Email marketing is no longer a one-size-fits-all initiative. Consumers now expect customized communications from the organizations they do business with. And when businesses meet those expectations, they reap the benefits. Research from Experian reveals that emails with personalized subject lines are 26 percent more likely to be opened. And according to Aberdeen Group, personalized emails improve click-through rates by 14 percent and conversion rates by 10 percent.
So, what can you personalize in an email? You are really only limited by the information that you have available in Microsoft Dynamics 365. While that’s great news in terms of the flexibility you have for customizing campaigns, it can also be a little daunting to figure out where to start. To help you get started with personalization and take your emails to the next level, here are five ideas for how to use personalization in your emails:
1. Name. Using a lead or contact’s name in an email is likely the most common use of email personalization, and rightly so. It’s a simple and effective way to show your recipients that you know who they are, and it helps create a connection with recipients immediately. You can use names in an email subject line or preheader, as seen here:
Or choose to greet your customers or leads by name in the content of the email:
2. Important dates. Our lives are filled with dates worth remembering and recognizing, both professionally and personally. So, what better way to endear yourself to your customers or prospects than to acknowledge these important dates too? An anniversary as it relates to your organization is a popular pick for a date to recognize. In the example email below, you can see how a professional association incorporated a date to recognize how long an individual had been a member of the association.
Birthdays are another important milestone to recognize. Other important dates to recognize could be the birth of a child or a wedding date. Again, you are really only limited by the data you have available in Dynamics 365.
3. Location. Consider these two subject lines: “Check out these hot new restaurants” versus “Check out these hot new Atlanta restaurants.” If you’re a foodie, you might be inclined to open the email either way, but the subject line that references the city you live in is more attention-grabbing because you know that the content is localized to you and very relevant. Localization also works well in the body of an email, as seen in the example below for a real estate brokerage, which references the city where the recipient wants to buy a new home and displays a few homes available in that location.
4. Dollar amounts. As seen in the example below, nonprofits in particular can use dollar amounts as an effective way to personalize their emails. This personalization allows the organization to recognize a donor’s specific contribution rather than just a general reference to an unspecified donation amount. Other examples of this personalization in action could be retailers with loyalty programs using dollar amount personalization to thank a customer for spending a certain amount or a financial institution could employ this type of personalization to show how much a customer has saved using a round-up on purchases savings account.
5. How you met. Sometimes people need a little reminder of how they met your organization, and they also like seeing that you remember too. This is particularly true for new leads who are having their first few interactions with your business. Did they visit your website? Make a purchase from your store? Attend an event? For example, a college wanted to send an email blast to prospective students that their representatives had spoken with at a series of college fairs. Using personalization, they were able to incorporate the name of the specific event each prospective student attended, providing a more customized email experience.
These are just a few examples of email personalization you can try in your communications. As you gather data in CRM, think of other opportunities for personalization that would suit your business and audience.
This post was contributed by ClickDimensions.
The post 5 Ideas for Using Personalization in Emails with Dynamics 365 appeared first on CRM Software Blog | Dynamics 365.