Why Personalize Emails?
We’ve all gotten emails that made us say, “Huh?” Maybe you’re a single college student without children receiving emails about diaper sales. Or maybe you’re a stay-at-home parent receiving emails about buying gifts for teenagers when you have toddlers. That’s because too many organizations create a marketing email and send that same email to as many email addresses as they can scrape together, disregarding relevance and failing to personalize their email marketing campaigns. Studies have found that 70% of businesses sending marketing emails fail to personalize, despite the fact that personalized emails get nearly 30% higher open rates and over 40% more clicks than non-personalized emails!
Ways to Personalize
Name – One of the most popular and most basic ways to personalize an email marketing campaign is simply to add the recipient’s name. This is one of the easiest ways that just involves a simple code or button to insert each recipient’s name into the email with a simple code or button. When using this tactic, try to keep with the general tone of your business. If you are more formal try using “Dear Mr. John Smith” for a more casual opening try something like “Hi John,” instead. Also avoid awkwardly overusing the name by randomly inserting it into multiple sentences throughout the email. Simply inserting the user’s name into the email’s subject or first line is a safe and effective way to use this tactic. Keep in mind though that while including the recipient’s name is a great place to start, it is important to take email personalization a step further if you want to ensure relevance and increase conversions.
Location – It is fairly simple to segment your lead list based on the lead’s location and to then make sure that the email makes sense for that location. For example, if you are selling auto insurance it probably would not make sense to send emails about driving in the snow to someone in Florida, or to email someone in Missouri about taking weekend drives to the beach. Many times location based personalization applies to franchises that have different offers or specials for each individual location.
Behavior – Setting up automated email marketing campaigns based on certain behaviors is a great way to achieve meaningful email personalization. Try segmenting your users into different groups based off of how you got their email. A person that gave you their email at a tradeshow will most likely respond differently than someone who entered to win a prize. An example of using behavior as a way to personalize emails is to put users that visit your site and downloads an e-book about hiring into a specific segment, and afterwards send them an email with additional tips related to human resources.
Customer Persona – Email personalization using customer personas involves tailoring an email’s message to an individual based on personal demographics such as age, occupation, industry, and unique needs. This highly effective method has been found to increase click rates by 16%.
When adding any personalization to an email, always keep the email preheader text in mind. The email preheader text is the short summary that follows the subject line – the preview that recipients see before they have opened your email. Whether you are simply inserting the recipient’s name here, or thanking them for downloading your e-book, the email preheader text is a great place to insert personalized touches that will grab the reader’s attention.
