Email personalization is one of the most effective ways to connect with your customers and increase engagement, conversions, and sales. It also comes with risks if it is done poorly.
It is important to use email personalization that doesn’t come off as creepy or invasive to your subscribers. Some of the best examples of this are including a subscriber’s first name in the subject line and using a real name in the “from” field.
Do’s
Email personalization is a powerful email marketing strategy that can increase ROI, build brand loyalty, and lead to higher conversion rates. However, many brands make mistakes when applying this email marketing tactic. These common mistakes can result in poor engagement, an overabundance of spam complaints, and even lower customer retention. By avoiding these common errors, marketers can ensure that their email personalization efforts are a success.
Email subject lines and preview text are important factors in the email open rate, so make sure they’re clear and relevant. Subject lines that include the recipient’s first name can significantly increase email open rates. Additionally, preview text should be clear and concise to capture the attention of the reader. A subject line and preview text that is too long or confusing can cause the recipient to unsubscribe from the email.
Do use data to send personalized emails
Segmenting your list is a critical part of effective email personalization. According to the 2022 Email Marketing Benchmark Report by HubSpot, 65% of marketers see better email deliverability and click-through rates with email campaigns that are segmented. This allows you to send targeted and relevant emails that speak to your customers’ interests and needs.
Personalization in your email content can also improve your upselling tactics. For example, ecommerce giant Amazon uses their subscribers’ purchase history to provide them with customized recommendations in their email content. These tailored product offers show your subscribers that you care about their needs and interests, which increases their trust in the brand.
Don’t overdo it on the personalization
A common mistake brands make with their email personalization is overwhelming their audience with too much information. Overusing personal details can make your audience feel uncomfortable or annoyed with your communication, which can lead to low open and click-through rates.
Don’t overuse images and videos
While adding visuals to your emails can increase their appeal, don’t add so much that they impact the email load time. This can cause the email to take longer to load on a subscriber’s device, leading them to ignore it or even report it as spam. Emails that are overloaded with images and videos are also less likely to be mobile-optimized, which can negatively impact the overall email experience.
Don’ts
When marketers go overboard with personalization, it can be creepy and turn off customers. By following best practices and finding the right balance between personalization and privacy, email personalization is an effective marketing tool that can boost engagement and increase revenue.
It is important to have a well-thought-out personalization plan that includes list segmentation, data-guided automation triggers and a set of default or catch-all campaigns for customers who do not meet your campaign criteria. If you exclude – and thus lose – too many customers, you will miss out on valuable revenue and customer insights that you can use to further refine your program.
Another common mistake is to send emails that are irrelevant to a subscriber’s interests or their stage in the customer lifecycle. Emails that are not relevant can quickly become spam or get sent straight to the trash. In addition, an irrelevant email can cause a negative brand perception.
Using dynamic content is one way to ensure that your messages are personalized and relevant. This can include a personal greeting, product recommendations based on past behavior or even an individualized video email like this one from PHH Mortgage. Personalized video can be especially effective in increasing email open rates.
A well-done subject line and personalized body of an email can also improve open rates. However, be careful not to overdo it by using a subscriber’s name or other identifiable information in the subject line or body of the email. Depending on your audience and industry, this could backfire and be seen as creepy.
It’s also important to remember that email personalization is not a static strategy and must be regularly reviewed and tested. What works for one type of email may not work for another, and your success will depend on the industry you are in, the products and services you sell, the data you have access to, and more. It is also a good idea to test each tactic in isolation before applying it to a larger campaign to see what works and what doesn’t.
The most important thing to remember is that you must always put the customer’s interest first. Personalization must be relevant, timely and non-intrusive to be effective. Whether it’s an automated welcome series, a targeted upsell email or simply an email thanking them for their business, personalization is an effective marketing tool that can help to improve engagement and loyalty.
Know Your Audience
As technology improves, marketers have more opportunities to personalize their email campaigns. However, this should be approached carefully, as too much personalization can come across as creepy and invasive. It’s important to keep in mind that personalization should always be used to connect with customers on a meaningful level. Otherwise, it becomes a bell and whistle that doesn’t offer any real value.
In order to truly personalize an email, it’s necessary to know your audience and understand their needs. This starts with knowing what types of content they find valuable. A personalized subject line is a great way to grab the attention of your audience, but it’s also important to personalize the body of the email as well. This can be done by greeting your customers in the “To” field or using their name in a greeting in the body of the email. Additionally, email content should be relevant to the subscriber’s current stage with your brand. This can be accomplished through list segmentation, which groups subscribers based on demographics or where they are in the buyer’s journey.
Another way to make emails more relevant is to include targeted product recommendations based on the customer’s behavior on your website. This can be done by analyzing what pages they visit, what products they browse, and what purchases they make. These types of recommendations can help drive conversions and increase the likelihood that a customer will return to your site for future purchases.
Lastly, a personalized email should be sent at the right time. The last thing a customer wants to receive is an email that feels impersonal or out of sync with their current stage in the sales funnel. To avoid this, marketers should consider their goals and the expectations of their audience when developing an email marketing personalization strategy. By taking the time to understand what their audience needs, marketers can create a personalization strategy that is effective in both building relationships and driving conversions. Ultimately, this is what will set their email programs apart from competitors.
Know Your Goals
While many marketers make the mistake of using personalization as a tactic to grab attention, it can have lasting impact when used effectively. It must be viewed through the lens of your customer’s expectations. If your personalized email doesn’t align with their needs and goals, it will be seen as a waste of time.
Adding a first name in the subject line, referencing past purchases, and including relevant content are great ways to personalize an email. However, it’s also important to be careful not to overdo it. Overly-personalized emails can be creepy and make customers feel like they are being stalked. Rather than making them feel that way, they should feel like you care about them and have considered how your personalized email can help them.
A good example of this is an email from Sephora, which includes the subscriber’s first name to address them more directly. This is a simple yet effective way to make the subscriber feel appreciated and valued.
Another good example is an email from Amazon that shows a list of products that the reader has purchased and also recommends other items based on their interests and behaviors. These types of emails demonstrate that the brand has a clear understanding of their customer’s interests and needs.
The key is to create a strategy that starts with a vision for how you want to connect with your subscribers, including understanding their different personas and clear points of difference. Then, you can decide on the right type of personalization to use in each email.
There are a variety of tools available to help you implement your personalized email marketing strategy, from cognitive content platforms that utilize machine learning and neutral language writing to dynamic content features that update in real-time. For example, you can include product blocks that show real-time inventory in your emails, countdown timers, and other dynamic content elements in Sender’s email builder to help you increase the relevancy of each email and build stronger relationships with your audience. This will ensure that your personalization is meaningful and relevant to each customer’s needs and wants.
