Dynamically generated, personalized content has become so ubiquitous that it often hides in plain sight. While the maximum overdrive future state of this marketing technology, so famously depicted in the 2002 film “Minority Report,” has yet to materialize, the current state is so intelligent it seems like fiction. 

Every trip to YouTube is brimming with dynamically generated recommendations based on your behavior and preferences. Google, Instagram, and Netflix? Ditto. Email marketers have capitalized on dynamic content to ensure that your clicks and history personalize every message to push you through sales funnels. All of this begs the question: is your destination's website leveraging this marketing technology to maximize engagement and conversions? Let's step through some definitions and examples so you can answer that question.

Simpleview CMS offers the Dynamic Content Module, which allows you to define visitors in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions:

  • Who are they
  • Where are they


The Who 

The who will be determined by your destination and then created in Simpleview CMS as Persona Tags. Simpleview can assist in deciding which personas will work best, but the reality is that you probably already know and are marketing to them. For examples of personas, we can look to Visit Greater Palm Springs, which created tags for Health & Wellness, Outdoor Adventure, Art & Culture, and more. Another great example is Visit Hamilton County, Indiana — this team has created an array of personas, including Campers, Colts Fans, Deal Seekers, and Girlfriend Getaway. 

Simpleview CMS trainers recommend beginning with a couple of simple examples: foodie and family fun. We also suggest you start on a whiteboard, sketching out the personas that make sense and mapping directly to the content of your destination's website. 

Once Persona Tags are set up in the Dynamic Content Module, you will add the tags to navigation items; the tags allow the CMS to track website visitors' views and keep a tally. So if we use the Foodie persona mentioned above and tag our pages and posts accordingly, as a visitor navigates our website, we develop a sketch of who they are. 

Let's say I come to your site and click on “Food and Drink” in the header navigation and then click on several pages that list wineries, breweries, and burger joints. Then I follow a link to a few blog posts categorized as “Food and Drink.” If all these pages and posts were tagged correctly with the Dynamic Content Module, when I return to the home page, I could be served text, images, video content, or special offers that speak explicitly to my persona of a foodie.


The Where

Now that we understand the who, let's get to the where. The Dynamic Content Module allows your destination to create geolocation Profiles. These Profiles will enable you to customize your website content for visitors coming from specific locations. You will have the ability to identify the countries, states, cities, or metro codes you wish to target and serve personalized content. 

For example, let's look at Visit Anchorage, Alaska. We all know that Anchorage is an outdoor travel enthusiast paradise, but Dynamic Content Profiles allowed them to create groupings of direct flight service cities and instate locations as well. These profiles are the model for effective geolocation targeting. Leveraging direct flight service location data allows Anchorage to serve “Outdoors” or “Things to Do” content that jumps off the page and speaks directly to visitors living in Los Angeles, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Phoenix, Denver, or any other city matching their profile requirements — Anchorage can offer unique messaging that feels authentic and not like default content. 

The Dynamic Content Module can level up by simply combining Persona Tags and Profiles.  Let's say a visitor has matched the foodie persona you created and a profile identifying them as coming from New York City. When that visitor arrives back at the “Food & Drink” homepage, your destination will have the ability to speak to that person like a New York foodie. The page content could start with introductory text like "New Yorkers Love Our Food" and then continue to serve visitors content made just for them as they scroll down the page. Accommodation, events, cultural happenings, tours, and special offers for potential travels could appear, potentially converting that website visitor into a genuine tourist.

Presently, the Dynamic Content Module does not have the marketing power that the over-the-top ads in “Minority Report” offered Tom Cruise's character, but Simpleview is working on it. That said, the module in its current state has powerful persona and geolocation profile tools that will move your destination's marketing into the future.