Hyper-personalisation helps companies to target niche audiences with emails that are tailored to their audience’s real-time needs. But not all brands are using it. And as a marketer, you should. Here’s why.
Email Personalisation
Email marketing already enables personalisation of properties like the from, to, and subject-line fields. But did you know that you can also personalise things like a person’s name, account number, and even sections of content in the mail body? In bulk?
List segmentation allows you to deliver tailored content to targeted groups within your database… but dynamic content that leverages subscriber and behaviour data enables communication that is truly relevant.
For instance, dynamic content can be linked to factors like pre- and post-purchase behaviour, gender, age, birthday, geolocation, shopping cart abandonment, and even weather conditions.
- Pre-Purchase Behaviour
You can track subscribers’ online behaviour on your website to establish what they’re interested in and serve them dynamic content prior to them even becoming customers.
- Post-Purchase Behaviour
Post-purchase dynamic content can include messages about products that complement past purchases, or call-outs of when last a customer used your services. Travel companies are good at using this data to inform travellers of special offers to their favourite destinations.
- Subscriber Birthdays
Customers’ birth dates are opportune times to highlight specials tailored to their interests, like buy-one-get-one-free specials or vouchers to celebrate their special days.
Clearly, using a subscriber’s name is just the tip of the iceberg.
The Power of Personalisation
An obvious benefit of personalising emails is retention, as recipients are less likely to unsubscribe if the content is relevant to their interests.
Plus, it’s engaging.
For instance, Monetate’s Realities of Online Personalisation Report found that 74% of marketers say targeted personalisation increases customer engagement. Statista’s 2016 stats also say that the open rate for emails with personalised messages are 5.7% higher than those that aren’t.
But personalisation isn‘t enough anymore.
Enter Hyper-Personalisation
Hyper-personalisation enables you to use the data you gather about each subscriber to deliver an ongoing personal experience with your brand.
According to Adobe’s Real-Time Marketing Insights Study, 60% of marketers struggle to personalise content in real-time, yet 77% believe it’s crucial.
In a recent report by Digital Doughnut, 26% of marketers identified personalisation and content relevance as the top trend over the next 12 months, while 19% said it would be essential within the next five years.
How ever you embark on your email personalisation, it’s important to understand your customer journey, as it influences the level of personalisation you’ll need. For example, the way you talk to someone who’s just subscribed to your newsletter is quite different to speaking to someone who’s further along in the sales cycle.
Personalise Your Database
The level of personalisation you can achieve depends on the sophistication of your customer relationship management (CRM) software and preference centre. Ideally, they’d even work together.
Build a robust preference centre by asking subscribers about their interests and preferences. This will allow you to send them dynamic content tailored for them. Information like their location, content preferences, date of birth, and preferred mailing frequency will help you to deliver relevant content at intervals that suit them.
The future of email marketing is about engaging effectively with every niche audience within your target market to deliver hyper-personalised messages to the right person, at the right time. Are you prepared?
A version of this article was originally published on our blog on 15 November 2017.
