Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Email Personalization – How Much is Too Much?

Get personal! But know where to draw the line.
Your email list has a ton of information so don’t be afraid to use it. The collection of information from your users such as their first names, locations, and even birthday can come in handy. Why not use that information to send them a personal message?  An email you can send to all users who share the same birthday month, that includes some sort of special offer, is easy – and could present measurable results.
Drawing the line all depends on your marketing strategy. Let’s look at 2 examples:
DO
A user signs up on a maternity site looking to get free products and discounts for all types of baby products. During the signup process the mother provided information about her due date so that you could find the deals that were right for her. When her date is approaching you could send an email with an early congratulations and some deals that she’d love to see. Using her name, the baby’s name (if provided), and/or the due date can make an expecting mother feel special!
DON’T
A user signs up with a loan or financial advisory site. These users may not only be embarrassed about their current financial status but they may even be worried about personal information being release or stolen by third parties. In this case – sending an email with their first and last name in a subject line, including information about their loan request like personal income status may be crossing the line. Consider personal privacy and preference while making a judgment about email content.
Just remember – evaluating your users and the type of service or product you provide on a continuous basis to determine what content is appropriate and how much personalization may be too much.

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