Hello {{contact.firstname}} ,

This is the most clichéd start to an Email that every marketer is accustomed to using in their marketing emails.

With email becoming one of the most dominant marketing channels for customer acquisition and retention, it is important to treat your Subscribers as a valued asset. One of the best ways to do so is to make your subscriber feel like an integral part of your brand rather than being just a name on your mailing list. Personalization should thus not be restricted to addressing your subscribers by the first name. Monks present other personalization alternates you can include in your email marketing strategy.

Customer Touch Points to collect data

Before we jump to learning the different ways of personalization you can include in your emails, it is important how to farm for the data that can help you create a persona of your subscribers. Let’s consider different touchpoints from where you can legally obtain information about your subscribers.

• A CTA button in the Welcome email: Present the option to fill out the customer profile in your welcome email. You can either redirect the subscriber to a landing page or embed the form into the email itself. (If you are curious about how it is done, refer our blog)

• Social buttons to connect social media profile: Brands include Social buttons in the footer of the email which the subscribers can interact with. By subscribers liking, following or connecting with the brand on these platforms, you can acquire their profile.

• Tracking cookie in website or email: Brands include a tracking cookie which is used to collect the information of your subscribers. You can collect the following data using tracking cookie.
  • Cross-Device approach: Based on the browsing done on multiple devices, you can have a list of the devices that your subscriber uses.
  • Purchase History / Browse History: This data is useful for cart abandonment emails and browser abandonment emails, especially for the e-commerce industry.

Different variants of personalization from the collected data

Improved Segmentation

Dynamic Content

Recommendation Email or Replenishment Emails

Location based event notifications

Birthday and Anniversary Email

Customer Loyalty Emails

Progress Report

Wrapping Up:

It feels good when someone acknowledges you and your preferences; your subscribers desire the same from your emails. Even though list segmentation and dynamic content are passive forms of personalization, both are amongst the most effective ones. So, how do you plan to personalize your next campaign?

The post How to Personalize Emails beyond the ‘First Name’ appeared first on Email Monks Blog: Email Marketing Tips & Best Practices.