Virtually everyone agrees that a personalized message tailored specifically to an individual’s wants and needs is more likely to drive a transaction than a general one. Here are a few key drivers behind this belief and the increasing interest in marketing personalization: • The population is more heterogeneous • Products are more specialized and purchase cycles have fragmented • Media channels and audiences have fragmented • Relentless evaluation, extensive comparison shopping and show rooming are the norm, not the exception • Individuals are more demanding – they expect a seamless brand experience, along with messages and offers that match their particular preferences As a result of these market forces, many marketers are convinced that personalized communications with prospects and customers are essential to maximize their retail sales.

1. Insights from a Conversant Executive
Scott Eagle, Chief Marketing Officer
TAKE YOUR
MARKETING
PERSONAL
UNDERSTAND HOW TO
HARNESS THE POWER
OF PERSONALIZED
COMMUNICATIONS

2. Table of Contents
2
INTRODUCTION
FIVE ESSENTIALS OF MARKETING PERSONALIZATION
Centralized Data Management
Actionable Profiles
Creative Personalization Platform
Real-Time Shopper Location
Measurement & Optimization
CONCLUSION
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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4
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3. TAKE YOUR
MARKETING
PERSONAL:
FIVE ESSENTIAL
COMPONENTS NEEDED
FOR SELECTING
A MARKETING
PERSONALIZATION
PLATFORM
3
Insights from a Conversant Executive
Virtually everyone agrees that a personalized message tailored
specifically to an individual’s wants and needs is more likely to drive
a transaction than a general one. Here are a few key drivers behind
this belief and the increasing interest in marketing personalization:
• The population is more heterogeneous
• Products are more specialized and purchase
cycles have fragmented
• Media channels and audiences have fragmented
• Relentless evaluation, extensive comparison shopping
and show rooming are the norm, not the exception
• Individuals are more demanding – they expect a seamless
brand experience, along with messages and offers that
match their particular preferences
As a result of these market forces, many marketers are convinced
that personalized communications with prospects and customers
are essential to maximize their retail sales.

4. 4
TODAY THE VISION
BECOMES REALITY
When digital marketing began in the late 90s,
pundits promised that digital could some day
take us well beyond segmentation and into truly
personalized communications for each individual.
They also promised that each and every message
would be customized and relevant to the individual,
driving consumer happiness and retailer profitability.
Well, things didn’t go quite as planned. It quickly
became apparent that most retailers didn’t yet
have the foundation needed to collect all of the
essential consumer data. Retailers also weren’t
ready to associate all of that data with individual
profiles. Finally, even if a retailer could collect all the
data and associate it to specific individuals, there
was no cost-effective way to deliver individualized
messages, least of all across multiple devices.
Thanks to innovations in technology, creating one-
to-one connections between brands and individuals
is now possible. Advances in data collection,
interpretation, creative personalization and cross-
channel media delivery have made personalized
marketing achievable. But in order to get there, you
need the right solution. Here, we’ll closely examine
the five essential components to look for
in a marketing personalization platform.
FIVE ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS
TO LOOK FOR IN A MARKETING
PERSONALIZATION PLATFORM
1
2
3
4
5
Centralized online and offline
customer data management
Actionable profiles associated
to real individuals
Cost-effective creative personalization
platform to efficiently drive one-to-one
personalization, at scale
Ability to identify and deliver
messages to individual shoppers
wherever they spend digital time
Accurate and complete
measurement and optimization

5. 5
Most brands collect a lot of customer data,
but the information tends to be kept in
silos. To make that data truly actionable,
you need a centralized collection and
management tool that can bring together,
standardize and enrich all of your data.
Your data platform must bring together
both online data (from website navigation,
e-commerce stores, and online ad and
email campaigns) and offline data (from scanners and POS systems, store rewards programs,
catalog sales, and call centers). After all, online data only reflects a small fraction of total sales
and customer interactions. For most brands, a large portion of sales and interactions occur
offline. With the right partner, you can activate this large pool of offline buyers for lucrative
upsell and retention efforts. Also, by combining all of this data, you achieve a holistic
perspective that provides you with superior insights about individual shopper behavior.
Display
Site
Video
Email
Mobile Affiliate
In-Store
Tablet
CENTRALIZED ONLINE AND OFFLINE
CUSTOMER DATA MANAGEMENT1
You need a centralized
collection and
management tool that can
bring together, standardize
and enrich all of your data.
Conversant’s data unification and activation
capabilities are proven. We’ve helped more
than 170 leading retailers and brands unite
their online and offline data.

