This year has not been easy for any business, and with the holiday season right around the corner help engaging customers is sorely needed.

If there is but one truth in the world, it’s that buzzwords seem to rule all things business related. And as buzzwords permeate the fabric of business, some become real while some go the way of the Dodo bird. Personalization is definitely one of those odd terms that have gone from very real, to the all encompassing, yet vague, buzzwords and back to real in a relatively short time. And let’s not forget the usual suspect—technology.

It is often said that data is the new gold standard—and that is not wrong. For every global business initiative taking place in the last decade, data is at the core of everything. And like any other vertical market, those in any facet of the service-based economy are not immune to the affect of data on their business, nor can they ignore the implications that data has over their future.

There are those rare times in history when a confluence of events results in something very new and very exciting—this year is one of those years. Now, I know what everyone is thinking—2020 has been anything but stellar. Between socio-political strife and a global pandemic, one would think that this year has been downright horrible.

If we as a global society have learned anything during this historical time, it’s that anything is possible and that anything can be overcome. Looking back just a few short months ago, the world effectively shut down. Millions were placed in a state of limbo—not knowing what was to come, how their businesses would survive, and what the future would hold.