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Jacob Teeny, an assistant professor of marketing at the Kellogg School, and his colleagues, Joseph J. Siev, Richard E. Petty, and Pablo Briñol, analyzed several published studies to find three personalized marketing techniques that are actually effective, not just creepy.
In personalized matching, companies gather detailed information about potential customers and use that data to strategically grab their attention.
While some methods fall flat, the most successful matching has a compelling messaging, focuses on unique factors, and avoids tricking consumers with creepy targeted ads.
Teeny encourages marketers to also think critically about the ethics of targeted ads, especially as technology evolves.