Sitecore Personalization Tutorial

Why did we write this Sitecore personalization tutorial? According to Statista, a whopping 90% of U.S. consumers found it appealing. However, many marketers are still scratching their heads about what personalization actually entails and how to implement it the right way.

Well, fret not! With a handy CMS like Sitecore up your sleeve, you can crack the personalization code and take your marketing game to the next level. Excited to learn more? Read on!

Read More: Everything About Sitecore Personalization

[2023 Guide]Everything About Sitecore Personalization

As a marketer, your success boils down to how well you know your customers and can deliver relevant content to them. Sitecore personalization enables you to do just that - and then some! Let's look at some procedures that make Sitecore a personalization powerhouse:

Sitecore personalization tutorial: How to Wow Customers with Tailored Experiences

The Sitecore Experience Platform offers powerful personalization capabilities to help you contextualize messaging, craft customized offers, and deliver individualized experiences tailored to each visitor.

Excited to learn how it works? Well, you've come to the right place! In this beginner's guide, we'll explore:

• What is personalization in Sitecore?
• Different types of personalization
• Setting up personalization with the Rule Set Editor
• Key elements of implicit personalization like content profiling and pattern cards
• Tips to get started

Let's dive in, shall we?

What is Personalization in Sitecore?

In simple terms, personalization allows you to:

• Segment visitors based on criteria like interests, behavior, location, etc.
• Deliver targeted content and messaging to specific audiences

It's a win-win - customers get a personalized experience, and you drive higher conversion rates.

In Sitecore XP, you can set up personalization with:

• Rules to define visitor segments
• Content variations to show relevant content to each segment

The Sitecore Rule Set Editor helps create and evaluate the rules. When a condition is met, it displays the matching content variation.

Types of Personalization in Sitecore

You can be personalized at scale with:

• Rule-based: e.g. Trigger event B when user A performs action C
• Explicit: Based on known visitor attributes like location, campaign history, etc.
• AI-based: Leverages machine learning to deliver automated personalization
• Implicit: Based on assumed visitor interests and behavior

Key Elements of Implicit Personalization

Implicit personalization uses techniques like:

• Content profiling - builds visitor interest profiles based on content interactions
• Pattern cards - define personalization rules based on profile patterns
• Engagement value - assigns scores based on on-site behavior

This allows granular, behind-the-scenes personalization.

How to Get Started

Follow these tips to kickstart personalization:

• Identify key visitor segments and their preferences
• Define rules to target each segment
• Create personalized content variations
• Test and refine regularly

The Sitecore Rule Set Editor and other automation tools make it easy to implement sophisticated personalization at scale.

How to Create Targeted Sitecore Profiles for Personalization?

Sitecore profiles are powerful tools for understanding your website visitors and delivering personalized content. But how exactly can you leverage profiles for personalization? Let's explore some examples.

Profiles act as categories to define why you want to track visitor behavior. In Sitecore's content tree, a profile contains child items like profile keys, cards, and patterns. For instance, say Adventure Company wants insights on interests, skill levels, and preferred events for visitors. They may create these 3 profiles:

Profile: Interest

This captures the sports and activities a visitor enjoys. It identifies their passions so content can be tailored.

Profile: Skill Level

This is a scale indicating how adept someone is at certain sports. It segments beginners vs advanced so content suits their needs.

Profile: Event Type

This notes the kinds of events a visitor wants to attend. Now Adventure Company can recommend relevant trips and workshops.

As you can see, thoughtful profiles align with business goals. They go beyond demographics to uncover why visitors act in certain ways. This drives meaningful personalization. For instance, Adventure Company can showcase beginner kayaking events for low-skill visitors interested in kayaking. Or pitch challenging climbs to advanced visitors who enjoy rock climbing.

The key is tying profiles to real insights needs. This allows personalized content and offers at scale. With the right profiles, you can create targeted experiences that speak to visitors' interests and levels. So leverage profiles strategically in your personalization efforts. They hold the key to true 1:1 engagement.

