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How do I personalize emails at scale?



How do I personalize emails at scale?


Inbound marketing is all about getting people who are interested in what you have to say to actually read and act on it. But with so many different platforms that we need to reach our target audience through (Social Media, Search Engine Marketing, Content Marketing), there’s no way for us to get everyone to see our content. And as email becomes more important than ever before, this has become a big problem.

So how can we make sure that only those who want our message will receive it? This is where personalisation comes into play – if we know enough details about someone’s interests or their personality traits, we can tailor our messages specifically to them. In fact, research shows that when marketers use automated tools like A/B testing and segmentation, they increase engagement by up to 20%!

Personalised emails help with everything from conversion rates to sales conversions. So let’s take a look at how you can start using personalisation today.

How do you Personalise emails to scale?

There are two ways to achieve personalisation across multiple channels such as emails and social media:

Build custom lists based on data from web analytics or CRM systems. You could build segments of users based on their behaviour patterns on websites, which would allow you to create targeted campaigns for each type of user. For example, a list called “people who book flights online” might be used to send out a series of emails to encourage booking trips during peak times.

Create unique emails per person based on known information about them. These types of emails may include name, location, age, gender, preferences etc. The main challenge here is creating these emails quickly since there isn't much existing information available about most customers yet. However, once you've got some data, you'll be able to create highly targeted emails that give prospects exactly what they're looking for.

How do you personalize cold emails at scales?

To answer the question above, we first need to understand a few things about cold emailing:

Cold Emails tend to perform better than standard emails because they typically come from a trusted source. They also often contain interesting subject lines that catch attention.

The average open rate for cold emails is around 30%. It’s not uncommon for the number to decrease even further depending on the industry. As mentioned earlier, however, targeting leads via personalized emails increases click-through rates by 40%, according to recent studies.

Here are 3 best practices for sending personalized cold emails:

Use automation to ensure consistency. Automated outreach allows you to schedule your emails without having to manually input every single detail yourself. There are several options out there including Salesforce, Marketo, Hubspot and others.

Make sure your recipient knows why they were sent the email. Include a clear call to action within your subject line (e.g. "We noticed you recently bought XYZ product"). Also consider adding relevant links to provide additional value and drive traffic back to your website.

Focus on high-quality content. Your emails should never be promotional but rather educational and helpful. Always try to stay away from overly aggressive tactics like spamming and auto-responders. Instead, focus on generating good quality leads for your business.

How do you personalize an email?

It’s true that building individualized emails takes time. That said, there are a couple of easy steps to follow to save time while still ensuring that your emails are truly customized. First, identify the right recipients. Then, craft a great headline. Finally, add compelling copy that answers questions posed in the subject line. Let’s break down the process step by step below:

Identify the Right Recipients

You don’t always have access to the prospect’s full contact info. If you do, it’s worth checking to see whether they have previously interacted with your company. Otherwise, you can search publicly available databases to find other sources of information. There are plenty of free ones out there.

Craft a Great Headline

Your title needs to grab attention immediately. Make sure it clearly states the purpose of the email and includes a link to read more. Keep it short and sweet.

Add Compelling Copy

This is perhaps one of the most overlooked aspects of your email design. While headlines and titles are very important, your text shouldn’t just repeat what was stated in the header. Write something that addresses the specific concerns raised by your recipient. Use keywords, phrases and sentences that match the language and tone of the rest of your messaging.

How does email personalization work?

Now that you know how to personalise emails effectively, it’s time to learn how the technology works behind the scenes. We recommend downloading our guide to understanding Lyne AI, which explains the basics of how personalisation algorithms function.

Lyne AI uses machine learning techniques to predict customer behaviours and then deliver tailored recommendations. When it receives new data, Lyne AI learns and adapts its strategy accordingly. To put it simply, it gets smarter over time. Once Lyne AI learns enough about a particular user, it provides that user with personalised recommendations based on their history and preferences.

