Dive Brief:

• New Adlucent research found that consumers crave a personalized advertising experience and that 71% of respondents prefer ads tailored to interests and shopping habits.
• Personalized ads also boost engagement. An interesting data point from the study was that people were almost twice as likely to clickthrough for an ad featuring an unknown brand if the ad was tailored to their preferences.
• What's more, 44% of respondents were willing to give up information including name, address or email address in order to get more personalized advertising. 

Dive Insight:

"As brands continue to battle for consumer dollars, it's clear that the way to win is through personalization. Consumers expect content that is both useful and contextually relevant -- the right information served at the right time," Michael Griffin, CEO and founder of Adlucent , told Marketing Dive.

For consumers, the advantages of personalized advertising are invaluable. Adlucent's research asked consumers to name the greatest benefits to personalization, which consumers listed as helping reduce irrelevant ads (46%), a way to discover new products (25%) and making online shopping easier (19%).

Adlucent’s research makes it clear that people want to see relevant advertising, and it’s also a validation of the idea that the consumer is in charge of their marketing experience. 

That being said, Adlucent's research also found that consumers' definitions of personalized advertising vary. For marketers, that means understanding that audiences are willing to engage with marketing messages, so long as it comes in timely and tailored forms. What personalization offers marketers is an effective way to be relevant and valuable for a target audience.

"For marketers, creating a personalized experience starts with getting a unified view of your customer. How do they shop -- and what have they purchased -- across different channels? What promotions have they taken advantage of in the past? With that data, you have the foundation to better deliver on customer's expectations," Griffin said, adding, "Personalized advertising is about making the search and shopping experience as easy and frictionless as possible."