You have probably heard of email personalization before, but if you haven’t, don’t feel bad. We’re here to help you learn. Personalizing an email allows the email receiver to feel unique and important. People love personalized services. Regardless of the type of business you are running, personalization can make a huge difference. According to research by CMO.com, personalized emails deliver six times higher transaction rates. Think about it, are you more likely to open a generic email or a personalized email with your name in the subject line? And, this is why email personalization is such a powerful technique to utilize in your marketing strategy.

1.   So, how does one start email personalization? Learn as much about your audience as you can by collecting data. One way to do this is by improving your email sign-up forms. This could mean something as simple as adding a “Name” field when people sign up. Here are some other things you could ask for: Location, Birthday, Age, and You can also get more information about your targeted audience from data and list companies like US Data Corporation. Data companies can provide you with email lists of people that are of specific demographics, criteria, and more. By purchasing an email list, don’t have to wait for people to visit your website, sign-up and give you their information. You can get a list right away and start sending personalized emails right away.

2.   Before you go crazy with personalization now that you have data, you will want to consider how you are going to use email personalization. There is a fine line between coming off as friendly and creepy. Using a subscriber’s name is generally a safe bet and good first step in email personalization. According to an article by Marketing Sherpa, there was a 29.3% open rate increase when using the receiver’s name in the email subject line.

3.   Once you’ve dabbled with using names, you can move onto the more advanced techniques of personalization. What if you just sold someone shoes? Consider sending them an email featuring other clothing items that would go well with their new shoes.