Colin Eagan IA for Personalization IA Summit 2016

IA for Personalization: Five Steps Toward Building Thoughtful Targeted Experiences | by Colin Eagan | IA Summit | May 7, 2016 @colineags #ias16

TARGETED EXPERIENCESBY COLIN EAGAN, M.S.IA Summit | May 7, 2016

PERSONALIZATIONFIVE STEPS TOWARD BUILDING THOUGHTFUL

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE FOR


COLIN EAGANPLEASED TO MEET YOU.

PRINCIPAL, USER EXPERIENCE | ICF OLSON

@colineags #ias16

HIA IA

(Today’s Topic)


TODAY WE WILL:

EXPLORE AN EXCITING NEW IA POWER: TARGETED USER CONTENT

LEARN HOW TO USE IT FOR GOOD OR FOR EVIL

LEAVE YOU WITH A CHOICE


BUT FIRST, SOME

NUMBERSEveryone loves numbers.


Average number of times the online activity of an average internet user is tracked daily

Source: Acxiom Corp


Yearly value to Facebook of a female user who is “very active” on the site (males are worth $22.09).

Facebook has 1.65 Billion Users as of Q2 2016.

Sources: Acxiom Corp; Facebook Newsroom.


What a “relatively inactive” female user is worth to Facebook per year (inactive males are worth $9.09)

Source: Acxiom Corp


ALL OF THESE NUMBERS HAVESOMETHING TO DO WITH THE VALUE OF

USER TARGETINGFeeling small?


WHAT IS TARGETING?AND WHY DO I CARE.

Glad you asked.

@colineags #ias16IA for Personalization: Five Steps Toward Building Thoughtful Targeted Experiences | by Colin Eagan | IA Summit | May 7, 2016

Just as responsive design helps push a

personalized viewing experience to a user’s

screen, targeting helps push a personalized

experience to the user’s content itself.

Simply put, Targeted Content means it is

adaptive to some unique user trait -- be it

something as general as location, or specific

as a browsing history.

The Classic Example: Amazon has targeted users based on data for years.

Credit: Amazon.com

WHAT IS TARGETED CONTENT?

NOTHING NEW.


TARGETED = CUSTOMIZED BASED ON DATA


Used properly, targeting can dramatically improve the user

experience, saving time and creating trust. Amazon.com has

been doing it effectively for years.

FOR GOOD…


An innocent search for a muffin recipe fills your browser

with ads from HP for printers. (Note, this is the actual

sales promo from an online advertising company).

Source: Flashtalking Online Advertising. http://www.flashtalking.com/us/targeted-ads/

FOR…GOOD?

WTF?


ALSO KNOWN AS

STALKER ADSAs in upon seeing one, you might feel a bit like this…

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TARGETING THAT LEAVES A BAD TASTE

Ad

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In November 2015, started collecting data on the apps

users have installed on their smartphones.

Not just apps they installed from app-install ads on

Twitter, but any app a user downloaded.

It recently started letting advertisers use that data to

target ads.

Facebook has been in the app-install ad market since

2012, part of it’s current $1.95 billion+ / quarter in

revenue from mobile ads

Source: Motley Fool, June 18, 2015

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/06/18/twitter-starts-

using-your-apps-to-target-ads.aspx

TWITTER USES YOUR APPS TO TARGET ADS

AS OF LATE…


LinkedIn’s “Add Connections” feature led users

to send hundreds of spammy, intrusive emails.

Now, the company will pay to settle a lawsuit.

The settlement documents, which state the

lawyers will receive up to $3,250,000 of the

$13 million, also call for LinkedIn to add

$750,000 to the fund if it appears individual

payments will be below $10.

