Picture this: You're digging through your mailbox and find a bunch of flyers and advertisements that everyone receives – boring. But in the midst of the pile, you notice a company has sent you a personalized message. The company has addressed you by name and seems to know exactly what you're looking for; it's like they read your mind. Which one are you going to read, and which ones will end up in the trash?
You can't win over customers with broad, impersonal marketing messages anymore. Customers today want and expect more than that. Personalizing your marketing is what will create a positive experience for customers, an association with your brand of trust and value, and keep you relevant in consumers' minds. In fact, 33 percent of marketers said that personalization will be the most important marketing capability in the future.
But how do you wow your customers with personalization? Here are five personalization marketing tips to impress customers.
1. Use the customer's name.
When you're walking down a busy street and hear your name being called from behind you, what do you do? You turn around and look, of course. Using the customer's name in marketing has the same effect. In a crowded inbox, consumers are much more likely to pay attention to an email with their name in the subject line. In fact, emails with personalized subject lines are 26 percent more likely to be opened.
Using the names of your customers in your email marketing is also one of the fastest ways to build rapport. Your customers will appreciate receiving emails from you when they feel like you are speaking directly to them. So instead of sending out emails addressed "Dear Valued Customer," send out a message that opens with "Hey, Joanna! We've missed you!" Your customers will not only take notice, they'll feel more connected to your brand and more receptive to your message.
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2. Personalize your site's popups.
Displaying popups on your site can be a really effective way to catch the attention of users and convince them to take your desired action, whether that's subscribing to your email list or making a purchase, but popups are much more effective when they're relevant and personalized. If your popups aren't personalized or don't relate to what your website visitors are actually interested in, you risk annoying them and won't see any improvement in conversions.
Personalize your popups for higher conversions by ensuring your popup offer is relevant to the content visitors are already enjoying on your site. For instance, if you offer coaching for Pinterest marketing and Instagram marketing, and a user is only reading your Pinterest marketing content, would a popup that offers an Instagram e-book download interest them? Probably not. Your popup should offer them a chance to download your Pinterest Checklist PDF instead; this way, you are offering them what they want and they'll be more likely to act.
3. Segment your email list.
Each of your customers and subscribers are unique, with different wants and needs, so why would you send them all the exact same email? Segmenting your email list is essential to getting the results you want from your email marketing campaign. It will allow you to send more personalized emails to users, giving them exactly what they want and need, so you can drastically increase sales.
For example, if you're a clothing retailer, would you send the male subscribers on your list an email with the latest women's fashions? You could, but that would be a waste of time. Instead, segment your list based on gender, interests and other demographics to ensure you send emails to shoppers who will be excited to receive them. An email marketing service like Mailchimp will let you easily segment your email list and even includes ready-made segments so you can start personalizing your campaigns right away.
Another great perk of segmenting your email list is recapturing the attention of inactive users. If you segment your list based on people who haven't visited your site in a while, haven't bought anything for some time or haven't used your product lately, you can send them a personalized message to tell them you miss them. This is a fantastic way to reduce customer churn and reinvest users you may have otherwise lost forever in your brand.
4. Send customers personal reports.
Sending out personalized reports is a great way for companies to impress their customers. Reading an email from a company you love, catered specifically to you, is satisfying for a consumer. This tactic is especially effective for SaaS companies; these companies can email personal reports to users that outline their success with the service, including a breakdown of their stats. For example, Grammarly sends its users stats on how many words they typed each week and how productive they were compared to other users.
Even if you're not a SaaS business, you can still take advantage of personalized reports. For instance, if you're an e-commerce business, you could send an email to customers about their latest order and recommend new products based on what they purchased. Customers will love the personalized touch and look forward to your valuable insights.
5. Reward loyal customers.
Did you know it costs five times as much to attract a new customer as to keep an existing one? That's why it's so important to keep your most loyal customers happy with personalized marketing messages and offers. By analyzing your website data, you can easily see which of your customers are most valuable to your business, which of them buy most often and how much they spend on average. These are the customers you want to really want to impress.
To keep your favorite customers satisfied, you can send them targeted promotions and offer them special discounts to let them know they are valued and encourage them to continue buying from you. If you don't want to give discounts, you can also show your appreciation by offering your biggest fans early access to a new feature or extra content not available on your website.
A personal touch plays a huge part in winning people over. With these marketing personalization practices, you can position yourself as a devoted company that goes above and beyond for its customers. Start implementing these tips to get better results from your marketing efforts, including a huge boost in sales.