3 Simple Ways to Personalize Content by Referral Source

Most marketers know the importance of creating unique content for different social mediums. For instance, would you use the same exact copy in a paid search ad that you did in a tweet? I hope I'm hearing a resounding, “No!” 

And yet, many marketers aren't fully prepared for what comes next: when a visitor actually clicks on a link and lands on their website. If a visitor comes from a paid ad promising a coupon -- and then they don't see the coupon as soon as they arrive on your website, how do you think they're going to feel? Confused; maybe even frustrated.

But according to a Jackson Marketing Group study, less than 10% of B2B companies are using personalized website content. The companies that do use personalized content are benefitting. In fact, according to an E-consultancy/Monetate report, companies that personalize their website see an average of a 19% increase in sales.

Sound compelling? To help you get started, here are a few simple methods to personalizing content by referral source that your customers will love.

Personalize Content for Social Media Campaigns

Visitors who come to your webpage from social media have different motives and interests than those coming from email marketing or paid campaigns. Why not cater to these specific motives and interests?

For instance, a visitor to your page that got there by clicking a link on Twitter is likely familiar with the Twitter platform and apt to sharing content on Twitter. In this case, Twitter would be that visitor's last referring social source.

By creating personalized content from a visitor's last referring social source, you can pinpoint the platform they'd most likely want to share your content on. You can also include textual references to the visitor’s last social media source to cater to their interests.

Below are examples of personalized content made for visitors coming from specific social sources: Facebook and Twitter. 

For Facebook Users

With more small businesses on Facebook than ever before -- 30 million, according to TechCrunch -- the competition for organic reach is becoming fiercer by the day. But by personalizing content for visitors who land on your website from Facebook, you can increase customer activity and involvement on the social platform.

The example below boasts personalized text and social sharing buttons (highlighted in red) specifically for visitors coming from Facebook. 

The Facebook sharing icon on this company webpage allows Facebook visitors to immediately share content from their own accounts with one click. There’s also personalized text that clearly mentions Facebook. It’s a win-win situation: The content is customized just for Facebook visitors so they can easily share your content, and it caters to the visitor’s unique social media preference. 

For Twitter Users

According to MediaBistro, 67% of Twitter users are far more likely to buy from the brands they follow on Twitter. Go a step beyond simply using Twitter for brand awareness by personalizing content on your webpage for Twitter users, thereby improving their experience with your brand.

Notice how the click-to-tweet button in the example below makes it easy for Twitter users to share your company's content.

Site visitors who like to use Twitter will be able to quickly tweet out these short, snackable quotes -- without ever having to leave your webpage.

Personalize Content for Email Campaigns 

Composing a successful email campaign involves coming up with a list of email recipients with specific interests. But why spend so much time carefully selecting email recipients when you're just going to direct them to a generic webpage anyone has access to? To give them a better user experience, send them to a webpage with content specifically catered to their interests.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say HubSpot creates an email campaign for customers who might like a photo editing feature in their product. In their email to those customers, they include a link directing them to the company's product page, which contains more information about that feature.

The problem is this: That specific photo-editing feature is not at the top of the page. So when email recipients click through, they see a different feature first -- whereas the photo-editing feature they clicked through to see is actually buried below the fold.

But how do you solve this problem? Thankfully, you don't need to create unique product pages for every email single email list would be extremely time-consuming. Instead, by personalizing by referral email source, you can build onto an existing webpage to highlight a specific part of the page that users from that email source are interested in. When an email recipient clicks the link in that email, they aren't taken to a generic product page -- they're taken to a customized product page that shows the photo-editing upgrade first so that it's the first thing users see.