We’re well into the summer season looking toward fall. This year people are still spending more time at home and online than before. With that in mind, now is the time to improve your Marketing Automation & Email Personalization.
Marketing automation is a time-saving and effective process of continuously collecting data of your customers. Based on your data, you’re able to divide your customers into groups and send emails that will reach the right customer with the right message at the right time. This process is effortless compared to having to recreate each email for new or current customers.
The key to ensuring these emails are successful is by personalizing your emails to send relevant and useful content to accommodate each group of your customers. Collecting and using this data will make sure the right message is in front of the right customer, and in return you’re likely to have more interaction with each email you send. Your customers will expect content to be relevant to their needs or interests and doing so will keep you ahead of your competitors. Think about getting an email from a retail store. Did you purchase something for your friend or spouse. Do you continue to get emails from that retailer that have nothing to with what you would normally buy? By collecting as much information about your customers as possible and segmenting them into appropriate groups based on this information, you can ensure that this doesn’t happen with your messaging.
With the number of email users worldwide expected to reach 4.3 billion by 2022, and the several free or low-cost options for email marketing, it’s essential to enhance your marketing automation for your business. But before you get started, how can you ensure you’re personalizing your emails correctly? In our industry, there are different ways to divide your customers into groups/segments for email personalization. Here are a few examples to consider when grouping them:
- Customer contact information
- Do they have children or pets?
- What services/products do they consistently require?
- Where are they located?
- Are their projects in residential or commercial sites?
- Is there opportunity to add additional services or new projects?
- Have your customers mentioned a phase two or three project?
- What type of systems do they currently have? Could they be upgraded?
Keeping these factors in mind, we’ve provided you with three tips for personalizing your emails to help your business grow and connect more with your customers!
1. What’s in a Name?
When your customer is looking through their emails, seeing their name in the subject line will definitely catch their eye. The subject line is the first thing we look at when opening or receiving an email, so you want to be sure your customer’s name is on that line. Although adding their name may seem like a subtle method of personalizing your emails, it can go a long way as that alone can improve your open rates by 26%. This is definitely a great aspect of personalization and essential to grab your customer’s attention in the cluster of emails they receive daily.
If you want your customers to proceed to your email and view the great promotions and services you have to offer, test out different subject lines and be sure to try one that includes their name in the subject line so they feel closer to your business.
2. Thanks for the Offer
Sending emails with a list of different offers is good awareness for your services, however it may be overwhelming and unrelated to some customers. Your promotional offers should be specific to their needs or interests. For example if you’ve recently worked on an irrigation system for a group of customers, send them an email with a promotional offer on winterization before the winter!
They’ll immediately be reminded and more than likely work with your business.
The same method applies to your customers who required a spring cleanup the previous year, send those group of customers an email offering a promotion for that service before the following spring. If you have a group of customers that have children or pets, you can send them offers on all-natural and family-safe products they weren’t aware about—or even offer services such as mosquito or pest control so they can enjoy their backyard space safely.
It’s important to remember to make your emails relevant and fit the needs of your groups of customers. Sending the right offers to your customers will make them feel connected and know you’re there to help. It will keep them interested in your business and not the competitors.
3. Services that Resonate
Your customers may need an additional service they’re unaware about or could be interested in. If one group/segment of your customers need that additional service such as aeration, personalization gives you an opportunity to promote it. If a segment/group of customers annually requires a spring clean-up, send them an email promoting your service along with the additional service of aeration. Bringing that awareness to your customers will help them realize they can be in need of aeration, and will more than likely ask about it as well. Keep in mind you don’t have to limit yourself to one additional related service, you can always add a few more.
Don’t Forget Complementary Services
Whether or not the service is actually needed, it doesn’t hurt to recommend a service as long as it’s relevant or related to the service already provided. This process of personalization will help bring awareness of other services they may be in need of, and will make it easier for them to know what they need instead of searching online. Making it easier for them will ensure they continue to work with your business in return!
Personalization is all about keeping the content in your email’s relevant to the set of customers you’re sending it to. Hundreds of emails are constantly flooding our inbox daily, so personalizing your emails ensure your customers know you’re conscious about this and sending them content they will need or are have an interest in. In the long run this will save you time, money and make your customers feel connected to your business. Feeling connected will help them stay loyal to your offers, services and business!
Finally, rely on Central to help, whether it’s questions about marketing automation, or email personalization during COVID-19. Central is the right partner for your business. We stay at the leading edge of the industry and we’re ready to help you grow!