Hello Mr. Reader,
See that line above?
The one with your name in it? That’s one form of using personalization in email.
But it’s not the best one.
Personalization can be a great tool to use in your email marketing.
But personalizing is much more than including someone’s first name in the salutation.
Or in the subject line.
Personalization also includes sending messages that are relevant based upon what someone does.
An action they’ve taken.
The most common example of this is when someone opts-in to receive your newsletter.
At a minimum, you respond by delivering the info they requested.
You’ll be more effective in your marketing if you also follow up based on what their actions tell you.
The underlying reason for their request.
After all, no one woke up this morning and thought to themself – “I need to download another white paper today.”
But they may be looking to hire their first sales person.
Or start a new business.
Or need to find help caring for an elderly parent.
Or get more information on planning for their child’s college education.
And if your follow up speaks to those underlying needs and questions…
If you patiently educate them and motivate them to take the next step…
You’ll be the one they call when they are ready to buy.
A Better Approach to Email Personalization
As I mentioned before, personalizing your emails isn’t just about injecting a person’s name into your email.
It’s about using what we know – what we’ve learned – what they’ve told us to create more relevant messages.
Here are a few other actions that can serve as a trigger for sending relevant messages:
- After an event (in-person, a webinar, a demo, etc.). What does it say when someone takes and hour or more out of their day to attend your event. What did you learn about them (or the the group) during that time. Can you use that info to craft a more compelling message than “if you have any questions, give us a call.”?
- On purchase – An on-boarding sequence, to make sure new relationships start off on the right foot, is a great way to improve client retention. It also helps build an experience that leads to referrals.
- When someone engages with a piece of content on your site. Today’s technology makes it relatively track activity on your website. You can know when a prospect spends time on your pricing page. Or when a prospect who “went dark” returns to your website.
- Sign up anniversaries – what do you know about people who have been on your list for years? Those who signed up for a trial but never subscribed?
- Inactivity – Having a message sequence to re-engage older / stale subscribers can trigger more sales. It’s also i
mportant for keeping a healthy list.
Those are just a few examples. I hope they’ve sparked some ideas for how you can use email to send more personalized messages – and make more sales.
P.S. – If you’d like to improve the effectiveness of your emails through personalization, contact me here for a free consult.
