When compiling email lists for an upcoming campaign, email marketing professionals should be looking to use personal information – name, age, birthday, interests – to their advantage. Marketers ignoring the benefits of dynamic content and personalisation are missing an opportunity to send more targeted, relevant messages to their subscriber base.
But why use email personalisation? Why not just send a mass email blast to all your subscribers? Well, many users tend to be left unimpressed when they are the recipient of a mass email. It shows the company in question is happy to consider their audience as numbers on a list, rather than a living, breathing consumer. As a result, it is important to take the time to address consumers personally.
5 ways to personalise:
Name
When users sign up to one of your mailing lists, you’re given one of the most useful personalisation tools right off the bat – the user’s name. Perhaps the most basic of personalisation tips, the user’s name is an important piece of information that can be used in a variety of ways. One of the most popular is to implement a name in the subject line.
“Hi Ashley, here’s a 25 per cent voucher for you!”
“Ashley, have you seen this in-store offer?”
“Exclusive pre-sale on tickets just for you, Ashley!”
Here are three great examples of personalisation in a subject line. These messages address the user in the first place they are going to see an email, delivering an instant impression. If the user feels they have been personally contacted by a company, they are much more likely to open and read rather than send straight to the recycle bin.
Exclusive offers
Another tip which can help improve open rates is the delivery of exclusive offers, discounts and vouchers to segments of an email list. For example, businesses may want to try delivering a discount voucher to customers that haven’t purchased a product for over six months. This is an effective way of luring repeat custom and ensures that customers who may have lost interest are ready to spend their cash once more.
In addition, exclusivity is always a winning tactic. Enabling certain customers to access exclusive merchandise such as a new clothing line, or a pre-sale link for items not available to the general public, means users feel considered and thought-of.
Gender
Gender can be a helpful identifier when personalising emails, especially for retailers.
For example, many males aren’t going to be interested if a clothing store is dropping prices on women’s sweatshirts and jeans. However, if a store is informing males of a sale on men’s sweatshirts and jeans, retailers are more likely to lock in an ‘open’ from a male user.
Website usage
Another effective use of personalisation is tailoring emails based on visitor habits and interests. Marketers can segment their email lists based on what interests the user has selected during the initial sign-up or, in a more dynamic method, which visitors are frequenting a particular portion of the website.
If a user is interested in the computing and gaming section of a retailer’s website, why bother sending them information regarding gardening tools? It’s a sure fire way to earn a one-way trip to the rubbish bin.
Happy birthday!
Last but not least, sending users a message on or a few days before their birthday is a great way to earn their gratitude. Email inboxes are always a busy place but it’s always nice to receive a birthday message from a company, especially when the firm decide to use one of the former personalisation tactics in tandem – the exclusive voucher!
For instance, retailers could offer a voucher code for use in the 24 hours of the user’s birthday. It’s an effective and very simple method to connect with your customers, so make sure you remember to capture a user’s birthday details during the initial sign-up.