We all know the old “load and blast” theory of email marketing. Just design an email, code it up, pick a random email program and send it. This approach is great if you’re looking to put “email marketing” on your company letterhead, but not so good if you’re seriously trying to reach opted-in customers.
Let’s face it. Those customers who willingly signed up to receive your emails probably don’t all want to read about the same thing. They have different interests, personalities, content preferences and usage patterns, just to name a few. So how do we treat these loyal brand followers before our unsubscribe rates start outpacing our opt-ins?
Graduate your email marketing program to the world of dynamic content.
While not a new concept by any stretch of the imagination, email programs that utilize dynamic content can greatly increase both the performance metrics and readability of their campaigns. In fact, research and best practices have held fast to the rule that targeted marketing that presents customized content based on the user’s interests tends to see better results. For instance, emails with dynamic content drive 18x more revenue than emails that cast a “one-size-fits-all” net.
So how does one go about gathering the necessary information to start producing these targeted mailings?
Just ask the user!
Upon initially opting in, present users with a two-stage opt-in process. The first stage is where you ask for their email address. Once they submit, they’ll be taken to a second page where they can enter any number of optional information, including their birthdate, gender and content interests. From this user-driven data, a messaging strategy can be devised that only delivers to the user what they want to read. Essentially, it’s allowing the user to control the content that’s being emailed to them.
Dynamic content can take many forms.
Here are several scenarios that can increase an email’s effectiveness:
• Depending on whether the recipient is male or female, deliver relevant content based on your brand’s aspects. If the user hasn’t entered their gender, serve up content that’s a safe default.
• Wish users a “happy birthday” ON their birthday. Just create one birthday template creative, and allow the email marketing program to dynamically switch out the date.
• Develop a template that can present targeted content as the feature based on user-selected preferences, alongside more general marketing content as a secondary message.
• Switch out images based on user data. For instance, if the user has communicated that he or she wants to learn more about golf activities at a resort, populate the main feature image of the email with a shot of the golf course.
Dynamic content utilizes the valuable insights users have provided to you, so make sure to put that knowledge to work by guiding prospective customers with personalized content. Each of your users should be recognized as an individual with specific needs, so strive to meet them with each email campaign you send out.
Dana can help.
For more insight into creating data-driven dynamic content for email, contact Lynn Kaniper at lkaniper@danacommunications.com.