6. 6
Once online and offline data is merged, the next step is to tie all of a consumer’s activity to a single,
anonymized profile — a critical step in the personalization process. After every brand interaction has
been associated with a particular profile, the right partner can layer on rich behavioral, demographic
and psychographic insights. Only then can we begin to fully understand what motivates that consumer.
Analysis of this rich user surfaces insights about what messaging will appeal most to an individual, and
also helps identify the creative elements that will result in higher conversion rates.
To empower personalized messaging and media, all
of this rich data needs to be associated with individual
profiles. This process can be rather challenging in a
multi-device, multichannel world, but this step is critical.
The extent to which a partner can link that profile to many
devices and online IDs that represent the individual online
will ultimately determine the actionability of that profile
and the ultimate success of any personalized media effort.
ACTIONABLE PROFILES ASSOCIATED
WITH SPECIFIC INDIVIDUALS2
Once online and offline
data is merged, the
next step is to tie all of a
consumer’s activity to a
single, anonymized profile.
THE CONVERSANT PLATFORM IS ADEPT AT CREATING
INDIVIDUAL PROFILES THAT INCLUDE ALL OF A RETAILER’S
CUSTOMER DATA. WE THEN ENHANCE INDIVIDUAL
UNDERSTANDING WITH THOUSANDS OF POINTS OF
INTEREST AND ACTIONS TO SHOW BRANDS A COMPLETE
PICTURE OF INDIVIDUAL CUSTOMER NEEDS AND BEHAVIORS.

7. 7
Once you have robust, actionable profiles, you need
a system that enables those individual insights to be
reflected in beautiful, brand-enhancing customized
creative. These personalized ads must be developed
quickly, in keeping with your brand guidelines and
at an affordable cost. These assets must then be
rendered in real-time to reflect individual needs
and preferences. There are two types of creative
development platforms in use today:
RETARGETING TEMPLATE ADS
The favored approach of retargeting solutions,
so-called “dynamic creative” starts with highly
templated designs that are synced with image
databases. Often, the product that populates
the template is the last item that the consumer
browsed in an online store.
You’ve probably seen such messages in your
own Internet browsing. As an example, after you
viewed a pair of shoes online, you found ads
featuring that same pair of shoes being presented
to you around the web for the next 30 days. Even
if you bought the shoes somewhere else online or
in-store, that same template ad continued to be
displayed again and again.
The retargeting template ads approach enables the
cheap creation of thousands of different ad units on
the fly. But these ads aren’t truly personal, because
they typically are customized only in the product
they feature. Additionally, these campaigns tend to
focus only on your lowest funnel engagers. Note
also that when some retargeters don’t frequency
cap, the relentless repetition of such messages can
be offputting to the consumer.
CREATIVE PERSONALIZATION
Creative personalization combines the art and
science of human creative talent with advanced
dynamic personalization software. This enables the
creation of truly hyperpersonalized units in massive
numbers. Each piece of creative is developed
based on the characteristics of the person who’ll
view it. Using the wealth of information found in
the anonymized profile, our solution calibrates
more than 200 components to build the optimal
ad — one that’ll foster engagement and motivate
purchase. Virtually every aspect of your brand
message is tailored to perfectly reflect the needs,
desires and lifestyle of your target consumer:
THE PROFILES
REVEAL TWO
CONSUMERS WITH
VERY DIFFERENT
LIVES AND NEEDS
Even though these two profiles are
within the same zip code for geo-
targeting, a personalization creative
platform should recognize they are
completely different individuals
with unique buying habits and
preferences. One individual requires
promotions and discounts to
complete a conversion vs. another
individual who wants the latest styles
before anyone else and isn’t price
sensitive. Your marketing should
speak to them individually.
COST-EFFECTIVE CREATIVE
PERSONALIZATION PLATFORM3
• Ad Copy
• Ad Format
• Call to Action
• Brand and Lifestyle Imagery
• Featured Products
• Offers and Promotions
Female/Age: 39
ID 9A73NQ1
Female/Age: 28
ID 5F89GW9

8. 8
Creative personalization is about more than
simply sticking a product into a banner
template. As an example, let’s review how a
brand might speak differently to two separate
individuals for a fictional department
store chain called BrandCo.
The woman on the top is a married mom who
loves shoes, is somewhat price sensitive and
buys clothes for multiple members of her
family. She also tends to buy online.
The woman on the bottom is a single
fashionista who loves clothing from upscale
brands like Alexander McQueen. She isn’t
terribly price sensitive, but she does love
rewards points. She tends to buy at retail.
Now in reality, the platform personalizes on
more than 200 dimensions, not just four or five.
But you get the picture. We also think about
personalization in terms of an ongoing creative
journey or conversation, not just one ad.
We deliver messages and analyze user activity
both online and in-store.
Based upon these attributes, we can determine
the content for the next ad based upon what
we algorithmically determine is the “best
next” sales opportunity at that moment. So,
for example, imagine the fashionista buyer
purchased a new outfit after seeing the fourth
message. Based upon that purchase, we
will deliver ads for a matching handbag to
complement her previous purchase.
Creative Personalization
combines the art and
science of human creative
talent with an advanced
software solution that
enables the creation of truly
hyperpersonalized units in
massive numbers.
FALL FASHION
LAUNCH
FALL FASHION
EVENT
FEATURED
PRODUCTS
FALL
PROMOTION
“NEXT BEST”
OPPORTUNITY
Female/Age: 39
• Income: $130K
• Oakbrook, IL
• Married, Presence of
Children
• Multichannel Shopper
• Value Shopper
• Outdoor Fitness/Yoga
• Buying for Man
• Purchased In-store Last
Month: Jeans, Tops
• Recently Purchased Online:
Sweater, Blouse
Female/Age: 28
• Income: $85K
• Oakbrook, IL
• Single
• Redeem Shopper Points
with last 3 months
• Urban Style
• Fashionista
• Multichannel Shopper
• Recently Purchased Online:
Gown, Couture Pants