As soon as Lyne AI understands a certain set of characteristics, it starts tailoring the next round of emails to that same group of people. Because it doesn’t rely on any static variables, Lyne AI automatically adjusts itself as more information arrives.

For example, if you send an email to 100 people saying ‘hey guys, here’s my offer’, Lyne AI will analyse each recipient’s previous interactions and determine what kind of offers they tend to respond well to. Based on that knowledge, it will present the same offer again to the next 50 potential buyers. With time, Lyne AI continues to improve until it reaches optimal performance levels.

Once Lyne AI identifies the correct recipients and delivers the perfect message, it saves time for both parties involved. Not only does it reduce the amount of effort required to generate qualified leads, but it also makes the whole experience less stressful for the sender.

If you have a strong desire to grow your lead generation efforts, Lyne AI can be a real game changer.

Why are these emails so effective?

We live in a world of information overload. People don’t have time anymore to browse their inboxes or open dozens of tabs just to find out which messages deserve attention.

With hundreds of thousands if not millions of emails being sent daily by companies looking to connect with potential customers and partners, most of them will be ignored without any further action taken from the recipient side. It doesn’t matter whether they were targeted correctly or even relevant to someone’s needs at first glance – once they start piling up, people tend to ignore them until they are forced into doing something else.

The only thing that can save cold emails now is personalization. You must figure out which recipients might want to hear from you based on their interests, preferences, location etc., and send them directly to those accounts based on specific criteria.

This article will show you how to create highly-personalized emails using data science techniques. We’ll also look closely at some common mistakes made when creating such campaigns and how to avoid them.

If you want to know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of an automated marketing campaign, then try sending yourself an unsolicited email. It can leave you feeling like you’ve just been hit by a truck. That’s because every time you open up Outlook or Gmail and see that generic email from someone trying to sell you something – even if they are using a template with your name attached – it makes zero sense. Why would anyone care about me? What have I done for them lately?

I get why marketers hate personalized messaging. But as a marketer myself, there is no way around it. You need to learn how to craft messages that make people say “yes!” instead of asking themselves “why am I reading this?” when it comes to marketing automation platforms (MAPs). And while many companies use these systems to deliver their leads directly into Salesforce or Hubspot, some still struggle to create compelling content that will compel recipients to take action.

The good news is that personalized marketing doesn't require you to pay big money upfront. There are plenty of free ways to bring more value to your audience, no matter whether you're looking to promote products, services, or events. In fact, one of the best ways to stand out from the crowd is to build strong relationships first before attempting to convert prospects. The key here is to understand who needs what information so you can tailor each message accordingly. Below we'll show you how to send personalized emails without breaking the bank.

How do I send a mass email that looks personalized?

There really isn’t much difference between sending a general email versus a personalized one aside from the subject line. A well-written headline stands out and helps you grab attention, but beyond that, all other elements should feel similar between both types of mailings. That means including important details such as contact info, links, and any promotional offers you might have. If you don’t include enough detail, you could lose potential customers altogether.

To ensure that your recipient receives exactly what he wants, you must provide context to your email. This includes telling him where he came from, what kind of industry you work within, and which specific product or service you offer. When crafting an email, think outside the box and look for places where you can add extra depth, rather than simply copying and pasting from another piece of text. For example, if you were selling furniture online, you may write a separate paragraph explaining how great your collection is, its history, etc., instead of just listing off features. Your readers will thank you later.

You also need to consider how often you plan to send out your emails. Do you only send them once per month? Once every two months? Or weekly? Depending on the frequency, you’ll need to adjust the length and number of lines included, too. Keep in mind that shorter pieces tend to perform better overall since they’re easier to read, especially on mobile devices. Also keep in mind that longer ones can seem daunting and intimidating to those not used to reading long blocks of copy.

