Personalization in email marketing begins before a customer even opens the message, starting with who it’s from and the subject line.
Personalization can be as simple as adding the name of the customer’s sales manager to the From line. Now the email feels personal and important, rather than just a mass mailing from the company.
The subject line is another important personalization opportunity that can influence whether a customer opens or deletes your email.
For example, imagine a customer was browsing your clothing site looking for a new wool sweater. You run a 25% off sale and send an email with the subject line: 25% off for a limited time.
While the subject line follows all the rules of good email copywriting (short, creates a sense of urgency, uses numbers), it may not speak directly to the customer.
Now let’s take a look at this personalized theme: 25% off your cozy wool sweater. Get it before they’re gone.
Yes, it’s longer. But it gets the most important information out there if the subject line gets cut off. And it tells the customer exactly what they want to know.
Prospecting and selling are different skills. Great overseas data salespeople aren’t always great lead generators. They may be fantastic account managers, or perfect when it comes to closing warm leads, but struggle to find new opportunities from scratch.
When a customer opens the email, instead of seeing generic images of the most popular products that may not resonate, they see this sweater in their chosen color. And it can be perfectly paired with a pair of pants or insulated leggings. Now you have a winning strategy that can make the customer say, “I have to buy this now while it’s available.”
The Psychology of Email Personalization
In addition to consumers not wanting to waste time searching for relevant information in an email, personalization appeals to their desire to develop relationships.
Email personalization is based on deep research into consumer psychology. There are several factors that explain why personalization is so effective.
- Curiosity: People are naturally curious. By leveraging this quality, brands can create headlines that make consumers wonder what the email is about. This can lead to higher click-through rates because consumers want to know what they don’t already know. This is why question headlines work so well.
- Social Proof: Let’s go back to the wool sweater example. The company may be offering a best price every day, which means there’s no discount to entice the first purchase. So they have to find another way to engage the customer. They add short, clear testimonials to the product. For example, you could now write a headline: “The warmest sweater this winter.” Or use the customer’s location if there’s social proof related to their region: “Every Minnesotan needs this sweater” – customer testimonial. Social proof helps customers find each other and see how your products are being used.
- Emotions: The main difference between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom is our ability to feel and empathize. Using emotions in emails can motivate consumers to take action. We don’t want to miss out on anything, so emotions related to excitement, intrigue, and anticipation work well in email marketing. Stories are another powerful tool for reaching customers through emotions. Humor also affects emotions by creating entertainment and lightness.
- Looking at this short list, it’s easy to see why sellers have so much the difference between pre trouble finding enough leads. Prospecting and lead generation just don’t fit in with most of our skill sets and motivations.
- Connect: Consumers want to feel that a brand’s goals align with their own life goals. For example, companies that focus on sustainability resonate with consumers because their priorities align. You can highlight these aspects of your company to consumers who are interested in such social involvement.
How to Set Up Personalization in Email Marketing Properly
Personalization in email marketing is data-driven. To do it right, you need effective forms, on-site behavior tracking, advanced marketing automation systems, and marketers who know how to analyze and use that data.
You simply have to understand that it works over the long term, start doing it, and shops 9177 keep going even when your pipeline seems full. Don’t stop!
Here are a few of the common reasons why you don’t have enough leads:
- Nobody likes awkward conversations. There are entire books and seminars devoted to “cold call reluctance,” and they all come down to the same thing: nobody likes calling strangers and asking for business. Most of us don’t enjoy receiving those calls, and so you certainly don’t relish making them!
- A full pipeline can lead to an empty cupboard. When do sellers concentrate most on prospecting? When they don’t have enough leads in the works. The moment they do, they cast prospecting aside for activities that are more enjoyable. Then it’s only a matter of time before they’re back at square one – with not enough leads to pursue.
What to Do When You Don’t Have Enough Leads
But that doesn’t mean you can’t overcome these prospecting challenges!
The real secret to beating them – and ensuring a steady flow of new leads into your pipeline – is in understanding that the keys to prospecting are discipline and the right message.
Discipline
The need for discipline, as often as it comes up in sales, is relatively straightforward: you just have to commit yourself to prospecting on a fixed, regular schedule and be accountable to it.
There’s no secret.
Because this is so important, a key component of any successful selling strategy has to be monitoring and accountability. It’s up to you, either as the seller or person in charge of overseeing sales, to be sure that daily, weekly, and quarterly targets are hit. Otherwise, it’s only a matter of time before you run out of leads.
