The Ultimate Email Marketing Personalization Checklist

Email marketing is one of the most effective and profitable marketing channels as far as ROI ($44 for every $1 spent) goes. One of the factors that make email so powerful is that it allows for high levels of personalization.

That’s why we’ll be looking at the ultimate email marketing personalization checklist today.

But first, what is email marketing personalization?

Email marketing personalization explained

Personalization in email marketing means more than just slapping the recipient’s name in the salutation. Email marketing personalization is all about addressing each recipient as an individual. Yes, it includes mentioning them by name but goes beyond that by offering relevant content and a unique experience to each of your subscribers.

How do you achieve that?

Data is your main tool.

In order to create relevant content for your readers, you need to get as much information as you can about them this is information such as:

• First name
• Past behavior on your site
• Geographical location
• Purchase history

The data you need to create a personalized experience for your customer depends mainly on your product, business model, and your marketing goals. However, the more you know about your customer, the better your email marketing personalization strategy will be.

If possible, make sure to collect as much data as possible from your customers when they sign up to make it easier for you to run personalized campaigns.

List segmentation is key.

Using the data you have, segment your email list. Segmentation simply means grouping customers with similar attributes together. For instance, you could segment your list according to location, gender, or browsing history. You should use advanced segmentation whenever possible and use multiple attributes to refine your segments for better targeting and higher personalization levels.

Segmentation is a great way to create content that is relevant to your subscribers without having to tailor an email for each individual customer.

Automate.

Email marketing personalization is impossible to pull off without automation. Whether you have a small list or a large one, there are too many moving parts involved in running a successful campaign for you to manage manually.

This is why one of your best investments when it comes to email marketing is an automation platform like Campaign Monitor that will empower you to scale your email marketing efforts.

The importance of personalization

When asked to prioritize one capability that will be most important to marketing in the future, 33% of marketers answered “personalization.”

Furthermore, 74% of marketers say targeted personalization increases customer engagement, and that they see an average increase of 20% in sales when using personalized experiences.

That’s why we partnered with the crew at Moveable Ink to create the Ultimate Email Marketing Personalization Checklist to help empower marketers to use the power of personalization to reach humans, not just inboxes.

The ultimate email marketing personalization checklist

Let’s dig deeper into this personalization checklist.

Step 1: Create your personalization strategy.

Behavioral

Create email content based on your subscriber’s recent behavior.

Weather

Display content based on your subscriber’s local weather.

Images

Try adding your subscriber’s name to an image to get their attention.

Location

Use your subscriber’s location to create helpful reminders, no matter where they live.

Step 2: Review each part of your email.

Subject line

• Grammar: Check that the grammar is correct and the personalization makes sense in the context of the subject line.
• Fallbacks: Set up default text in case you don’t have the data on file.
• Length: Optimize the length of your subject line with the preview pane in mind.

Preheader

• Length: Check length to ensure readability on all devices.

Header

• Fonts: If you’re using a new or different font with your header personalization, make sure it jives with the rest of your email content.
• Testing: Use a tool like Litmus for testing.

Body

Testing: If you’re using advanced personalization like content based on your subscriber’s behavior, for example, test multiple variations.

• Grammar: Check for grammar, spelling, and all of that fun stuff.
• Conversions: Make sure your personalized content drives people to click your call-to-action.

Call-to-action

• Tracking: Include tracking links so you know if your personalization was effective.
• CTA copy: Make your CTA copy compelling.
• Links: Make sure your links lead to the right places.
• Clarity: The CTA should be clear and easy to find.

Step 3: Check off all these final (and vital) steps.

Check data fields.

Do you have all the data you need for each personalized field? Your personalization is only as good as your data, so double-check your fields to be sure. The last thing you want is an Fname – or worse, an expletive – to appear in your personalized field.

Include fallbacks.

Prepare fallback content for any field that may not be populated. Fallback content should be email content that can be applied to any of your subscribers.

Optimize your send time.

Bad timing could jeopardize your otherwise perfectly personalized email.

Design review.

Remember to test multiple name lengths, special characters, and the alignment of your personalized copy and images. The more eyes the better, so send yourself and a colleague a test email.

Create an A/B test.

Send one email with personalization and one without. It’s the best way to measure your personalized email strategy.

Ensure it’s responsive.

Does it look good on desktop and mobile? Double-check all of the above across all devices.

Wrap up

Personalization plays a major role in running email campaigns that your customers find relevant and irresistible when it comes to clicking the all-important call-to-action.

In order to help you master email marketing personalization, we have created a ton of resources to help you. One you definitely need to check out is our article 7 Must-Know Email Personalization Tactics.

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