Finally, keep in mind that you don’t necessarily have to stick to plain text. Images and videos can help break up large blocks of text and convey more meaning than words alone, particularly if you’re talking about complex topics.

How do I send a personalized email in Gmail?

Gmail has made it incredibly easy to customize your contacts list, thanks to its extensive customization options. All you need to do is click on Contacts " Settings " Customized labels. From here, you can drag & drop different categories onto your sidebar to organize your contacts according to whatever criteria works best for you. Then select the label you wish to apply to these groups, and voila - customized folders ready to receive your next batch of emails.

Now, whenever you compose a new email, you can choose from several pre-made templates based on category, company size, job title, location, etc. As you continue to grow your network through LinkedIn connections, Twitter followers, or other social media accounts, you can easily import the custom filters you created earlier into Gmail to further streamline your outreach efforts.

In addition to adding relevant data points to your contacts lists, Gmail lets you set up individual rules for each group. These will allow you to automatically categorize incoming emails based on certain keywords, parse attachments, filter spam, etc. Again, you can find additional examples of how others are doing things here.

How do I personalize my professional email?

Personalizing your email address is one of the simplest ways to increase engagement with your subscribers. To begin, check your existing domain names against Google’s Whois tool to determine its availability. If it turns up as available, you can always purchase a second hand.com domain name from Namecheap and redirect your current inboxes to it. Alternatively, you can buy a vanity URL from sites like Uniregistry for $10/year and direct your traffic there.

Once you’ve secured a new domain, head back to your MSP and ask them to update your DNS records to point towards your shiny new website. Finally, change the default greeting for your email account to something unique, perhaps mentioning your brand or business niche along with your name. Now, anytime someone sends you an email, you’ll instantly recognize it as coming from you and feel less inclined to delete or ignore it.

Another simple way to distinguish your own correspondence from everyone else is to put your logo somewhere visible. While most email clients let you upload images in various formats, you can also download and install Google Drive desktop apps for Windows and MacOS to quickly access these files on your computer.

One final tip worth noting is to sign up for a web hosting package that allows you to host multiple domains on a single server. Not only does this save you money, but it cuts down on downtime for your main site, allowing you to focus more energy on growing your secondary domain(s) instead.

How do I personalize my outbound emails?

While personalizing your emails inside Gmail is relatively straightforward, getting started with personalizing your outgoing emails can be a little trickier. Most of us prefer to remain anonymous when communicating via email, and therefore avoid writing anything too revealing. So here are our top tips for personalizing your emails outside of Gmail:

Use your real name -- At least on the subject line. No one likes being called John Smith or Jane Doe, so don't waste your subscriber's time with pseudonyms either. Instead, use your full legal name on the body of your email. Just remember not to reveal everything right away, though. Try keeping it vague initially until you've built rapport with your prospect. After that, you can gradually disclose more personal details.

Keep it short -- With fewer words, your reader won't have to sift through lengthy sections of copy. Ideally, a typical email should consist of three paragraphs maximum and never exceed six sentences. Anything after that becomes difficult to digest.

Don't forget to proofread -- Nothing kills a perfectly crafted email faster than typos and grammatical errors. Take the time to double check everything before hitting send. Even if you already know English as your native language, chances are other languages aren't your mother tongue. Make sure your spelling, grammar, and punctuation are correct.

Be honest -- People appreciate honesty, even if it's unintentional. If you accidentally misspelled a word during your initial draft, don't beat yourself up over it. Simply edit the error and move forward. On the flip side, however, if your email starts sounding disingenuous, ditch the whole thing. Honesty is essential when building trust among consumers.

Ask questions -- If you suspect that your prospect might not fully agree with your message, you absolutely should pose a few followup queries. However, it shouldn't become a habit. Remember that people enjoy hearing from genuine individuals, not faceless brands. By speaking straight to your reader's heart, you'll earn his loyalty and ultimately his business.

