer engagement and conversions

One of the main benefits of location-based personalization is that it increases the customer's engagement on the website! Showing customers tailored website content can significantly increase website engagement, leading to higher interaction rates and more meaningful sessions, including location specific offers and promotions, causes them to be logged on for longer and be more engaged with the website. Furthermore, the personalized experience also causes customers to make informed decisions, boosting conversions.

Enhanced user experience and increased customer satisfaction

Personalizing website content not only enhances the user experience but also helps to improve website conversion rates by meeting customer expectations more effectively. It also makes them feel valued and increases customer satisfaction levels.

Increased customer loyalty and retention rates

The increased customer satisfaction levels translate into increased customer loyalty and encourage them to become repeat customers, boosting customer retention rates. According to a study, 56% of the respondents agreed to become repeat customers after having a positive, personalized experience on the website!

Improved marketing targeting

Using location data, companies are able to better segment their website visitors into different groups. This information can be used to target marketing efforts more accurately at different user segments, ensuring that the right information is conveyed to the right individuals!

How to Personalize the User Experience Using Location Data

There are many different ways to implement location-based personalization, as stated below:

Personalizing the homepage

Location data can be used in combination with web personalization tools to create highly customized homepages that resonate with specific user groups. The hero section can be modified to include any location-specific header image, such as an image of any public place or cultural event.

The homepage headline can also be adjusted according to the location of the user. For instance, in the case of news websites, headlines can be changed to show news stories or weather updates that are relevant to the customer's specific location, while e-commerce websites can modify headlines to show location specific promotions and discount offers

Next up, calls to action can also be personalized using the customer's location, such as by presenting a 'Find a store' button to users in a specific area.

Similarly, contact information can also be changed based on the user's location.

Website copy can also be personalized to show information such as the navigation bar, in the customer's local language and product prices in the local currency after picking up information about the customer's whereabouts.

Personalizing the product page

Using location data, product pages can be customized to show relevant product recommendations that ship to the user's location, or that are popular in the user's area. Location data can also be used to show relevant climate- or season-specific products based on a customer's geographical location.

Location data can also be used to show relevant social proof of local people to further enhance the user experience and convince the customer to take action!

Last but not the least, location data can also be used to modify shipping costs, shipping methods and payment methods depending on the customer's geographical area.

Personalized emails and landing pages

Follow up geo-targeted ads with geo-customized landing pages to ensure every time a customer from a specific region clicks on a web URL or an ad, he/she is directed to a personalized location-specific landing page that matches their intent. This will only ensure that the customer is engaged on the landing page and ready to convert, with all their interests being met!

Furthermore, location-based personalization can also be incorporated into the company's email flow to send out personalized emails to customers with location-specific offers, promotions or announcements. It is important to ensure that when the customers click on the link in the email, they are also directed to a corresponding personalized landing page, ensuring they stay engaged and take action like making a purchase, booking a service, etc.

Examples of Brands Engaging in Location-Based Personalization

More and more companies are integrating location-based personalization strategies to increase customer engagement and conversions. Some real-life examples include:

Amazon

Amazon incorporates location-based personalization to show its customers based outside of the US only those products that ship to their respective countries. For example, a Pakistani resident is shown the following homepage:

Netflix

Netflix uses its customers location information to provide a highly personalized user experience. It not only provides personalized product recommendations based on customer past browsing history but also their geographical location to suggest 'Top 10 Movies' and 'Top 10 Shows' in their respective country.

Macy's

Macy's uses customer location data effectively to display personalized homepages with location specific header image and discount offers. It also uses location data effectively to display season specific product ranges based on customer's geographical location. Furthermore, customers outside the US are shown product prices displayed in their local currency to ensure shopping with ease!

Macy's homepage for US customers:

Macy's homepage for its Australian customers has a location specific header section:

Huda Beauty

Huda Beauty incorporates location-based personalization effectively by personalizing its homepage using customer location. It not only displays the prices in the local currency of the customer using customer location information, but also displays its navigation bar in the customer's local language to provide maximum support in keeping the customer engaged and ready to purchase!

Huda Beauty's homepage for US citizens, has product prices in US dollars and information displayed in English:

Huda Beauty's homepage for its Saudi Arabian customers has a navigation bar in Arabic and product prices displayed in SAR.

AccuWeather

Weather website AccuWeather also uses location-based personalization to automatically determine the location of its users and show weather updates accordingly, while at the same time giving them the option to manually enter location information as well.

Challenges of Location-Based Personalization

Even though there are many benefits associated with practicing location-based personalization, and companies all over the world are incorporating this strategy, location-based personalization does come with its own set of challenges.

Collecting location data

The first challenge faced by all companies when starting out with location-based personalization is gathering precise customer location data. This can be a challenge, as sometimes customers may use non-GPS devices or might have disabled their location services, making it impossible to collect information.

Segmenting users

The second challenge consists of segmenting and grouping users effectively according to their location. This can be a challenge, as even though some users belong to a particular location, they can still have different needs and preferences, making it confusing to decide how to best group customers for effective personalization.

Ensuring data privacy

Collecting and using customer location data is not enough. Companies also need to ensure that sensitive information is used respectfully and stored properly to avoid being misused. Many customers are not comfortable with online businesses collecting and tracking their location. Furthermore, data privacy laws have also made things difficult, as they impose transparency and forbid companies from collecting user information without consent!

However, a recent study concluded that 74% of US customers are willing to share their personal information with brands and retailers, the main motivation being to receive personalized offers and early access to promotions and sales. Companies can thus manage privacy concerns by openly disclosing how they use and store location information in their privacy policies, while also using data encryption programs and robust security systems to safeguard customer location information.

Personalizing website content effectively

Deciding how to implement location-based personalization effectively can also be a challenge for many companies. Despite having clear goals, it can still be difficult for companies to decide how to effectively deliver personalized content and offers to its customers.

This is where Relevic comes in!

Relevic offers a one stop solution to all your personalization problems. Their experienced team of marketing professionals provides consultation services to answer all your personalization related queries, while their personalization tool allows you to create different page variations for different locations to effectively personalize for different user groups.

So don't waste time and start personalizing with Relevic today!

Final Thoughts

Location-based personalization is the need of the hour, with more and more brands hopping on the bandwagon. Despite having some hiccups, it is still an effective way to enhance user experience and a sure-fire way to increase your online sales. So, call Relevic consultants for a heads-up and start your personalization journey today!

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