Every CMO is concerned with how to deliver a premium customer experience with every interaction. They admire marquee brands like Amazon, Uber and Starbucks who are winning because of their attention to the individual. They recognize that the competition for engagement across the customer lifecycle is stiff, and they’re looking for ways to engage customers in personalized two-way digital conversations at scale.

As we recently covered in What is Predictive Intelligence—and Why Should Every Marketer Care? Predictive Intelligence is key to delivering content unique to each customer in real time—whether they are interacting on the web, email, or mobile or through a call center. Next, let’s go inside a predictive journey for a more in-depth look.

How Consumers Experience Predictive Intelligence

To further understand how Predictive Intelligence works, consider a buying journey from a customer’s perspective and how Predictive Intelligence helps to provide a personalized experience each step of the way.

Suppose you’re in the market for a new digital camera. You start your search on Google, and are directed to a website you’ve never visited before. You’re still in the exploratory phase, so you compare several different models of high-end cameras. As you’re evaluating each option, you are presented with similar models for consideration. You didn’t realize there were so many choices—so you decide to come back when you have more time.

Behind the Scenes: Predictive Intelligence detects your browser footprint, and begins tracking your browsing activity. This is the first step in building a profile for unknown users like you. Meanwhile, the website is presenting you with similar cameras for consideration. This is powered by Predictive Intelligence—the recommendations provided were considered by other shoppers when evaluating similar cameras.

The next day, you go back to the site…but things look different. The home page now features three of the cameras you previously viewed, and includes an offer to use your Facebook credentials to receive a 10 percent discount. You accept and moments later, receive a personalized email with a coupon for any camera on the site. You’re anxious to save some money, so you click the offer and add a camera to your cart. But then you have second thoughts—you should really do more research. You close your browser without buying.

Behind the Scenes: Predictive Intelligence recognized your unique ID stored via a tracking beacon, and instantly reconfigured the home page to display a selection of cameras that you previously viewed. By offering you a 10 percent discount in exchange for logging in with your Facebook credentials, it converted you from an unknown shopper to a known shopper and collected your social profile. This is a critical step. With Predictive Intelligence, the retailer can now connect the activities that were tracked with your unique ID to all future actions you take. It also enables them to use the knowledge gained through your web viewing to personalize your email offer.

Later that evening, you return to the site, and this time there is a message welcoming you back and asking if you’d like to define your content preferences. You answer a series of brief questions about your level of expertise, intended use, desired features, price range, etc. The site then presents you with camera options that meet your preferences.

Behind the Scenes: Predictive Intelligence helps you to refine your evaluation with the preference center. Each question you answer adds to your profile and enables the retailer to custom-tailor your buying experience across channels.

You then notice you’ve received another personalized email from the retailer—this time, they’re offering a 25 percent discount, good for 24 hours, on the two models you like. After weighing the benefits of each, you make your decision, click the coupon redemption code, and complete the transaction.

Behind the Scenes: Not only is the email personalized to you, the offer is specific to the two cameras that best fit your needs. Once again, Predictive Intelligence uses the information gathered through your online viewing for all communications. And because you came close to purchasing—but dropped your cart—it detects the activity and automatically sends you a discount offer.

A few days later, your camera arrives—you love the quality and how you can use Bluetooth to automatically upload photos to your smart phone. As you’re showing off your latest snapshots to your husband, you see that you’ve received an SMS message from the retailer. They’re offering a great deal on a camera bag that fits your exact model. You want to protect your purchase, so why not?

Behind the Scenes: Predictive Intelligence recognized your purchase, and initiated a relevant offer via mobile. It was timed to arrive shortly after you received your camera.

The Beauty of Predictive Intelligence

Compare the shopping journey we just reviewed with a typical buying experience. Each and every interaction—from the web to email to mobile—was custom tailored for an audience of one. No mass communications or hit or miss segmentation. It was a truly personal, 1-to-1 experience. As marketers, isn’t that our goal for everything we do?

Interested in learning more? Contact us today, or check out Forrester’s take on Predictive Intelligence in Refresh Your Approach to Marketing: How Real-Time Automation Elevates Personalization.