Email personalisation: Should you do it?

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There’s talk about how personalising your emails can create a deeper connection with your email subscribers - so should you be adding your subscribers name to the content of your emails? Find out here!

Email personalisation - should you do it? And what to do instead it you don’t…

All the Email Service Providers I’ve used for my business and with my clients' businesses, they’ve all come with the option to add the subscriber's name to the email content. In fact, I’ve yet to come across one that doesn’t have this option

So the big question is… 

Should you personalise your emails?

There’s some thought that using a person's first name can create a deeper and more intimate connection with your reader. But just because you can use either name, doesn’t always mean you should.

Let me first explain why personalising your emails might now be a good idea, and then also when it can be useful.

Why personalising could be a bad idea

Let’s just go back to the point where you collect your subscribers name and email. 

To start with you may not be collecting names at all. Some online business owners believe that the fewer steps a person has to take to get to the desired results (giving you their email) the easier it is because there’s less friction in the journey.

They only have to add their email and BAM, they get the thing they want. So of course that means personalisation is out the window if you don’t have their name.

But what about all those people who don’t fill in the form properly and add a random string of numbers to the name box so they can get your lead magnet. So, using the name “sdvuaern” in an email won't be creating a deeper connection with them.

You then have to ask yourself whether these people are worth having on your list in the first place and you may consider using a double opt-in to filter these out.  

But what about those who add their name in wrong or add a capital letter in some  random place.  Have you ever done that?  I certainly have. I once added my name in as “sArah” for one email list and now I get emails saying “ Hi there sArah…” 

Yes, I know I can go and edit my profile (possibly) but for me, it breaks the illusion of that personal connection and does the opposite. It brings my attention to the fact that my name isn’t right, rather than focusing on the great content in the email.

You do have the option of combing through your email list and correcting any typos you see, or scrubbing the emails of bot-generated addresses, but who wants to do that? One of email marketing is that you create an automated sales system so this defeats the point.

When it can be useful to use personalisation in your emails

When it’s used correctly (the names are spelled right) and used well, personalisation CAN do wonders for your business.

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and they say your name?  It makes you feel super special – or is that just me and my ego-trip?

It can and does create the connection you’re looking for when it comes to sending emails.  And if used consistently, it can help build the know, like and trust factor.

In tests, I’ve found the personalisation bit not always best used in the salutation… you know the start of the email where you say… “Hi, Sarah…”

Nope, the best way to use it is mid-sentence and sometimes even in the subject line.

In your content, if you ask a question you can pose it like…

“Have you ever felt that way, Sarah?”

Or you can even go as far as to do some mind reading…

“I know what you’re thinking, Sarah…”

This is when personalisation can work some magic.

And of course in the subject line, that’s when you might increase your open rate, because your reader thinks this is specifically for them instead of ANOTHER email from a company, brand or business.

But what if you don’t want to take the risk of getting your personalisation right in terms of the correct name or if your subscriber hasn’t entered their name at all, leaving your personalisation blank?

What you can do instead…

So instead of relying on using the person's name in the email you can make sure your email content is written in a way that creates that connection. But how do you do that, Sarah?  I hear you ask.

You make sure you write to one person. It’s easy to mistakenly address the group of people who are your subscribers like this…

“You’ve all told me that you want…”

Rather than…

“Several customers have told me…” or… “You’ve told me that…”

Write as though you’re addressing one person. Make sure you do a sweep of your email once you’ve written it to make sure you’ve not accidentally fallen into talking to a group.  

It’s similar to the advice that coaches give to speakers on stage.  They say, focus on one person in your audience and address them, not everyone in the 1000 seater conference room.

The other approach is the way you write.  To make deeper intimate connections, you need to write on a deeper and more intimate lever, as though you’re addressing a friend. 

Think of how you talk to your best buddy and see if that’s something you’d say to them.  Take out all the jargon and contract your words.

Don’t say…

“I could have…”

Instead say “I could’ve…”

These two approaches will start creating an intimacy with your readers that builds the foundation for happy customers who love you and what you do.

So the takeaways are…

• Don’t always rely on personalisation, use sparingly, if you dare 

• Talk to one person

• Write like you would speak to a friend

I’d love to know how you get on with this tactic. Why not drop me an email using the contact form here.

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT OPT-INS? See the Opt-in email series here.