Personalizing Emails: 5 Step-Guide for Small Businesses

By: JeffreyThurber

You might get numerous emails every day, but do you open them all? No, right? This is because you know that a lot of them are not particularly useful for you.

The same is the case with your email subscribers. Their email inboxes are probably crowded with marketing emails from many businesses, but for them to open emails from a brand and take the required action, the emails should cater to their specific and individual desires and needs. 

Hence, you should personalize your emails for your subscribers to stand out from the crowd, especially as a small business. Personalized emails lead to higher email open rates, engagement with emails, and conversion rates.

Here are the steps you should take to personalize your emails and get the most out of your email marketing efforts:

Gather information via sign-up forms 

To begin personalizing your emails, you need to have a good idea about the demographic characteristics, interests, and pain points of your prospects. Including questions in your sign-up forms is a great way to start gathering this information. 

Make sure that you don’t overwhelm people with a long list of multiple, in-depth questions. This might prevent them from submitting the sign-up form and joining your email list. Include simple questions in the form that will give more insight into your new leads’ needs. For example, if you’re a clothing brand, you can ask people to select the style of clothes they are interested in and their monthly shopping budget.

Based on the data collected from sign-up forms, segment your mailing list into groups based on the products and price range that best fit the needs of the different groups. This way your prospects will receive relevant emails with content they want to see. 

Analyze your email data

Analyzing your previous email campaign data will provide you with valuable insights into the behaviors and interests of your audience, which, in turn, will guide you in personalizing your emails.

For instance, you can learn what content your audience responds to the most. Maybe they prefer concise emails with visuals more than lengthy text-only emails.

You can also learn which send times resulted in the highest number of opens so you can send future emails at a time that best suits your prospects. 

Personalize subject lines

Your subject line will be the first thing your prospects see when they check their email, so you want to make sure it captures their attention and prompts them to open your emails. By personalizing your subject lines, you are telling your email recipients that the emails are meant just for them.

Add your prospects’ names into your subject line for a personal touch. If they have shown interest in a product in the sign-up form or through your previous email campaigns, mention it in the subject line, especially if there is a promotional offer on it.

Personalize email content

Use dynamic content to personalize parts of your emails to resonate more with individual recipients. Every person on your mailing list has unique interests; therefore, you should show different content to different people via your emails. 

For example, you can use dynamic content to personalize your CTAs for each email recipient or show them product recommendations based on their previous purchase history. 

Additionally, you should include personalized links to landing pages in your emails. By directing your prospects to a page tailored specifically to their needs and demands, you can encourage them to shop from your business. This is a highly effective way to boost sales and increase conversions.

With PosterMyWall, you can design personalized emails in no time. Browse through the professionally-designed small business email templates, select the ones that closely resonate with your brand’s personality, and customize them to convey your messaging. Then you can send them to your email subscribers directly from PosterMyWall. 

Send emails from a personal address

Sending emails from a real person’s email, whether it’s the owner or a customer service representative, humanizes your brand. This personal touch builds a sense of trust as customers know a real person is behind the message who understands them and cares about their experience, rather than a faceless company. 

Consequently, your prospects will be much more likely to engage with emails sent from a personal email address.

Conclusion

As we’ve discussed in this blog, email personalization is essential for promoting your small business, generating leads, and boosting sales. If your subscribers know that you understand what they want and meet their specific needs, they will be inclined to make repeat purchases from your business.  A tailored experience provided by small businesses is exactly the reason why people go for small businesses over big brands. 

With the help of our tips, you can connect with your customers, and make them feel heard and seen, which will ultimately result in the success of your small business.