Show respect -- Whether you're responding to an inquiry or engaging in friendly banter, always treat your customer with utmost respect. Never assume that they know what you're saying simply because they opened your email. Always acknowledge their feedback and provide clear explanations as needed. Be patient and explain why you took the actions you did.

These tips serve as a starting point for creating effective communications strategies, but you certainly aren't limited to following them blindly. Personalizing your email campaigns takes practice and effort, but the benefits far outweigh the cost. Once you start seeing positive ROIs, it will be obvious that investing in this strategy was indeed worthwhile.

So you’ve seen your cold email campaigns drop off a cliff lately and you want them back on track again. You need to get those open rates up, but first you have to figure out what went wrong!

The most common mistake that leads to low open rates is sending generic or impersonal emails. If you can take a few minutes to think about who might be interested in your product (or service), then you could see some big improvements here.

However, if you don't know where to start with this, it can feel like a daunting task. The good news is there are plenty of tried-and-tested methods for getting better results from marketing automation tools - so let's dive right into it.

We're going to focus on two things today:

Personalizing your emails will help increase conversions by making sure they match the audience you've identified as being more likely to respond positively.

There are several options available when it comes to creating templates for your email content. We'll look at these options below and show you which one we recommend.

Let's begin with the basics before moving onto our recommendations for each method.

How do you Personalize a cold email?

Creating a template for your email seems simple enough, but it has its own set of challenges. For example, how does someone know if their name should be bolded in your email? Or maybe you want to include other data such as location or title within the body copy itself.

In order to make sure your emails are tailored to the needs of your subscribers, you must ensure that all information included is relevant. This requires careful planning and testing. Below are a couple of tips to consider when developing your template.

Tip 1 – Keep It Short & Concise

Your template shouldn't contain too much unnecessary text. Your readers may not even read every word of your message, especially if they receive hundreds of messages per day. They only have time to skim through everything and pick out the important bits.

Make sure that you provide just enough information in your subject line to pique interest without overwhelming the reader.

If possible, use bullet points rather than long paragraphs. Bullet points break up large blocks of text, helping people scan for key information quickly.

You also want to keep the length of your emails under 300 words. Anything longer than this and you risk losing attention.

Finally, remember that you don’t always need to put yourself in your customers shoes to create effective emails. Often times you can simply ask questions and use keywords. This lets you tap directly into what your customer wants to hear.

Tip 2 – Use Relevant Images

Images play an incredibly powerful role in conveying meaning and emotion. That said, using images incorrectly can actually work against you. In fact, studies suggest that including irrelevant imagery in your email increases the chances of recipients deleting your message immediately.

This isn’t because people hate seeing pictures. Instead, they tend to ignore anything that doesn’t relate to the main point of your message. So instead of putting random photos throughout your email, try focusing on specific ones that convey the same emotions of your content.

For instance, if you were writing about travel, you wouldn’t insert a picture of a cat wearing sunglasses. However, if you were trying to sell a new holiday package, you would probably include some visual elements to showcase that aspect of your offer.

Use your imagination and come up with different scenarios based on the type of products / services you are selling. Then test these ideas to find the best combinations.

How do you Personalize emails?

Once you understand how to write shorter, more concise emails, it’s time to move on to the next step. How exactly do you add personality to your emails? There are many options available depending on the platform you choose to run your campaigns through. Let’s explore those now.

1) Use Subject Lines With Personality

When thinking of how to improve your email strategy, it makes sense to consider how you can personalize subject lines. While your headline is often used to grab attention, your subject line is meant to convince prospects to click through. Using clever wording and incorporating emotional triggers helps to achieve both goals.

One way to incorporate personality into your email subject lines is to make the recipient laugh. Not only does humor appeal to human nature, but it also shows respect towards the person reading it. A study found that subjects rated emails containing jokes higher in terms of trustworthiness, reliability, and friendliness.