Source: Fortune Magazine, October 5, 2015

http://fortune.com/2015/10/05/linkedin-class-action/

LINKEDIN TO PAY OUT $13M IN CLASS ACTION SUIT FOR HIJACKING YOUR IDENTITY VIA EMAIL

EVEN MORE RECENT: ANYONE GETTING IN ON THIS?

http://www.addconnectionssettlement.com/case-documents.aspx


Source: AdThis.com

YAHOO’S HOMEPAGE IS JUST PRETY MUCH ALL TARGETING (NOT THAT YOU GO THERE ANYWAY)


WHAT ABOUT FACEBOOK TARGETING?DO YOU TRUST THEM?

Source: AdThis.com


At its worst, tracking invades privacy and

erodes user trust

The Belgian privacy commission is taking

Facebook to court for its alleged “trampling”

over Belgian and European privacy law.

The lawsuit will be heard in a Brussels after a

report and an opinion published by the

Belgian privacy watchdog that detailed

Facebook’s alleged breaches of European

privacy law, including the tracking of non-

users and logged out users for advertising

purposes.

-via The Guardian June 15, 2015

THE EUROPEAN UNION DOESN’T…


BACKLASH: COOKIES ARE CLOSELY REGULATED IN THE E.U.

European Union (EU)

regulations now require

sites to inform users if

cookies are active on the

site they are viewing

Source: UPS.com


Cookies are small text files sent from a web server and stored in a user's browser to track “stateful” information, like shopping cart.

According to Pew Research, 64% of users have cleared cookies. 41% disable cookies in browser.

14% use an anonymous browsing service, like Evidon's Ghostery and Mozilla's Lightbeam

These services (both free) let users see which cookies are on their browser, delete them one by one and block future ones from being placed.

Source: Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304704504579432823496404570

BACKLASH: MORE AND MORE USERS ARE BLOCKING COOKIES


Example of Mashable.com on my Chrome browser session with Ghostery enabled (notice the missing content chunks).

Ghostery can block over 1900 trackers and counting (here one is DoubleClick, Google’s internet ad subsidiary).

BACKLASH: GHOSTERY CAN BLOCK OVER 1900 TRACKERS

Source: Ghostery.com


BUT IT’S HARD TO RUN…

Facebook's "Year in Review" was intended to highlight and herald your best moments of 2014. But for some, the feature only brought back bad memories of the past 12 months.

This user’s boyfriend’s apartment had caught fire earlier that year.

Via CBS News December 29, 2014, 12:09 PM

Source: CBS News


EVEN WORSE.

This user received a photo of ashes of his dead father.

Source: CBS News


“INADVERTANT ALGORITHMIC CRUELTY”

In one of the most disturbing examples, web designer and speaker Eric Meyer was shown a photo of his daughter who had died earlier that year, surrounded by images of people having a party.

Meyer called it “inadvertent algorithmic cruelty.” Facebook later apologized.

Source: CBS News

WITH POWER COMES

RESPONSIBILITY.


AND YET DESPITE ALL THAT…


IF YOU ASK TEN MARKETERS…


Data based on a survey of 1,506 marketing and communications executives worldwide, representing all major industries. The survey was conducted in the fall of 2014, and follows a similar survey conducted in 2013.

9/10 MARKETERS CAN AGREE!9/10 Marketers agree “personalization is the way of the future.”

This is us agreeing.


HOWEVER IF YOU LOOK AT SPEND…


Before people get to your site

After people get to your site

MARKETING $$ IS HIGHLY SKEWEDFor every 92 marketing dollars spent trying to lure users to their sites, companies spent only one dollar trying to keep them there.

$92

$1

Source: AddThis: “Website Personalization: What It Is and How It Can Help Increase Conversions on Your Site.” Published May 2015


MARKETING $$ IS HIGHLY SKEWED

$92After people

get to your site

*TODAY WE

ARE TALKING ABOUT THIS EMPTY WHITE SPACE HERE

For every 92 marketing dollars spent trying to lure users to their sites, companies spent only one dollar trying to keep them there.


THIS TALK IS ABOUT

PERSONALIZED UXON YOUR OWN WEBSITE

INTELLIGENTLY DESIGNING


OK, GREAT.WHAT DOES THAT MEAN.


