When Does Personalization Get Creepy?
My answer would be: When I didn’t realize I gave you the information driving the personalization.
Of course you know my giving history to your organization.
Of course you know my particular areas of program interest.
You should know where I live, since I gave first via direct mail. And maybe that’s relevant to the appeal.
You might even know my pet’s name. And maybe that’s relevant too.
But, for example, did I give you my photo?
Photo? How did that get involved?
Here’s an interesting article titled Forget Evil, Don’t Be Creepy! from Neuromarketing, which looks into how far marketers should go (or not) with personalization before they trigger adverse reactions.
As the author sums up … “think before you personalize. Ask yourself, ‘How could this go wrong?’ And, if you can’t think of a way, ask a few creative friends who don’t have anything invested in the project.”
Tom
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