According to a survey conducted by McKinsey as early as 2014, “E-mail is a significantly more effective way to acquire customers than social media — nearly 40 times that of Facebook and Twitter combined.” And, four years on, this still holds true. Emails are the most direct way to engage with an audience, and hence, email marketing is the key component of all marketing plans.
It is important to remember, however, that nothing can be accomplished by sending one-size-fits-all email messages to customers. In fact, such generic emails can act as irritants and might actually repulse some customers. Hence, personalised mails – they are more effective in persuading recipients to actually open and read the emails. Imagine walking into a restaurant and being asked ‘Hi. What do you want to have today? And then imagine being greeted with a ‘Hello Ms. Lee. Nice to see you. If you would wait a while, I can get your favourite table ready for you. By the way, we have lobster bisque on the specials today, I know you loved it the last time!’
Which one would you prefer? And which one do you think your customer would prefer?
Why Personalise?
The reason personalised emails work is simple – they let the customer know that you care. You care about what they have bought and you also care about what they have not bought. The simple act of tracing your customers’ transactions gives you a better insight into their likes and dislikes, it also helps each of your customers feel special and unique.
The sheer fact that more customers will open your personalised emails has a direct bearing on your conversion rate, and hence, revenue. In this era of smartphones and digitally savvy audiences, personalised emails are the single most cost-effective way of acquiring and retaining customers.
Personalisation Tips
Personalisation is not as complex as it sounds. As a marketer, you can start with basic data like the customer’s name, location, gender and purchase history, all of which already exists on your database. Here are a few quick tips:
- A personalised subject line works wonders to boost the email open-rate. Do ensure that it is relevant and important to the recipient.
- The gender, age (if you have it), and location details of the recipient can be good ways to stratify and personalise your offerings. A recipient in Mumbai, for example, might have no interest in your branches in Delhi. And, a young working woman might have no interest in that superlative men’s cycling shorts that you just launched.
- Think of special days – create special offerings for birthday, birth months, anniversaries etc.
- Use past behavioural pattern to understand your customer better. A customer who looked at women’s health insurance policies might also be interested in cancer care plans. Or, someone who looked at running shoes might be keen on fitness bands or active wear.
Personalise How?
The answer is simple – automate. An automated emailing system offers you a way to send personalised emails to more customers that is quicker and cheaper, not to mention simpler. Automated transactional emails that are personalised have been proven to have a much higher open and click-through rate than standard mails and hence, can be a powerful tool to boost revenue. One such transactional emailing system that can be used to send personalized emails is Falconide from Netcore. No matter what business you are in, Falconide can help boost your revenue by offering more value to your customers.