optimisation is the new black

Optimisation

is the new black.

DIGITAL EXPRESSO | NOVEMBER 2016

“Optimisation… is the new black” | Forbes Magazine 2015


“Math… is the new black” | Econsultancy 2013


“Content… is the new black” | Content Marketing Institute

2011


“Big Data… is the new black” | Said everyone 2013


“Mobile… is the new black” | Everyone still saying


“[Insert Buzzword]… is the new black” | In this industry there’s

always a new black.


An act, process, or methodology of making something (as a design, system, or decision) as fully perfect, functional, or effective as possible; specifically : the mathematical procedures (as finding the maximum of a function) involved in this.SOURCE: www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/optimization

Optimisation: [op-tuh-muh-zey-shuh n]


We see there being two distinct kinds of digital optimisation:

Optimisation through Testing

vs.

1.

AX Y X

show

they did

Optimisation through

Personalisation

2.


What we’re talking about

today:

AX Y X

show

they did

Optimisation through

Personalisation

2.


Personalisation is all about

relevance.

what you want to say

what they’re interested in

Relevance


And it’s easy right?


We’ve got the…


So why are we struggling?We think there are two key reasons why.


Which makes governing the digital experience difficult and limits the depth that we can personalise.

1#The majority of tools are rule-based.


It’s a mapping exercise.Where does this need to happen?

Where

Homepage, Category page, Product pages

What is the single most distinguishing factor about the audience?

Audience

Prospect

What other things can digital tell us about this audience to paint a clearer picture of their needs?

Attribute 1 Attribute 2

Life Stage (single)

Age range (20-30)

What digital information can the website gather to understand what the audience is trying to achieve?

Scenario

Looked at a credit card 3 times in the last 5 days

If a person demonstrating this intent walked into a branch, what would the customer service rep do/say?

Business Rule

Re-assure with brand and product value proposition

What is the digital version of this? What needs to change on the site to deliver on the business rule?

What

Change tag lines in relation to Life Stage and Age Range

Audience Attribute 1 Attribute 2 Scenario Business Rule What Where


Audience segmentation can make rule based get big

fast…

16 Geotribes9 life stages2 genders8 age ranges5 defection scores

11,520 combinations

=


So it gets put in the too hard basket…


What needs to happen to help deliver personalisation with more complex audience

segments?


Automation.

Advanced machine learning algorithms.

Automated personalisation uses visitor data to match the most relevant experience with a given visitor (basically “letting the machine do it for you”).

It’s really useful when you are not sure which rules are most effective – so its solves that ROI problem. Over time, the algorithm learns to predict the most effective ‘thing’, for example content to achieve your goal.

This is what the tech giants use to personalise the digital experience. Think Facebook, Netflix and Amazon – in fact Amazon originates 35% of sales through it’s automated personalisation strategy.


Are there any Australian brands playing in this space?


Australia Post saw a 35% uplift in conversions using automated personalisation.

It’s a big risk to dedicate resources and budget to automated personalisation experiments.

We helped Australia Post engineer a test to determine if automated personalisation would work better than rule-based.

The automation experiment used a random forest algorithm to determine the best content to show a visitor based on their behavior.

The test proved that automated personalisation did in fact drive better and faster results than rule-based automation – resulting in a 35% uplift against the control.

We are now helping Australia Post scale-up automated personalisation across the wider business.


Should all Australian brands roll out automated personalisation?


Automation can be costly and resource heavy – and probably not a viable option for every day

Australian brands just yet.

=


So our advice, if you are tackling personalisation is to start simple.


Start here.

SOURCE: HUGE INC.

Business rules-based logic. Manage the process between rule-based logic and algorithmic includes operations, analytics, content and testing.

Machine-based, algorithmic learning to make personalised recommendations.


Just pick 1 audience. Pick one scenario, for example Repeat Customers.

Lets not make this too big – we don’t want to build 11500 variations to start with.


Do we know:• what they just looked at?• if they abandoned something?• what they bought last?

Don’t over complicate it. A lot of the time, people jump to the end goal – the vision, and that’s when it’ll get complex.

Start with the most

differentiating thing you know about a visitor.


Companies are not ready to invest in the people power needed to run personalisation.

2#


A typical adoption

curve.


What makes a difference?

People.


“Technology, data, strategy. These are necessary elements to make personalisation function…


But people — the importance placed on developing and enabling talent in your marketing organisation — they are what make personalisation thrive and succeed.”

-SOURCE: SCOTT BRINKER


To succeed there must be a willingness from stakeholders and management, giving

permission for teams to try and fail (and oodles of platform training).

‘Doh!’ ‘’Whoops!’ ‘Darn it!’


“Optimisation… is the new black” | Digital Balance 2016


Start here.

SOURCE: HUGE INC.

Business rules-based logic.


Thank you.www.digitalbalance.com.au

Digital Balance Melbourne +61 3 9020 7340 Perth +61 8 9227 8073 [email protected]