2) Include Social Proof

Another great way to inject personality into your emails is to include social proof in your design. Studies indicate that adding testimonials from satisfied customers increases conversion rate by 30%. Testimonials give the impression that others share similar experiences and thus increase perceived credibility.

Social proof can also be conveyed visually via icons or logos. By placing a logo close to the top left corner of your email, you encourage people to scroll further down to check out additional details. Adding visuals is another way to draw eyes to sections of your email that are less prominent.

3) Utilise Data To Create Personas

Data plays a huge part in successful email marketing strategies. One of the advantages of having access to this kind of insight is that it allows you to develop highly targeted messaging across multiple channels.

It also means you can target certain audiences according to demographics, interests, behaviours, etc. Allowing your emails to speak specifically to individual users creates a stronger connection between sender and receiver.

4) Make Sure Content Is Consistent Across Channels

As mentioned above, data plays an integral role in any successful digital marketing strategy. Having consistent content across platforms ensures consistency of tone and style while boosting brand recognition.

A recent study revealed that consumers prefer brands with a consistent identity across various media outlets. And since email is still one of the most popular forms of communication among businesses, it’s essential that companies maintain a strong presence online.

What are four ways to personalize an email campaign?

Now that you know how to personalize your email, it’s time to learn about the variety of solutions available to you. Once you discover the perfect tool for your business, stick with it until you reach your desired ROI level.

Bulk emailing software is ideal for small businesses looking to automate repetitive tasks. These programs allow marketers to create automated campaigns automatically, saving hours of effort and allowing for greater productivity.

On the other hand, email marketing apps designed specifically for B2C clients are excellent choices for ecommerce sites looking to boost sales. These types of programs typically feature robust analytics capabilities, seamless integration with shopping carts, user management features, and integrated CRM systems.

Sendgrid offers three distinct approaches to building personalized emails:

Automated Templates - Automate the creation and delivery process to save time and energy.

Customized Templates - Customize the contents of your email templates to fit your unique business objectives.

Manual Template Creation - Create custom designs manually to meet your exact specifications.

Amazon SES provides a free solution that anyone can use with no limits on the number of emails sent daily. Simply signup for a 14-day trial and configure your settings to suit your requirements.

Mailchimp is one of the world’s leading providers of professional grade email lists and offers a range of plans that cater to everyone’s budget. Choose from monthly subscription packages starting at $10/month, or opt for a yearly plan starting at $200/year.

Mailjet provides a comprehensive suite of mailing list management tools along with easy-to-use integrations to the likes of Salesforce and Zendesk. Their API allows developers to integrate third party applications seamlessly, ensuring that you never miss a beat.

Finally, Microsoft 365 Business includes Outlook with built-in email marketing functionality. Users can easily manage contacts, schedule meetings, and send newsletters with ease thanks to preconfigured templates.

How do you send personalized emails?

Once you’ve figured out how to personalize your emails, the real challenge lies ahead. How do you deliver them successfully? The answer depends largely on whether you’re managing a B2B or B2C initiative.

Below are a few steps to follow when designing your workflow:

Create a workflow around your existing processes. This will ensure that the entire team understands what happens after an action takes place.

Ensure that your workflow is intuitive. People will struggle to complete tasks that require complex interactions unless the system is well thought out.

Test your workflow thoroughly. Even though it sounds obvious, it’s vital that all members of staff fully comprehend the flow of events. Otherwise, errors are bound to occur.

Choose the right tool for the job. As discussed earlier, there are numerous options available when it comes to delivering personalized emails. But only select the program that suits your needs perfectly.

To recap, here are the 5 best ways to send personalized emails:

Using automated templates to generate personalized emails.

Personalising your templates manually.

Utilising data science techniques to build smart email templates.

Using an email app to send customized emails.


Author

Anyleads

San Francisco

We are the leading marketing automation platform serving more than 100,000 businesses daily. We operate in 3 countries, based in San Francisco, New York, Paris & London.

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