Traditionally, the average UX

person didn’t have much of a role

in targeted ads (marketing) or e-

commerce (proprietary algorithms

like Amazons.)

Now the advent of robust, out-of-

the-box targeting platforms from

big names like Adobe and Sitecore

has democratized the landscape

WHAT’S CHANGED FOR IA PEROPLE: ENTER THE “EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM”

$40k -- $300k + 20% annuallyASP.NET, C#

$40k -- $500k + 20% annuallyASP.NET, C#

$140k -- $1.2M + 20% annuallyJAVA

*Pricing data from: Berndt, John. “Personalization Mechanics: Targeted Content for Web Teams of All Sizes.” March 10, 2015.

NB: Colin has zero interest in promoting any of these

products, other than making you more knowledgeable

about them


LET YOU CREATE TARGETED VERSIONS OF YOUR OWN SITE Entire experiences can be targeted, from the images and copy to background colors.

FOR “HER”

FOR “HIM”


JUST A FEW GLOBAL BRANDS USING SOME KIND OF “EMS” TODAY


LESS EXPENSIVE (SORTA): THIRD PARTY “OPTIMIZATION SYSTEMS”

$20k -- $250k / year

(a “Drupal Hybrid”)$20k -- $100k / year

$100k+ / yearly (custom pricing)

$100k+ / yearly (custom pricing)

Can be “plugged in” to any existing site by

inserting some JavaScript in the header of

pages (similar to analytics tagging).

Segmentation and content management is

handled in external tool, not your CMS

“All-inclusive” pricing w/ hosting can be

better for higher-traffic sites

*Pricing data from: Berndt, John. “Personalization Mechanics: Targeted Content for Web Teams of All Sizes.” March 10, 2015.


IF YOU’RE NOT USING TARGETING YET, OR YOUR CLIENTS AREN’T YET, CHANCES ARE THAT WILL CHANGE QUICKLY. AND YOU NEED TO BE PREPARED.

YOU WILL HAVE

A CHOICE.


Next we will look at the essentials for putting together a targeted information design using a standard experience management platform, including…

1. Goals & Objectives The Why2. Audiences & Segments The Who3. Rules & Campaign The What 4. Testing & Analytics The So What5. Learn from Others The Whatcha Done

WHAT WE’LL LOOK AT NEXT


TARGETING STRATEGYSTEP 1 | DO WE EVEN NEED TARGETING?

Does the pool have water in it?


GOOD REASONS TO TARGET• Your audience can be segmented in ways that are meaningful• Narrowing your message provides incremental value• Targeting is tied to specific business KPIs or objectives

• Because we can.• Some variation there of.

WHAT TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU START

BAD REASONS TO TARGET


1. Like any other content project, begin with intent2. You still need to determine your core principles and goals3. The question now is how (or if) targeted content can further

those goals

REMEMBER!

TARGETING ITSELF IS NOT A GOAL. IT’S JUST ANOTHER TOOL IN THE IA TOOL BOX.


EXAMPLE: CONTENT GUIDING PRINCIPLES


AUDIENCE SEGMENTSSTEP 2 | WHO ARE WE TALKING TO?

Once you have your mission, you can begin segmenting your audience.


WHAT’S A SEGMENT?

Segments are similar to personas that UX teams have used for years – a group of users with some distinguishing trait, like age, interest, or location.

Generally speaking, targeting can be either: 1. Segment Based (all males 50+) 2. Algorithm Based (previous purchases,

clickstream, etc)

For our purposes, we’ll look at how to set up Segment-Based targeting, since this is how many EMSs are set up.


SEGMENTS ARE DETERMINED BY DATA

BEHAVIORAL TRAITS

Pages Visited Duration of Visit Frequency of Visit Search Terms Used Site Referred From Interest on other sites

(determined using tools like Spyjax.)

