The Fundamentals
In the realm of email marketing, it’s important to recognise that not all emails will capture the attention of customers and subscribers. With limited time, recipients often choose which emails to engage with based on relevance. To ensure that our emails resonate with our audience, personalisation becomes a crucial tool.
Despite its demonstrated effectiveness, personalisation remains underutilised by many marketers. If you’re looking to integrate personalisation into your email campaigns, here are some practical suggestions:
The most basic form of personalisation involves addressing recipients by their name. Seeing their name in an email can immediately engage them, signalling that the company understands their individual needs. Incorporating the recipient’s name into the subject line can make the email stand out in crowded inboxes, increasing the likelihood of it being noticed and opened. Studies, such as one by Deloitte, indicate that something as simple as including the recipient’s name can boost open rates by 5.2%. Further personalisation efforts can lead to even more substantial increases, ranging from 11% to 55% in open rates.
Segmentation
A further way to offer a more personalised experience is to segment your audience. Dividing your subscribers into specific groups allows you to target them with more relevant content that is more suited. For example if you segment your finance contacts and your retail contacts, you can send each group content that is relevant to their sector. Sending specific content to specific sectors can be slightly more challenging, however it is a far better approach than sending generic emails to everyone, as this will result in lower engagement. A recent study by Campaign monitor found that Segmented Campaigns can lead to a 760% increase in revenue highlighting the significant impact personalisation can have on your bottom line.
Alternatively a way to boost your ROI through personalisation is to segment individuals by job title. Knowing the job title can help you with the “why” section of your email. For example if you are reaching out to someone in procurement, talking about cost savings might be the thing that will grab their interest. When talking to a creative, mentioning the creative aspects of what your service has to offer could spike their interest. People have different roles within their company, if you can address the issue that they are looking to fix by segmenting them via job title you can craft more tailored emails to further increase engagement.
Timing
Purely personalising your emails is not enough. Timing is the most important thing when approaching your leads in terms of knowing where your potential customer is in the buyers journey. For example if you are going in completely cold to a FMCG contact who has not shown any interest in what you have to offer, then perhaps sharing one of your recent FMCG case studies is not the best route. Instead for a completely cold FMCG contact it may be better to make a warm introduction and then invite them to a FMCG related event that is coming up. The difference between both is that the second method builds the foundations of the relationship in a far more subtle way, and delivers an immediate “value exchange”.
Over personalisation
Lastly striking the balance between personalisation and general relevance is the key. Avoid over-personalisation that feels intrusive or creepy. It’s important to acknowledge and cater to your customers’ preferences and needs, showing them that you understand and value them as individuals. However, it’s crucial to do so in a respectful manner that doesn’t intrude on their privacy or make them feel like they’re being monitored or analysed without consent. Customers should feel appreciated and understood without feeling like ‘Big Brother’ is watching their every move.
Personalisation stands as a powerful tool in email marketing, offering the potential to significantly enhance engagement rates and ultimately drive revenue. By addressing recipients by name, segmenting audiences effectively, timing communications strategically, and tailoring content to individual needs and preferences, marketers can forge deeper connections with their audience while delivering greater value. However, it’s essential to strike a balance between personalisation and privacy, ensuring that customers feel respected and understood without crossing boundaries. With careful implementation, personalisation can transform email campaigns from generic broadcasts into meaningful interactions, fostering lasting relationships and driving business success.