Individualized marketing: Definition, benefits, and marketing personalization examples

When consumers are constantly bombarded with digital ads and emails, personalized marketing stands out as a game-changer.

Brands that employ tailored messaging can cut through the noise to achieve stronger engagement, deeper customer loyalty, and higher conversion rates. Whether you’re promoting a global enterprise or a fast-growing startup, understanding how to personalize your marketing approach is critical for staying competitive and relevant.

This guide provides a comprehensive overview of personalized marketing, including its definition, key benefits, and implementation strategies. It also explores marketing personalization examples that show how leading global brands have successfully used individualized marketing to increase engagement and foster long-term loyalty.

What is personalization in marketing?

Personalized marketing uses data and insights to deliver highly relevant messages to individual customers. These messages may include product recommendations, email marketing campaigns, or dynamic website content. When executed well, personalization in marketing makes each customer feel like the content was crafted specifically for them.

Today’s consumers expect tailored marketing experiences. In one recent U.S. study, 79% of respondents rated personalized customer service as “important” or “very important.”

Personalized marketing isn’t just about using first names in email campaigns; it’s about anticipating needs, predicting intent, and creating value at every customer touchpoint. A typical marketing personalization strategy leverages customer data like demographic information, purchase history, content preferences, and behavioral insights. 

7 personalized marketing benefits to consider for your global strategy

Incorporating personalization into your global marketing strategy offers many advantages that can elevate customer satisfaction and business performance. Here are eight reasons marketing personalization matters—especially for brands with an international presence:

1. Deliver a more engaging customer experience

Generic, one-size-fits-all content is no longer effective. Consumers expect experiences that reflect their preferences, cultural context, and behavior. Personalization allows brands to craft targeted experiences that resonate emotionally and contextually, increasing engagement and satisfaction across all channels, from websites to social media.

2. Strengthen long-term customer loyalty

Loyalty isn’t just about points or perks. It’s about how a brand makes the buyer feel. When consumers feel understood, heard, and valued, they naturally develop a stronger attachment to the brand. Personalized marketing experiences demonstrate attentiveness and relevance, which are critical for long-term trust and brand loyalty.

3. Boost lead generation and nurturing

Personalized email marketing, gated content, and targeted landing pages help convert cold leads into engaged prospects.

One crucial element is nailing the regional nuances of a consumer’s communication style. Smartling helps marketing teams localize lead magnets, outreach content, and landing pages, ensuring their message resonates in every region. This cultural and linguistic adaptation removes friction and builds connection.

4. Increase customer retention

Acquiring new customers is expensive; keeping existing ones is far more efficient. Brands can deepen relationships and reduce churn by creating a cohesive, personalized experience across the entire customer journey. Personalization shows consumers you’re paying attention and builds a relationship that can withstand market noise and competition.

5. Build a positive brand reputation

Consumers talk—especially when they’re delighted. Personalized marketing experiences generate positive word-of-mouth and online reviews. Brands that use personalization thoughtfully and responsibly appear more innovative, customer-centric, and trustworthy. This halo effect can strengthen brand equity and drive organic growth.

6. Maximize marketing ROI

Personalization reduces waste by targeting the right person with the right message at the right time. It improves efficiency across ad spend, email campaigns, and content marketing. McKinsey & Company found that fast-growing businesses drive 40% more of their revenue from personalization than their slow-growing competitors.

7. Enhance cross-sell and upsell opportunities

Once a customer is engaged, personalization opens the door to deeper opportunities. Brands can use prior purchases and behavioral signals to recommend complementary products or premium offerings. Personalized suggestions make cross-sells and upsells feel helpful rather than pushy and increase customer lifetime value.

5 steps to customize your marketing strategies

A successful personalization strategy requires a blend of data, technology, creativity, and cultural intelligence. Here’s a step-by-step roadmap to help tailor your marketing efforts:

1. Define your personalization strategy

Personalized marketing can be effective at various stages of the marketing funnel. To choose the right approach, start by identifying your core objectives:

• Acquisition: Personalize landing pages to build trust and drive action.
• Conversion: Run campaigns that focus on abandoned carts and tailored retargeting.
• Growth: Use personalized data to cross-sell and upsell additional products or services.
• Retention: Extend special birthday offers and long-term loyalty discounts.

Create detailed customer personas and map out their journeys. For each stage, define what personalization looks like and how it will deliver value.

2. Capture and use customer data responsibly

Data fuels personalization—but trust sustains the relationship.

