How to Personalize Your Email Marketing for Better Engagement
Email marketing campaigns usually include building a list of subscribers who have opted-in to receive emails, designing visually appealing and interesting email content, and scheduling the delivery of the email message. Email marketing can further be used for customer segmentation and personalization, which includes tailoring the content of an email to a particular group or individual depending on their interests or behaviour.
Email marketing campaigns may be tracked and measured for effectiveness, and accompanying metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates are used to determine the success of a campaign. To be effective, email marketing should be targeted, relevant, and valuable to the recipient, and comply with regulations like the CAN-SPAM Act in the United States.
Personalization can take different forms, like addressing the recipient by their name, tailoring the email subject line and body to their interests, recommending products or services based on their past purchases or browsing history, sending birthday or anniversary greetings, offering exclusive discounts or rewards, and so on. The key is to use the available data and observations to form a personalized experience that adjoins value to the recipient and fosters a more powerful connection accompanying the brand.
Email personalization may be achieved through miscellaneous tools and techniques, like customer relationship management (CRM) software, email marketing platforms, data analytics, segmentation, automation, and machine learning. These tools enable marketers to collect and analyze data from various sources, like site tracking, social media, email engagement, and transaction history, and use it to create relevant and personalized content.
However, email personalization also has its limitations and challenges. For instance, it needs access to accurate and appropriate data, which may not always be available or up-to-date. It further demands a balance between personalization and privacy, as clients may feel uncomfortable or violated if their data is misused or shared without their consent. Moreover, email personalization should not be seen as a substitute for genuine human interaction and empathy, as it cannot replace the emotional connection and trust that comes from authentic communication.
Some common email personalization tokens involve:
- {{first_name}} – Inserts the recipient’s first name into the email.
- {{last_name}} – Inserts the recipient’s last name into the email.
- {{company_name}} – Insert the recipient’s company name into the email.
- {{city}} – Insert the recipient’s city into the email.
- {{state}} – Inserts the recipient’s state or province into the email.
- {{country}} – Insert the recipient’s country into the email.
- {{date}} – Insert the current date into the email.
- {{time}} – Insert the current time into the email.
- {{order_number}} – Insert the recipient’s order number into the email.
· {{product_
- Pick the right email marketing platform: Before you start using merge tags in your email marketing, confirm that your email marketing platform supports merge tags. Most common email marketing platforms like Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and HubSpot support merge tags.
- Create a list of subscribers: You need a list of subscribers accompanying their data to use merge tags. Collect subscribers' names, email addresses, and some additional relevant data you want to involve in your emails.
- Create an email template: Create an email template with the content you want to send to your subscribers. You can contain merge tags in the email template to personalize the content for each recipient.
- Insert merge tags: In your email marketing platform, you can insert merge tags into your email template. Merge tags are consistently enclosed in double curly braces, like {{first_name}} for a recipient's first name. When you send the email, the platform will replace the merge tags with the actual data for each recipient.
- Preview and test your email: Before sending your email, preview it to ensure that the merge tags have been inserted correctly. You can also send a test email to yourself or a colleague to check how the merge tags look in real life.
Here are a few ways to use dynamic content for email personalization:
- Behavioral triggers: Use data on a recipient’s past behaviour, like previous purchases or site activity, to automatically populate an email accompanying personalized product recommendations or distinguished offers.
- Dynamic images: Use dynamic images that change based on a recipient’s location, interests, or behaviour. For example, an online retailer could show various product images depending on a recipient’s past purchases or browsing history.
- Real-time content: Use real-time data, like weather conditions or time of day, to personalize an email’s content. For example, a travel company could send personalized vacation recommendations depending on the recipient’s location and weather forecast.
- Personalized subject lines: Use vital content in email subject lines to grab a recipient’s consideration and increase open rates. This could contain referencing a recent purchase or utilizing a recipient’s name in the subject line.
- Browse abandonment emails: If a consumer visits your site but does not make a purchase, you can send them an email reminding them of the products they were interested in and giving a discount code to incentivize them to complete the purchase.
- Cart abandonment emails: If a consumer includes items to their cart but does not complete the purchase, you can send them an email reminding them of the articles in their cart and offering a discount to boost them to complete the purchase.
- Purchase history emails: Depending on a user's past purchase history, you can send them personalized product recommendations or offers that align accompanying their interests.
- Re-engagement emails: If a consumer has not engaged with your brand in a while, you can send them an email with a special offer or discount to inspire them to return to your site or make a purchase.
Here are a few steps to build personalized email campaigns:
- Collect data on your subscribers: Collect data on your subscribers, like their name, email address, location, interests, and purchase history. You can use this data to segment your email list and generate targeted campaigns for distinguishing groups of subscribers.
- Create targeted email campaigns: Based on the data you have collected, construct targeted email campaigns that are relevant to each subscriber’s interests and choices. For example, you could send a personalized email campaign to subscribers who have earlier purchased a particular product or category.
- Use personalization tokens: Use personalization tokens, like the recipient’s name or location, to make the email feel more personal and engaging.
- Test and develop your campaigns: Test various alternatives of your email campaigns to see what works best for your audience. Monitor your email campaign metrics, like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions, and use this data to optimize your campaigns over time.
- Collect data on your subscribers: Collect data on your subscribers, like their name, email address, location, interests, and behaviour.
- Segment your email list: Use the data you have collected to segment your email list into targeted groups depending on interests, behaviour, and demographics.
- Use personalization tokens: Use personalization tokens, like the recipient’s name or location, to make the email feel more personal and engaging.
- Use dynamic content: Use vital content, like personalized product recommendations or real-time content, to form more appropriate and engaging email campaigns.
· Test and optimize your campaigns: Observe your email campaign metrics, like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions, and use this data to optimize your campaigns over time.
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By implementing these tips, you can create successful email marketing campaigns that engage your audience, drive conversions, and strengthen your brand's relationship with subscribers.
Creating effective email designs that look great and convert well requires a combination of thoughtful design, engaging content, and adherence to best practices.