There are a number of email marketing techniques that can help businesses target individual consumers and increase their return on investment.
1) Segment Consumers by Asking Questions
Email marketing has become sophisticated enough to allow a business owner with limited technical skill to send messages to a specific group of customers rather than a mass blanket email to all customers.
Imagine the email as a storefront display: if a clothing store knows a consumer’s gender, hometown, preferences and their most recent purchases, they can design a storefront display tailored specifically to that person’s taste with items that they know to a high degree of certainty will interest them. Without this information, the storefront display will be the same for everyone and the store can only hope that it appeals to some of those who happen to be walking by.
Some of this information can be gleaned from a cleverly-designed mailing list signup form. The business must understand the line between asking too many questions that will drive away potential email list subscribers and obtaining key information that can help determine facts about a particular consumer. This allows the sender to target users with the material most likely to get a click or a purchase from them, such as their sex, hometown and anything else that is relevant to the product or service being offered.
Email marketing platforms, such as Constant Contact, offer users tools for designing an email list signup form and for breaking up an audience into segments. Not only can a business understand who their customers are through this method, they can also understand what timezone they are in, allowing for emails to be delivered at the optimal hour.
In addition, automatic emails can be sent out to coincide with a customer’s birthday or anniversary. For example, a restaurant might send a customer with a birthday a free dessert coupon as a method of getting them to come in.
2) React to Customer Behavior with Personalized Emails
A business that knows what its customers have previously purchased or perused likely has a better idea of what to offer them in the future. This is another way of personalizing a message for a particular customer.
Many email marketing platforms, such as Vertical Response, provide easy-to-understand analytics that can help users see how successful particular email campaigns were and what actions specific customers carried out in response to the email.
This classic upselling method is just like a fast food restaurant maximizing sales by offering a deal on a soda and french fries to somebody already buying a hamburger. Email platforms allow the user to automatically send an email offering a deal on matching or accompanying items to customers who make a certain purchase.
3) Develop a Rapport with the Consumer
The level to which a company should make the tone of a marketing email personal is dependent on the product or service on offer and the type of consumer, but it’s crucial to add a touch of personality to develop a rapport.
Suggestions for humanizing an email include addressing the recipient by first name in either the subject line or introductory line of the email or signing the email from a person, rather than a company. Many email marketing platforms allow users to employ A/B testing that can help determine which types of emails, with which level of personalization, are most effective.
Developing a rapport with the email list customer should begin immediately upon signup. After a consumer has shown interest in the service or products being offered by signing up for an email list, it is a golden opportunity to send them a welcome email in a personal voice that establishes the sender as legitimate and worthy of reading. You’ll want to offer significant value to the specific customer immediately in order to establish this relationship. GetResponse, and a number of other email marketing services, make sending out such automated responses easy.
Conclusion
The benefits of personalizing email marketing are proven. Personalized campaigns increase conversion rates and revenue. Even without technical expertise, businesses can get started with easy and effective personalized email campaigns with the help of affordable email marketing services.