Collect data from various sources, including CRM systems, website analytics, and social media interactions. Use this data to build comprehensive user profiles that help you understand intent and trigger relevant experiences.

At the same time, remember that consumers want to be informed about data tracking and give consent. Brands must also comply with data protection regulations such as Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Clearly communicate how you use customer data and give users control over their preferences. Transparency builds credibility and better long-term results.

3. Choose the right tools to support personalization efforts

Technology is the backbone of personalization. Look for the following capabilities:

• Customer data platforms (CDPs) to unify profiles
• AI-powered analytics for segmentation and prediction
• Dynamic content delivery systems
• Multilingual content management

Smartling’s Translation Management System (TMS) helps brands maintain their unique voice in every region. With tools like glossaries, style guides, and automated quality checks, Smartling keeps personalized marketing campaigns aligned with your brand identity—no matter the language or market.

4. Activate personalized campaigns with tailored messaging

Launch campaigns across email, web, social, and mobile that reflect individual preferences and behaviors. Use automation to personalize subject lines, images, product recommendations, and calls to action based on real-time data.

Go further by tailoring content for each language, culture, and region. With Smartling, marketers can deploy globally relevant campaigns faster and more accurately. Visual context previews and automated workflows reduce errors and improve rollout speed.

5. Test and refine strategies for continuous improvement

Brands should continuously test, measure, and iterate marketing campaigns for optimal results. A/B testing is particularly beneficial for personalized marketing, helping brands understand how various audiences respond to different messages. Metrics like open rates, click-throughs, and conversions inform the next steps.

Localization should also be tested. What works in one region might not work in another. Smartling enables performance monitoring by language, allowing marketers to refine their delivery across locales.

3 examples of successful international marketing personalization strategies

As expectations rise, companies are turning to personalized marketing to create more meaningful customer experiences. Here’s how three global leaders have made it work:

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)

IHG partnered with Smartling to create a multilingual website experience that reflects the preferences and behaviors of its international customer base. The company—which does business in 16 languages across more than 100 countries—has a web of guest services that includes digital booking platforms and dedicated websites for each of the 5,600 hotels in its portfolio.

IHG's wide-spanning customer base created demand for delivering content efficiently in new languages. IHG leveraged Smartling’s integration with Adobe Experience Manager to localize booking paths, offers, and brand content in multiple languages, enabling a seamless visitor experience across global markets.

Key takeaway: Language personalization is critical in the hospitality industry. Smartling helps brands like IHG deliver localized, high-impact customer experiences with speed and scale.

Netflix

Netflix is famous for its content recommendations. The streaming giant uses AI and behavioral data to personalize suggestions based on viewers’ history, preferences, geographic region, and even the time of day. Netflix doesn’t stop at suggesting what to watch next: Its algorithm even personalizes thumbnail images and the layout of its front page.

Much of Netflix’s global success comes from constantly seeking new and better ways to measure engagement and recommendation quality. The brand isn’t afraid to test changes and adapt based on the data.

Key takeaway: Personalization—powered by AI and localization—enables global platforms to remain relevant across diverse markets. It also drives retention and engagement by offering an experience that feels uniquely curated.

Amazon

Amazon exemplifies personalization at scale. The platform uses real-time data to recommend products based on purchase history, browsing behavior, and user reviews. This recommendation engine is crucial for shaping buyers’ experience with the brand.

Personalization on Amazon isn’t limited to product discovery. The platform also adapts pricing, promotions, and UI elements based on customer behavior, location, and preferences. For example, frequent purchases of household goods may trigger reminders or offer subscription-based savings through “Subscribe & Save.”

Key takeaway: Predictive analytics and behavior-driven personalization are essential for driving conversions in e-commerce. Global brands should combine these capabilities with smart localization to meet diverse consumer expectations.

Scale your personalization efforts globally with Smartling

Personalized marketing becomes more challenging and more important as a business expands across borders. Global audiences expect brands to speak their language—not just linguistically but culturally and contextually. Failure to meet this expectation can create friction, reduce trust, and cost sales.

Smartling’s translation services and AI-powered solutions help businesses create meaningful connections in every market. From tailored website content and product pages to personalized emails and support documentation, Smartling enables organizations to deliver brand-consistent, culturally relevant messages that resonate worldwide.

To learn more about how to build a global marketing strategy, download our free eBook, “The Ultimate Guide to Translating Your Marketing Materials.” You’ll learn how to translate specific marketing content types and discover specialized tools to get started.