9. 9
Once a brand has its creative firepower, the technology
partner must be able to deliver personalized messages to
the maximum number of individuals at the most opportune
moments. In light of the growing trend toward cookie
blocking and cookie
deletion, your solution
must go beyond
standard third-party
cookies in order to
maximize the ability to
find shoppers online.
In addition, your
technology partner
must be able to work
across devices and
channels. Because
shoppers on average
spend more than half of their time on devices other than
desktop computers, your solutions provider should
be able to message specific individuals across their
smartphones and tablets as well.
The right partner will not force you to limit all of that
gorgeous creative to display ads. Partnering with a
vendor that can extend your creative to other marketing
channels will maximize the impact of your one-to-one
program and the efficiency of your ad spend.
Conversant has developed a highly advanced
proprietary network to achieve all of these goals.
Our proprietary 1st party identification network sees
more users more often so Conversant can drive more
connections and conversions. And because Conversant
offers a true cross-device targeting and media delivery
system, you can reach all of these people across all the
devices they migrate between throughout the day.
Conversant’s proprietary 1st party identification
network mitigates many of the challenges of cookie
blocking and cookie deletion so that we can actually
pinpoint many more of your audience members than
other solutions that use the prevailing technologies
and approaches.
ABILITY TO IDENTIFY AND DELIVER
MESSAGES TO INDIVIDUAL SHOPPERS
WHEREVER THEY SPEND DIGITAL TIME
4
Because shoppers spend more
than half of their time on devices
other than desktop computers,
your solutions provider must be
able to target specific individuals
across their smartphones and
tablets as well.

10. 10
Most pure play retargeting companies take credit for sales that their ads don’t actually influence.
They do this by delivering ads to the people who visit your site but don’t purchase anything
immediately. When any of those people return later to make a purchase, the retargeter claims credit
for that sale. The problem? Many of those people — as many as 90 percent — would have returned
to make the purchase regardless of whether they were retargeted with ads.
Your personalization solution should
provide robust measurement that pinpoints
the conversions that it truly influenced —
both online and offline. In other words,
what incremental sales did your program
drive? To do this, you need an advanced
measurement system that goes beyond
last-touch attribution and has visibility
into your offline sales systems.
CONVERSANT PIONEERED
A STATISTICALLY
VALIDATED MEASUREMENT
METHODOLOGY THAT CAN
DISTINGUISH THE SALES THAT
ARE TRULY DRIVEN BY ITS ADS
FROM THE PURCHASES THAT
WOULD HAVE OCCURRED
NATURALLY. FURTHERMORE,
OUR METHODOLOGY
EXAMINES BOTH ONLINE AND
OFFLINE SALES TO DETERMINE
THE FULL IMPACT OF
CONVERSANT CAMPAIGNS.
AN ACCURATE AND COMPLETE
INCREMENTAL-SALES-BASED MEASUREMENT
AND OPTIMIZATION SYSTEM
5
Your personalization
solution should provide
robust measurement that
pinpoints the conversions
that it truly influenced —
both online and offline.

11. CONCLUSION
Many leading retailers and brands are exploring personalized marketing as a way to improve sales and foster shopper
loyalty. But not all solutions are created equal. Whether you choose Conversant or another vendor, make sure your
partner can deliver on the essentials discussed here. Personalization is too important a strategy to get it wrong.
And you’re too busy to have to go through the process of finding and implementing a personalization solution twice!
Conversant welcomes your thoughts on this topic and the larger subject of measurement.
Please feel free to contact Scott Eagle at scotteagle@conversantmedia.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Scott Eagle is CMO of Conversant. He leads Conversant’s global marketing function, including strategy and the
integration of marketing programs across our solutions groups. An accomplished senior executive with a strong
background in client-side digital marketing and consumer brand management, Mr. Eagle has over 25 years of
experience as a marketing leader managing major Fortune 500 brands and building successful new companies.
Mr. Eagle has served as CMO for Empowered Careers, eHarmony and Claria Corporation, and he has held
management positions at Concentric Network Corporation, MFS Communications and P&G. Mr. Eagle holds a B.S.
in economics from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and serves on the board of Akademos, Inc.
ABOUT CONVERSANT
Conversant, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNVR) is the leader in personalized digital marketing. Conversant helps the world’s
biggest companies grow by creating personalized experiences that deliver higher returns for brands and greater
satisfaction for people. We offer a fully integrated personalization platform, personalized media programs and the
world’s largest affiliate marketing network – all fueled by a deep understanding of what motivates
people to engage, connect and buy.
For more information, please visit www.conversantmedia.com.
Copyright 2014 Conversant, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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