Email Marketing Personalization Will Boost Clicks and Conversions

Personalization is a key tool in a modern business’s digital marketing strategy. The consumer expectation is there but enterprises fail to meet these expectations when it comes to email marketing. 

A personalized email has to go beyond simply using a cheerful greeting and the recipient’s name. 

Marketers that get email right create a seamless experience for their customers. Show them you understand their needs and desires and you will earn their trust and respect.

Consumers know brands collect data on them and they want to know they are being treated fairly. So it is important for your business to use this data in a sensitive and ethical way.

When consumers do give a brand their contact details, they expect something in return. This might include attractive discounts and special offers that interest them, for example.

Email campaigns that show respect earn trust and motivate recipients to click-through. If you want to boost your CTR and improve conversions, get your personalized emails right.

How Are Businesses Using Email Marketing?

Almost 75% of businesses spend time and money conducting email marketing campaigns. That’s according to a survey conducted by The Manifest. Contrary to popular belief email marketing is not dead.

The reason why email remains a popular mainstay is because it offers huge benefits. And, when you nail email, it can make a difference to your bottom line. 

The benefits of email marketing are that it: 

• is cost-effective,
• builds strong customer relationships,
• retains customer loyalty,
• develops a unique brand identity people resonate with, and
• helps you to build a credible brand people trust.

There are also many ways that brands can use email. Drip campaigns, discount offers, transactional email, coupons and newsletters can all play a part.

Don’t fall into the trap of only using email to send out your latest blanket offer.

Pro Tip: the best strategy to boost CTR is to provide recipients with free content. 

Think about emails that offer useful templates, eBooks, blog features and expert interviews. A survey by Blue Wire Media shows that click-through rates are higher on these types of campaigns.

But, you need to figure out how to encourage recipients to open your emails in the first instance. Then you can understand how to improve CTR.

Why Do Email Marketing Efforts Suffer From Poor Open Rates and Click-through Rates?

Mailchimp’s 2018 email benchmarks look at the average email open rates. They range from 19% to 23% depending on the industry.  

Yet only a few industries, such as games, gambling and hobbies, have good click-through rates. The average click-through rate falls short of 3%. 

You need don’t us to tell you that three percent will not translate into many conversions. If your click-through rate is below the average for your industry, you need to adapt your strategy. 

There are lots of reasons for the poor performance of email campaigns. The most common causes are the email subject line is not effective or relevant, or the title is not specific.

Statistics show that the subject line is the most crucial factor affecting our open rate. But the sentiment is not always true. It is thus telling that a recent survey in the UK shows that the sender is an important factor. It is a key to persuade recipients to open emails.

How Can Personalization Improve Email Marketing Campaigns?

Improving your email open rate boils down to trust. 

Consumers that subscribe to your email list have often purchased, or are purchasing, from your brand. Or they’ve visited your website and subscribed to receive or access content.

In other words, there is already some element of trust. As we said earlier, email is an effective tool for building trust and earning customer loyalty. 

The quality, relevancy and type of content you are sending via email should be your next thing to look at. Free content is the best content, but even the free stuff has to offer value. 

Another concern is timing. You may send automated emails to recipients overnight. But they will get lost in a pile of other marketing emails, spam and important emails from family, friends and work. 

What would interest someone in your email when they have a whole host of other emails that take priority? Even if they were to open your email over their morning coffee, they are not likely to take action.

Creating a sense of urgency is a strong email strategy. But when people have got more important emails to address, they will save yours until later. Then they forget about it.

What Is Email Marketing Personalization and Why Does It Help?

Once subscribers open your email, the content has to keep them engaged. And persuade them to take the next step. There are several personalization ideas you can use to make your content more effective. 

First, make your customers feel special – after all they are members of a special club: Your email group. 

The first rule of personalization is to send customers emails that interest the recipient. As we mentioned at the top of this article, consumers are willing to receive email from brands. But they expect you to understand what their needs and interests are.

The top six reasons people give when they unsubscribe from your email list are: 

• Too many irrelevant emails,
• Too many emails,
• Boring, repetitive or low-quality content,
• Poorly designed,
• Not mobile-friendly, and
• Unaware they had subscribed.

Personalized marketing proves to boost email marketing campaigns. Some brands report uplifts in conversions surpassing 100%. One study found that 82% of marketers improved CTR after adopting personalization strategies. 

Email Personalization Techniques That Work

We list below the key techniques you should adopt to run a successful email campaign. The list, of course, is not exhaustive. We think you should consult your data to determine where your email campaigns need tightening up. 

• Personalize the subject line; (John, we’ve got great news for you!)
• Segment your audience (interest, timezones)
• Ensure your emails are mobile-friendly
• Make your offer relevant (abandoned cart, search, purchasing history, page views)
• Provide high-quality content that offers value
• Make your email scannable (include bullets) 
• Add images where it makes sense (but don’t hide information in images) 

The key take away is to use personalized emails in a meaningful way. Make the recipient feel special and strike an emotional cord. Even though customers won’t take the bait every time, you still have to keep readers interested otherwise they will unsubscribe.

Effective email campaigns require you to understand your audience and build a lasting relationship. When you send a personalized email it shows you care about their wellbeing.