The Right Personalized Email Can Increase Open Email Rates

   

The Decision To Open Personalized Email

   Personalized email will always make a person look twice when they are sorting through their inbox, even if they don’t know who you are. However, it’s the way that you approach personalized email that will make the person actually open it or delete it faster. So let's look at some ways that personalized email can work for you instead of against you.

The first rule of thumb with personalized email is that you should only use their first name.

      

     Even though using the first name is the trick of a spammer, combining the first name with a company they are familiar with (hopefully yours) creates a message that is familiar sounding and will entice the recipient to open it. This is because you have used their first name, which means you have something special for them because you know them.

Using a first and last name, however, can have the opposite effect. 

     Marketing studies have shown that people do not like seeing their last name in an email from a stranger. In fact, they will immediately delete the email and hope they do not receive more. So while a first name comes across as personal, a last name is an invasion of privacy. This is especially true if you are marketing a product that people don’t want anyone to know they are using which creates fear that their identity will be revealed to others.

     A user name is probably the best name to use in an email because it is associated with your web site. The recipient will trust the email because they know that only you have their user name. They are much more likely to open the email because they will believe it to be an offer for something they are already interested in pursuing.

     To see if using personalized email works for you, it is important to run an ‘A/B test.’ An ‘A/B test’ means that you will send half of your test email out as personalized to one group and as non-personalized to the other group. After you check the email open rates along with the conversion rates of your email, you can gauge the difference. If there is a significantly higher response rate from the personal emails, then obviously this will help your sales. However, if the response from the two groups is the same, personalized email may not be an issue for you.

     All in all, whenever someone sees a personalized email from a company they do not recognize, there will be a certain amount of curiosity one way or the other as to why that company chose to get personal with them.

See also: writeyourselfrich.net