DEMOGRAPHIC TRAITS

Age Income Family size Marital status Gender Location

Examples: Site User Profile Google Ad Planner FaceBook Connect

DemandBase (B2B)

This is how we know who is who. Typically these will be fed through some type of targeting data exchange to be accessed by the CMS.


Logged in; My Profile

USER DATA: TWO TYPES TO KNOW ABOUT

“Explicit Data” “Implicit Data”

Explicit data is based on something the user tells us directly, such as via profile information. Implicit data if something we infer, such as via geo-location.


SOME DATA IS BETTER THAN OTHERSSegments are identified by user data, either implicit or explicit

User Profile Data• Authenticated• Based on info in

your own database

Third Party Data, e.g.• DemandBase

(IP, business type)• Maxmind

(geo-location)

Cookie-based, e.g.• Session preferences• Cart or guest account• Session history


•

••

•

•

•

•

DARK ARTSLess transparentAvailable—for a priceHighly unpredictable

HAPPY PLACEUsers provide data openlyHard to buy or fakeReliable, if you can get it

SOME DATA IS BETTER THAN OTHERSSegments are identified by user data, either implicit or explicit


BIG BROKER IS WATCHING YOU.

• In 2014 the Federal Trade Commission released a very interesting report on lack of transparency among data brokers

• Axciom, one of the largest in the US, claims to have more than 3,000 data points on nearly every citizen in the US

• Some are what you might expect, such as race, gender, age

• Other’s get very specific very quickly

Source: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/reports/data-brokers-call-transparency-accountability-report-federal-trade-commission-may-2014/140527databrokerreport.pdf


BIG BROKER IS WATCHING YOU.

•

•


RACEGENDER

AGEOCCUPATION

MARITAL STATUSPOLITICAL AFFILIATION

HOME OWNERSHIPVEHICLE OWNERSHIPHOUSEHOLD INCOME


GAMBLERSMOKER

GUN PURCHASER“BIBLE LIFESTYLE”

SPORTY LIVINGBIKER / HELL’S ANGELS

ALLERGY SUFFERER“LEANS LEFT”

FINANCIALLY CHALLENGEDPLUS-SIZE APPAREL

“DIABETES INTEREST” WORKING CLASS MOM


• There is a fine line between providing helpful personalization and betraying user trust.

• No form of targeting is inherently good or evil, but it’s how you deploy it

• Users will tend to invite personalized content provided it’s helpful and you are transparent in your methods

• A good place to start would be to invite users to “self-identify” by giving you information, like profile data

• If you want to dabble in implicit data, make sure you’re being as up-front as possible

• Give users a way to “opt out” if they are uncomfortable

LESSONS!


LET’S PRETEND…THIS IS ALL GETTING A BIT ABSTRACT, SO


We want to target busy creative professionals who travel regularly

What online content should we create to give us an edge?


Research suggests that $1 spent on business travel can generate $9.50 in revenue and $2.90 in profits.*

That’s good!

But there are also hidden costs: Travel is stressful.

(That’s bad.)*Source: HEC, Carlson Wagonlit

SO WE DO SOME RESEARCH…


So our first idea is to start a content campaign that takes the stress out of travel. The traditional method would be “one size fits all.”

But that makes a lot of assumptions – what does “stressful” even mean? Is it the same for everyone?

What if we look at it by audience…

WHAT CONTENT SHOULD WE CREATE?


Survey of 7,400 global managers accustomed to travel.Source: Harvard Business Review. Data from HEC, Carlson Wagonlit


Survey of 7,400 global managers accustomed to travel.Source: Harvard Business Review. Data from HEC, Carlson Wagonlit


• Support Staff Male• Associate Staff Male• Manager Male• Director Male• VP Male• Senior Exec Male

• Support Staff Female• Associate Staff Female• Manager Female• Director Female• VP Female• Senior Exec Female

So we could potentially set up 12 segments in our system. For our pilot campaign, let’s limit our focus to Senior Execs, male and female.