Defining Profile Keys - The Building Blocks of Personalization

Profile keys are the specific attributes you want to track for each profile. Think of them as your scoring system or scale for measurement. Keys enable you to assign numerical values to visitor interests and behaviors. They are shared between profiles and patterns.

It's best to use a simple scale for the keys to facilitate math operations. For example, Adventure Company has four profile keys under their Interest profile:

Profile: Interest

Profile Keys: Climbing, Cycling, Hiking, Skiing

Scale: 0 to 10

This allows them to score each visitor's interest from 0 to 10 for those four sports. A score of 0 means no interest, while 10 signifies a high level of interest.

The profile keys form the foundation for personalization. With these defined attributes, Adventure Company can now track relevant behaviors and serve targeted content. Maybe they showcase climbing trips for high climbing scores or bike rental deals for high cycling scores.

The key is choosing profile keys that map to your goals. These should reflect meaningful attributes to personalize. For instance, Outdoor Adventures Inc. may track keys like:

Profile: Skill Level

Keys: Beginner (0-3), Intermediate (4-6), Advanced (7-10)

With strategic profile keys in place, you have the core building blocks to start personalizing at scale. So take the time to identify the right attributes for your business needs. This drives the entire personalization engine.

Using Profile Cards and Personas to Define Content Types

Profile cards categorize the types of content consumed by your visitors. They act as content tags mapped to profile keys. For Adventure Company, some sample profile cards are:

• Climber - Scores 10 on Climbing, 0 on other keys. Tags climbing content.
• Hiker - Scores 10 on Hiking, and 0 on other keys. Tags hiking content.
• Skier - Scores 10 on Skiing, 0 on other keys. Tags skiing content.
• Cyclist - Scores 10 on Cycling, 0 on other keys. Tags cycling content.

So if a climbing article is tagged with the "Climber" card, it will be served to visitors with high climbing interest scores. This allows personalized content.

Personas are similar templates that define content types. The difference is personas focus on known user archetypes for your business. For example, Outdoor Adventures Inc. may define personas like:

• Weekend Warrior - Intermediate skills, wants day hikes and climbs
• Adventure Enthusiast - Advanced skills, wants multi-day expeditions
• Budget Explorer - Beginner skills, wants affordable day trips

So should you use profile cards or personas? It depends on your content strategy. Use personas if you create targeted content for defined user types. Use profile cards for a more flexible tagging approach. The functionality is the same in Sitecore. Choose what makes sense for your business needs.

The key is using cards or personas to categorize content for personalized delivery. This lets you match the right content to the right users based on their profile scores. With thoughtful content types defined, your personalization engine will be primed for success.

Assigning Profile Cards to Pages for Personalization

Profiling refers to associating profile cards with your web pages. This allows Sitecore to deliver personalized content based on visitor interests.

For example, a climbing tips article should be tagged with the "Climber" profile card. This way, it is shown to visitors with high climbing interest scores.

You can configure profiling in three ways in Sitecore:

• Sum - Adds card values together
• Average - Takes average value of cards
• Percentage - Weights cards by percentages

You can use the default card values (like 5 for Climber). Or customize values per page to boost/reduce impact.

For example, make Climber 7 for rock climbing 101 pages to increase its impact on visitor climbing scores.

It's best to map out your sitemap and ideal card values outside the CMS first. This gives a plan for profiling and a Sitecore personalization tutorial.

Some tips:

• Audit your content types and themes
• Decide which profile cards fit each content page
• Customize values for key/strategic pages
• Maintain a spreadsheet mapping pages to cards and values

This takes time upfront but eases profiling in Sitecore. You'll have a clear blueprint for optimizing personalization.

Profiling is crucial to connect content to visitor profiles. With thoughtful profiling, your content will shape visitor scores to deliver tailored experiences. So approach profiling strategically - the work pays off with personalized engagement.

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