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Getting Personal!

Original article: www.imediaconnection.com/content/20505.asp
“Opportunities your email campaign is missing”

Great. Maybe it’s just that I’m no good at filtering out the masses of rubbish that inundates my inbox on a daily basis, but I could really do without yet another “Free Walrus Polishing Kit”, emailed and personally addressed to me no less!

Ok, so while I applaud their adventurous niche marketing concept – if you’re emailing your customers and your degree of ‘personalisation’ doesn’t venture beyond “Hi Michael!”, then don’t expect results.

“But how will I let my customers know about my brilliant offer / product / news, without the dreaded ‘remove me from your mailing list immediately’ reply?” – the equivalent of having your virtual house pelted with virtual rotten eggs…

Well in short, get personal… really personal. Sure it requires more effort and attention, but since when did you not have to hand over a share of elbow grease for a dollar? The key here is the age-old adage; ‘work smarter, not harder!’

Studies show personalisation produces results, but for real results you need advanced strategies. A simple example? Well perhaps sir would like to be informed of the upcoming Broncos versus Storm match that he had purchased tickets for last season, or maam has been waiting for her favourite designers’ next jewellery showcase. These are your special, loyal customers, those who agreed to be your eyes and ears by ticking that box to make them part of your mailing list – those that chose to interact with you beyond the completion of a transaction for a good or service.

Both of the examples above were ‘trigger-based’ email campaigns, so called because an event of particular interest to a customer triggered your timely campaign into action. Refining your customer database and segmenting it by demographics, behavioural, and transactional information is several steps in the right direction. Tailoring your email campaign to deliver the right message at the right time to the right people, keeps them loyal. With this tried and tested strategy some marketers have reported an increase in average order value by 57%.

To the reassurance of some – and the disappointment of others I’m sure – this isn’t a get rich quick scheme. Your database needs to be robust and continuously refined. Results need to be measured and benchmarked. Advanced personalisation is a continual work-in-progress, and fortunately technologies and tools are now available, even to small businesses, to make this happen. Don’t miss out, get personal! (Contact dotRed for a solution that suits you).

At a Glance:
5 Steps to a better Email Campaign

1. Personalisation gets results. For real results, you need advanced techniques.
2. Create, maintain, and refine a robust customer database.
3. Segment your database by demographics, behaviour, and transactional information.
4. Deliver the right message at the right time – use ‘event’ or ‘trigger-based’ campaigns.
5. Measure and benchmark your results, your database is a continual work-in-progress.