IDENTIFYING SEGMENTS FOR PILOT


EXAMPLE: SETTING UP A SEGMENT IN ADOBE

Client Context: Male Sr Exec from USGender = male is a basic business rule. Can get more complex. Advanced segmentation is more like JavaScript

Credit: Adobe


EXAMPLE: SEGMENTS & CAMPAIGN WORKSHEET

Credit: ICF Interactive

Helps you to organize your segments and which content campaigns to show them



EXAMPLE: TARGETING USE CASEHelps to illustrate how targeted content will improve the experience of a user segment


RULES & CAMPAIGNSSTEP 3 | WHAT ARE WE GOING TO SAY?

We know who we want to talk to.Now how and when do we say it?


OUR PILOT CAMPAIGN: IDEAS TO SHOW SR EXECS

Ad for Business Class

Service

List of Flight Cancelations

Links to priority web

content

Travel tips to reduce stress

If we knew they were visiting our site, what would we say?

Art Credit: ICF Interactive


Let’s say we have our homepage with typical zones. Using our CMS, we can configure each zone to show different targeted content depending on who is visiting.

Rules are “if then” statements, typically applied at the component level.

A campaign is a set of rules that work together to create an experience.

OUR SITE: DETERMINING TARGETABLE ZONES


Understanding these types will help you determine what type of targeting rule to create and where you would like to show it on your site.

Show this user time-sensitive informationE.g. A delay or cancelation impacting this user

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TARGETED CONTENT MODEL: FOUR KEY TYPES

Promote site functions useful to this userE.g. Navigation options helpful to this user

Task at Hand

Big Picture

Notify this user of relevant products or services E.g. Ad for a product or service we think user will like

Notify this user of relevant (non-sales) contentE.g. Blog content, articles, social content, etc.


A list of flight cancelations in real time.

Some shortcuts to Priority web content.

An ad for new Business Class Service.

Tips on Trip Prep (male)Tips on Destination (female)

Understanding these types will help you determine what type of targeting rule to create and where you would like to show it on your site.

APPLYING THE MODEL: WHAT TO SHOW SR EXECS

If Sr Exec, Then Show:C

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In

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DEFAULT STATE: WE DON’T KNOW WHO USER IS


IF SR. EXEC FEMALE: TARGETING CAMPAIGN SHOWS THIS:

Note, we’re NOT even using the main banner zone

here. Targeting can be more than just ads!


IF SR. EXEC MALE: TARGETING CAMPAIGN SHOWS THIS:

Neat.



EXAMPLE: TARGETING ZONE CHART


CONTENT MODELINGAND NOW LET’S PAUSE FOR A BRIEF WORD ON

How does the system “know” what content to show someone?


TAGGING & TAXONOMIES: CREATING SEMANTICALLY RICH CONTENT

Tags help the system knows what content to fetch to show. Tags can be organized into taxonomies

For example, we might tag content for audience “Sr Exec” or by type “Priority Content.”

Clickstream CloudAs the user navigates, you can capture tags related to pages they look at. For example, Basic products vs Expert. You can tag content with this. Video could be more expert vs basic. Credit: Adobe


Credit: Sara Wachter Boettcher

• Helps define relationshipsbetween content

• Informs how you set up content types in your CMS

• Helps you create your taxonomy and metadata schema

• Can also help with things like search results

EXAMPLE: BASIC HIGH-LEVEL CONTENT MODEL


A BIT MORE COMPLEX…



TESTING & ANALYTICSSTEP 4 | HOW DO WE KNOW IT WORKS?

The “so what.”


DOES IT WORK?

