Email Personalization

By AdStation | April 19th, 2016 | Categories: Email Marketing
Email Personalization

There are many trends in email marketing that will not be going away any time soon, and personalization is a big one of those trends.  While, as marketers, we aim at acquiring as much consumer data as we can, we also want to acquire the right type of data.  Data we can use to keep you, the consumer, coming back.

So, how do you manage to not ask too much while still asking enough to make your future approach personal?  There are several ideas out there, but a few stuck out to us as really relevant.

By using implicit personalization (which targets the email) and explicit personalization (which is oriented by marketing or email automation), you are given the opportunity to target an email to a specific group within your audience while also allowing for the potential of re-engaging specific targets within that group who are already familiar with you.

But before you can engage your audience, it is important for you to get to know them, at least on some level.  It is as easy as asking the right question(s), or any questions.  When a potential client visits your store or restaurant, do you just stand and look at them or do you ask questions to figure out why they are there?  Of course, you greet them and ask how you can help them.  Well, your website needs to do something similar, when applicable. By asking a question upon entry to your site to differentiate the reason for the visit, you are helping with follow-up email marketing efforts.  By knowing, even a vague piece of information you are able to better pinpoint future efforts.

Another way to personalize your email marketing initiative is to use your intended recipient’s data to improve email delivery.  For instance, research will tell you when your customers are opening their emails. Segment the subsequent emails to assure that they are going out at optimal times based on the information you already have on those customers.  Automation software can help make this happen in a reliable and easy way. A/B testing is the industry standard for acquiring initial information for tracking the open rates or even by tracking the keywords within the ad campaign your customer initially responded to.

Highly effective, and emotionally tied, behavioral trigger emails have a 152% higher open rate as compared to traditional emails.  These automated emails are triggered by consumer activity or lack thereof.  Have you ever received an email that was titled “We haven’t heard from you in a while,” or “We’ve missed you”? These are set at specific intervals to attempt to reengage you and pull you back into the site to complete a conversion.  You can also send these automated trigger emails as a welcome, a thank you, or to cross-promote other products similar to those your consumer recently purchased.

At the end of the day, there are a number of effective ways to personalize your email campaigns.  Whether you are trying to engage your audience on their initial visit to your site or bring them back for reengagement, having some basic information about your consumer’s behavior and using it to your advantage can be an effective and inexpensive way to increase your open and engagement rate per email campaign.  Email personalization is all about collecting the right information and using it in a positive way to keep your customers coming back.