Five Ways to Make Your Email Marketing More Personal

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The more you understand email marketing, the clearer picture you see that it’s really about personal connections. Whether a list is small or massive, your most imperative task is strengthening the relationship with your subscribers. You’ll please your customers, and you’ll enjoy more effective marketing.

Continue reading to learn about ways to make your emails more personal.

Make use of the personal details you have

Email personalization is the norm, but it’s become more than just calling someone by their name. Always gather as much information about your customers as possible: name, location, gender, etc. However, consider taking personalization to another level.

Personalization can help you observe your customers’ needs and preferences so you can cater to their needs. Based on how they interact with your emails and their buying patterns, you can make suggestions and serve them better. It’s good for them, and it should also increase your ROI. Customizing your emails makes your brand feel more personal and increases loyalty.

Respond to every email your readers send you

Communicating with your customers is a chance to build rapport and learn more about them. Feedback of any kind is a precious commodity and you should always strive to make every interaction as personal and cordial as possible. You don’t have to be pen pals, but a little warmth is recommended. You never want to come across as terse.

You’re likely making a mistake if you use a no-reply email for your marketing emails. “Not allowing your readers to hit reply and send you a message is actually quite disrespectful,” says ZeroBounce PR Manager Corina Leslie. The Public Relations pro remarks: “You should always allow replies and furthermore, encourage them. It builds brand loyalty and it also helps your email deliverability.”

If possible, take it a step further and give them your phone number. There are still people who prefer phone calls.

Include your photo and handwritten signature

One reminder that you’re communicating with a real person is to include the name of the person who creates the emails down at the bottom. Although this may not work for every brand, it makes sense for most. Any techniques to make your emails more human will make them more personal.

Choose a current photo and even include an image of your handwritten signature. You can sign off each email offering a personal response to everyone who replies. The desire to respond to you is much more appealing than them having to send a “to whom it may concern” email. Your readers should know exactly who to write to, and your signature and picture will inspire them to do so.

The only question left is what else you can put in your emails to make them more personal? One email newsletter I subscribe to has the most clever P.S. messages ever. He’ll end the email with a P.S. that has nothing to do with the content of the email. Sometimes what he writes is clever, fascinating, or even hilarious. Try it.

Feature your customers in your emails

It’s only logical that personal emails should feel like a two-way conversation. While you’re asking for replies, be sure to make the most of the people who share something valuable or entertaining.

If you’re a clothier and you debut a new summer collection, invite your readers to send a picture wearing your product. “Not only do a lot of people like the spotlight, but it will also make your brand feel more personal,” says Josh Brown, Marketing Strategist at Helpjuice. The digital marketing pro goes on: “Featuring your customers shows that you are reaching real people just like them.” You’re not some soulless company that just wants to sell stuff. Instead, you’re more like a buddy.

Write like you’re a real person (and a real person is reading)

There was a time when companies attempted to write emails in a highly professional style. The more wooden and tedious the writing was, it seemed the more self-impressed the writer was. These days, casual and relatable writing has rightly soared in popularity.

So, write your email copy like you’re a real person and not like you’re a robot. With the rise of AI chats, showing off your unique humanity has never been more refreshing. Try to connect with your reader. “Imagine they’re the very real person that they are,” said Yanis Kerdjana of Ideta. The entrepreneur further comments: “Always infuse personality and maybe even some quirkiness whenever you can. There’s only one you.”

You can’t be personal with fake or harmful email addresses

There’s a critical issue some email marketers miss, but many are starting to wake up to. The best personalization and customer relationship building means nothing if you’ve got bad email addresses on your list.

Every year, your email list’s quality will erode a little more. If you start with great engagement in the spring, things could really start to unravel by late summer if you’re not cleaning your list.

Some of the email addresses on your list that were golden were abandoned. Other email addresses were never worth adding on. There are plenty of email types that don’t belong on any good email list: from spam traps to disposables. By regularly excising those damaging emails, you’ll preserve those personal connections you’ve been nurturing.

Liviu Tanase
Liviu Tanase is the founder and CEO of email validation, deliverability, and email finding company ZeroBounce. As a serial entrepreneur, he founded five companies and has participated in three exits creating quadruple-digit returns. Liviu writes about digital marketing and technology, focusing on email communication. His goal is to help make email marketing work for your business.

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