Personalization ability is only as good as your ability to measure it. KPIs are key to proving that targeting is improving your business goals. Examples:

Agency TBG now estimates that their clients who implement personalized content can see a 10-20% lift in key performance indicators, such as sales.1

By adding personalized recommendations to it’s online store, shoemaker Rockport reported an increase in average order value by 32% and conversion rate by 10%. 2

On the B2B side, the data backup firm Iron Mountain was able to increase their referrals for health care clients by an impressive 123% when they showed a personalized message on their homepage, according to partner Demandbase.3

1 Berndt, John. “Personalization Mechanics: Targeted Content for Web Teams of All Sizes.” March 10, 2015.2 “Predictions 2015: Invest in Customer Insights To Activate Contextual Marketing.” Forrester Research. November 10, 2014.3 Demandbase also reported a 115% increase in the small to medium business segment using a similar approach. Source: Strohmeyer, Robert. “Driving Conversion Through B2B Personalization.” March 5, 2015.


EXAMPLE: CHILDREN’S NATIONAL REDESIGN BY TBG

Built on the Sitecore CMS.

Can target content based on what a user has viewed, such as showing a neurology patient story to a user who viewed neurology content.

Using a Maxmind IP geolocation service, is able to do some very precise things—like target high-value customers from parts of the Middle East with content for the Sheikh Zayed Institute.

According to data from TBG, the new personalized design resulted in an improvement in all major site metrics measured, including a 161.45% increase in session duration.1

Personalized content is proving to be an important ingredient in this overall picture.

1 TBG reported 15% increase in page views, and a 161.45% increase in session duration. The new site also increased site-based donations by 54%. You can read the complete case study at http://www.berndtgroup.net/projects/portfolio/childrens-national-website-redesign-and-cms-implementation


Chase Bank recently shifted its focus from being the low-cost provider of credit cards to ramping up customer experience.

Ford Motor and its agency Team Detroit plan, execute, and measure based on whether customers are researching or buying a car

By adding personalized recommendations to its online store, the shoemaker increased its average order value by 32% and conversion rate by 10%.

BUT WILL IT WORK FOR ME?

JUST A FEW NON-TECH BRANDS THAT TARGET

Wells Fargo’s Latest ATM UI Reshapes Its Functionality Based On Your Transaction History

McCormick uses the customer’s flavor profile to surface relevant recipe and product recommendations.

Source: Forrester Research. November 10, 2014. Predictions 2015: Invest In Customer Insights To Activate Contextual Marketing


READY TO START?WHAT’S THAT? YOU’RE CONVINCED AND TOTALLY

Just a few things to consider before you hurt yourself…


YOU MAY STILL NEED SOME WORK IF…• You don’t have enough content to make targeting useful

• You don’t have enough staff to maintain targeted content

• Your content is not semantically rich – you need a taxonomy, metadata, etc.

• You don’t have a CMS that supports it

• You don’t have analytics and tracking in place to gain insights and adjust

BEST PRACTICES FOR WHEN YOU’RE READY• Start segmenting traffic on your CURRENT site. Third party providers like

DemandBase can start showing you IP based user data asap.

• Role out campaigns iteratively. Avoid “big bang” approaches. This allows you to

tune both your business approach and your technical infrastructure

• Never stop testing. Audiences change over time as consumers learn more about

your products, make purchases, read reviews, and are influenced by other

products and information in the outside world.


REMEMBER: IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE COMPLEX. Even if your organization doesn’t have a fancy targeting platform, you can start thinking in that mindset.

Source: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/articles/one-to-one-personalisation-will-boost-conversion-rates/646

In a survey of digital marketing managers, 92% of respondents claimed to offer a level of personalization in their email communications.

QUESTIONWhat’s the number one method

of customer personalization used today?

ANSWEREmail.

AND YOU TOO

CAN TAKE BACK

TARGETED

CONTENT

FOR GOOD.


THANK YOU@colineags

#ias16


*BONUS READING!

Approaching Content Strategy for Personalized Websites

Illu

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ation b

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e A

lteri

o

http://alistapart.com/article/approaching-content-strategy-for-personalized-websites

Technology

Colin Eagan IA for Personalization IA Summit 2016