This article was originally written by Avanade alum Paul Murphy.

Marketers are under an incredible amount of pressure from stakeholders, agencies and consumers who are all expecting them to do more with the customer data that they’re collecting.

Today, personalization isn’t a differentiator, it’s a given. It’s table stakes. Customers expect their digital experiences to be optimized and tailored to them, especially since there is now more of an understanding of how much of their information is being collected and used. But when marketers try to put this into action, we’ve seen that the right support and tools aren’t always there for them.

And that’s not good for business. After all, personalization has an incredible value if done right. Research tells us that organizations capable of more extensive personalization see increased ROI through a broad range of metrics, including loyalty, revenue, and efficiency.

97% of marketers also report personalization having a measurable positive impact on the bottom line. With such potential for high return on investment, there’s no wonder the pressure is on to deliver.

Is there really a “people problem” holding you back?
One of the factors that typically holds back marketers is what could be called a “people problem”.

Some stakeholders simply don’t see the potential of such programs and raise objections to investment. They might see personalization as an all or nothing project that requires wholesale transformation across the business.

IT stakeholders, in particular, have a habit of thinking that personalization requires a radical upgrade to the tech stack. Once personalization is brought up by marketing teams, fears start to circulate. Do any of these concerns seem familiar to you?

• “Will we have to replace our CMS?”
• “Do we have to source new data?”
• “What about hiring for new skill sets?”

Sometimes, IT roadblocks can stop personalization efforts in their tracks. This might come in the form of legacy infrastructure, or a simple lack of time or resource.

Marketers often come to believe they lack the right skills within their teams. This can easily paralyze marketers and keep them from delivering the business benefits of personalized content.

The good news is that the “people problem”, and the related IT restrictions that marketers face, often end up being far less serious than initially thought. In fact, if you have any level of marketing or IT capability within your business, you almost certainly have the resources you need to make personalization successful. You just need to empower people appropriately.

Empowering your people
The key to overcoming internal barriers to personalization is to bring IT teams and marketing teams closer together and give them the tools and structure they need to unlock their potential.

Both functions are critical to personalization success. IT holds the keys to your digital platforms, and rightly so. You wouldn’t want any other business unit responsible for implementing, securing, and ultimately owning such vital technology.

But IT also needs to lend the keys to marketing, so they have the power to make changes to digital platforms that help them work more efficiently and effectively. They need enough leeway to make everyday marketing decisions without IT involvement.

To build trust between the two teams, and the various stakeholders that surround them, establish clear-cut processes and protocols for using a personalization platform. That way, IT can rest easy knowing that only authorized and trained business users are making changes, and marketing has the freedom to move forward at speed.

But, as I touched on earlier, it’s not always down to either marketing or IT alone. Stakeholders expect return on investment and won’t make sizeable changes to the tech stack on a whim. A more efficient way of approaching personalization transformation would be taking a step-by-step approach, integrating new technology alongside existing infrastructure.

The first step in your step-by-step approach
If you’re looking to convince stakeholders to invest in personalization, be sure to let them know that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to achieve strong results. For example, it’s possible to implement personalization without replacing your CMS by taking advantage of integrations.

Adobe Target is a single technical solution that can work alongside your existing infrastructure to optimize experiences through AI-powered testing. It also unlocks omnichannel personalization through unified, progressive profile building. And while Target works to its full potential alongside a full martech stack (Analytics, Audience Manager, etc.) it includes basic analytics and audience functionality, allowing you to deploy it as a self-contained solution.

And if you’re looking to take personalization even further, Avanade can work with your teams to implement Adobe Target in a low-touch, seamless manner. This means you could start delivering personalization faster, without interfering with current processes and without the need for complex technical knowledge from marketing teams.

Ready to personalize?
So, as we’ve seen, the answer to your “people problem” might be that you just don’t really have one. It’s likely you already have the right people in the right place. You just need to empower them with technology and teamwork.

By implementing individual personalization tools alongside existing systems, you can ease into personalization transformation without overwhelming, off-putting change. That’s bound to keep stakeholders happy. And, once they’ve seen the results, they’ll be more likely to request more.

With empowered teams and a path to personalization, you’ll be on your way to building more business value.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Have you experienced challenges introducing personalization to your business? What could be the benefits of a more accessible path to personalization? Let me know on social media.

About the Avanade + Adobe partnership advantage
Are you ready to embrace the rising tide of CX? Avanade is the how and now of digital marketing effectiveness. Personalization at scale. CX that glides. Smarter data. Avanade knows how. And with Adobe, we can help you deliver instant impact and long-term value – fast.

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