While a personalised salutation helps, the real benefits of personalised emails won’t come until you personalise the content.

Typically this would start by segmenting your database based on a variety of factors e.g.:

  • Their stated preferences
  • Products purchased
  • Average order value (AOV)
  • Open/click behaviour

Once you have created your segments you can develop specific emails for these segments.  Typically these emails would share the same template but contain different content.  This content can be dynamically inserted.

It’s important not only to look at the products purchased but to try to understand the reason behind some purchases.  For example an online grocery retailer might notice someone starts purchasing nappies so puts them in the ‘baby segment’.  However, this person will probably only require nappies (and other specific baby products) for a certain period of time.  Targeting could be improved here by further segmenting within the 'baby segment' based on the age of the baby.  So, in the example above, my first purchase of nappies would trigger me being added to the 0-2 yrs baby segment but after 2 years I would move into the 2-3 yrs baby segment.

Other triggers you may wish to use to improve your personalisation are:

  • Web behaviour e.g. I’ve spent a lot of time browsing the hiking category

  • Date of birth – send them a birthday email

Here is our favourite example of personalisation.  A leading UK online grocery retailer sends an email out on the first anniversary of the customer having joined with a voucher code for a free bottle of wine.  The wine was of course a brand purchased by the customer previously.

email personalisation

For more information on our email marketing services, call or email us: 09 889 8020 or email@steer.co.nz

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