Let's get personal. 6 ways to improve your email marketing.

Have you ever received an email from a brand where you were greeted as "Dear valued subscriber", or "Dear friends and family"? How valued did it make you feel?  You may wonder why this cute little guy is staring at you. Everyone loves guinea pigs, right?  Maybe . . . maybe not. Let's talk about personalization.

75% of consumers say they are more likely to buy from retailers that personalize their message (Accenture: Personalization Pulse Check Survey). The sender of that email may have forgotten about the importance of making the message personal to the recipient. Our job as marketers is to provide relevant content designed to create action - a phone call, visit to your website, sign up for an event or buy a product.  When content is irrelevant, the subscriber is likely to unsubscribe from your mailing list, or worse, hit the spam button.

So, how can we make our emails more interesting for our readers? Here are 6 tips to get you started:

1) Segment your lists:  Include an option on your sign up form to allow subscribers to self-select lists that are most valuable to them. A pet shop may include questions, "Love dogs?" and "Love cats?" to let the subscribers choose what kind of offers they'd like to receive based upon their interests.  A yoga instructor may have a mailing list called "studio news/class updates" and another called "daily meditations". 

2) Personalize your greeting:  This one is easy. It starts by asking for a first name on your sign up form and making that a required field.  Note: Only ask for information you truly need on your sign up form.  

3) Personalize your subject line:  Consider using your subscriber's first name in your subject line to spark interest. "Hey Liz, need a getaway?" This would get my attention, at least enough to open the email.

4) Send relevant, personalized content: I've got nothing against guinea pigs, but I probably don't want to read about how to care for them. Send me a message on how to get Riley to stop digging holes in my yard and I'm all over that. Talk to your customer using words like "you" and "your", and talk less about your business. Make it about them.

5) Personalize the sender:  An email coming from Acme Lawn Care is less likely to be opened than one coming from a real person like Joe Brown, Acme Lawn Care. Unlike big corporations, as small businesses, we have the ability to connect with our customers on a more personal level. 

6) Add some style:  More than 50% of emails are opened on a mobile device and subject lines are getting shorter as a result. Emojis have gone way beyond multiple smiley faces in a Facebook post or a thumbs up in Messenger. They are also becoming more mainstream in email subject lines, used as a way to get the reader to stop scrolling and pay attention. Emojis also make people smile which is good. Here's what my subject line could look like: "Hey Liz,🏖️need a getaway?" The beach umbrella lets me know that the content of the email may take me to my favorite spot in the sand. Use emojis wisely and sparingly. Here's a good resource to find an emoji for anything: https://emojipedia.org .  Emojipedia lives on my toolbar for easy access.  

Remember my motto, "Marketing should be fun, not painful!".  You can do this!