Today’s B2C marketers are under no illusions: personalized consumer experiences are now the norm. No matter the industry or channel, consumers expect customized, tailor-made content at every turn. Personalized marketing is no longer just a trend, and marketers are now faced with the challenge, and opportunity, to build strong, lasting relationships with individual consumers. Email personalization is helping marketers engage customers on a 1-to-1 level, which in turn is creating a much better customer journey.
While the idea of creating individualized content for a large consumer audience may sound daunting, today’s marketing technology makes it possible to streamline and automate the process. For most marketers, one of the easiest ways to push personalized content to customers with maximum messaging reach is through email marketing, which has long been ubiquitous in the marketer’s arsenal. Despite the rise in new marketing channels and online platforms, many consumers still engage and interact with brands via email. Combining the tried-and-true reach of email with the customer-focused edge of personalization allows marketers to uncover hidden insights and truly grow their business.
Here are some great examples of how email personalization can help B2C businesses grow:
It’s the Easiest Way to Reach Consumers
Although it may seem like an antiquated medium when compared to social media or smartphones, email is still one of the most widely used consumer platforms today. There are currently over 2.586 billion email users worldwide, and many of these users are regularly receiving emails from brands and organizations. Email marketing allows B2C organizations to cast a wide net, sending messages out to large consumer audiences with minimum manual effort.
With personalization added into the mix, email marketing becomes an extremely useful tool to engage customers and increase conversions. Detailed consumer profiles make it easy to create custom, personalized content without extra work on the marketer’s side, opening the door to streamlined, scalable campaigns with maximum returns.
People Notice Personalization
At its core, personalized marketing is a way to foster 1-to-1 consumer relationships for increased engagement and brand loyalty. Consumers are so in-tune with how brands interact with them as individuals, that even small notes of customization, from a name, to a loyalty number, to recent purchase history, are noted and appreciated.
For new (or potential) customers, email marketing can be a great way for brands to get a foot in the door, and personalization is a key factor in this strategy. Email is almost 40x better at acquiring new customers than Facebook and Twitter, and much of this success can be attributed to the fact that personalized emails make consumers feel comfortable and at ease with a brand. Email is also low-risk for consumers, meaning that they are able to look around and learn more about a brand without any financial obligation. This low-risk factor makes consumers more likely to engage with email and, ultimately, convert.
Collects Information Useful For Other Channels
With email personalization, B2C marketers can easily collect data and insights on huge consumer audiences, and then track and manage this data to create highly effective campaigns. Today’s consumers are spread out over multiple platforms and channels, and marketers can utilize the consumer data gathered from email campaigns to inform other omnichannel campaigns and strategies.
With the help of marketing technology and automation solutions, marketers can identify the channels with which customers are most likely to engage, and then focus marketing efforts on these specific channels. Email, however, remains a constant pillar of an omnichannel strategy: 81% of US online shoppers are more likely to make additional purchases, either online or in a store, as a result of emails that capitalize on previous shopping behaviors and preferences. Adding personalized messaging and content to emails increases the likelihood of conversions, and can ultimately maximize overall revenue and growth.
Final Thoughts
While consumers now expect personalization at every step of the buying journey, it can be easy for marketers to let email slip through the cracks as an antiquated channel. In fact, more consumers are using email now than ever before, and this resurgence presents marketers with a golden opportunity to deliver highly targeted, personalized messaging and content to kick-start strong consumer relationships.
Want to learn more? You can discover everything there is to know about personalized marketing and emails in our newest whitepaper.
Related Articles:
