In the past year, the trend towards greater personalization has increased. The technology to enable it has also grown. A brand must demonstrate that it listens to customers and adapts to their needs in order to maintain loyal customers.

Unfortunately,

It can lead to customer loss if there is a delay in processing data and making these changes. Predictive solutions can also be a hindrance.

A company’s ability to personalize its UX and make contextually-based interactions can improve their efforts to reach modern customers.

Businesses must be aware of the importance of content personalization and how to use existing products to enable their apps to instantly respond to context and deliver what customers want.

Understanding the Need

App developers have access to a wealth of data that can help them understand how to improve their apps to adapt to users’ contexts.

Using data already collected by smartphones,

This allows creators to customize the experience and demonstrate to users that the app is truly valuable. This customization is essential as more companies and developers are entering the market. It convinces users to ignore the noise of similar apps competing for their attention.

The app competition benefits the users as it encourages companies to add value to their businesses. Apps must be integrated seamlessly into the lives of users faster and more efficiently because there is competition. Apps must be adaptable to changing customer requirements. An app must deliver the message that customers want, despite all the competition for their attention.

Keep it Simple

Although this concept might seem complex, it is actually not. The app does not need to read the minds of users, but it can just appear to do so. It is how easily suggestions and features are implemented that will determine the benefit for both the user and the company offering the service.

A company app should be able to offer users something they can use every day as users go about their daily lives.

It’s easy to create a coupon for a local grocery store by notifying your phone when you are in the parking lot.

Designing Contextual Personalization

This data context is what industry professionals refer to. This data context gives the program all the information it needs in order to provide a personalized experience to the user. If the data changes, the app can change the item or send another one. This flexibility shows that the app values customers’ time and is willing to assist them in a specific way.

Although this type of customization is easy to understand, it is not simple to do. The complexity of real time personalization makes it more difficult to develop an app, which increases both the cost and the time required to deliver.

Companies are now able to acquire information from any source and route that data to companies that need it to personalize their apps.

An App Should Adapt

Some apps do not need to personalize the user experience to the extent described here. Retail, financial and hospitality businesses are the ones that most benefit from real-time personalization for their customers. Below is a breakdown:

1. Retail

These companies thrive by satisfying their customers’ needs and wants. These changes are constantly changing, depending on the context, and can vary from one customer to another.

Customers can be affected by factors outside the company’s control. They might be compelled to purchase a sweater because of the cold front. Professional bags may be required for a new job.

In these instances,

A software app that adapts to the available data could make the difference between a sale or a lost customer.

The app could offer discounts on warm clothing such as sweaters and coats if it interfaces with a weather station and detects a cold front coming in. This could be done while the customer is inside the store, or while they are sitting on the couch watching the news.

Imagine a customer browsing flights and hotels, and the app offers discounts on seasonal items such as sunglasses, swimsuits and ski jackets. Apps are able to adapt quickly to customer behavior. This app shows the customer value by showing that it values their time and wants to give more value.   

2. Financial

Apps from banks and other financial institutions are viewed as functional tools that provide convenience in managing their finances.

Now,

What if the app could also keep track of a customer’s financial status, such as car insurance? USAA’s app is a great example of a mobile app that can provide personalized experiences that are real-time and customizable based on the information it already has, while also merging this data with other information.

This is how it looks;

The app uses location data to determine if a user is near a bank or may require transportation. The app displays an ad for Uber and a taxi, giving the user a discount.

Even if the coupon is not used,

This app provided a service that users might have used, which shows how much the financial company values their patronage more than just financial patronage.

A coupon for tax services could be provided to the customer as the new year begins, either internally or through a partnership service. The app offers a discount for seasonal services right when the customer is most likely to need them.

3. Hospitality

Everyone who has ever stayed in a hotel or traveled to one will have seen a display of brochures in their lobby. Customers see local experiences as they wait to be served, adding value to their stay. This service is an excellent example of contextual marketing in Miami. You are unlikely to find a helicopter tour to the Grand Canyon in New York City while you’re there, but you will see them at Las Vegas hotels.

An app for hotels that collects information from the user during registration, such as favorite activities or foods, to provide customized offers specific to the area.

The app can display personalized ads when the user approaches specific locations, such as Uber or Lyft, based on the location data and an itinerary that has been saved to the phone.

A company or developer can communicate directly with customers or users by using real-time contextual personalization.

This adaptability shows that the company values its users and wants to make the user’s experience as positive as possible. If done correctly, users will be drawn to the app as their interactions improve the app’s ability to provide more value.

This interaction improves app use and increases the chance that users will share it with others. A company gets something in return for this: a dedicated salesforce that they don’t need to pay and one that feels valued because they are interested. Both the company and the customer benefit from this win-win arrangement.