How To Boost Your Click Rates With Email Targeting
Email targeting isn’t the “best kept secret” for digital marketing—but if you’re not doing it, you’re missing out.
We live in the digital age. People understand that they’re part of a number of huge email lists. However, if they feel like just another drop in the ocean, chances are they’ll throw your message in the trash without even looking at it.
How do you avoid losing customers this way? By using email targeting to create more customized messaging that is tailored to your typical user’s experience. With personalization, your messages become less like coupon mailers (read: spam) and more like one-to-one correspondence. That’s how you get the personal touch—even with a computer doing all the work.
What is Email Targeting?
The easiest way to personalize your email messaging is through segmentation. By using readily available data, you can split your audience into a few smaller groups. Then, use those groups to create messages that target those crowds specifically. For example, if you have one group that likes red and one that prefers blue, you can send directly to those subsections. Messages for red users will highlight red products, and the same for blue to blue. That way, you’re already catering to readers’ personal preference. Therefore, they’re more likely to click your messages.
However, email targeting extends beyond segmentation. Messages can also be personalized with data like users’ names, purchase history, and even their psychographics. By changing your messaging from billboard-size to personal postcard-size, your readers will feel like they are talking to you directly… rather than a big, scary company or even a massive computer. The one-to-one feel of email targeting is a powerful tool for digital marketing.
Is Email Targeting Worth The Effort
The short answer is yes. The long answer is that it has the potential to double your click and conversion rates. So that’s a BIG yes.
Sure, it’s more work than creating one message that will theoretically reach everyone. However, because email targeting is so powerful, it boosts your ROI almost instantly. Still, many companies—over 40% according to some estimates—never target their messaging. Unfortunately, that means they’re losing out on their business.
However, this is good news for companies that do email targeting. The more mass messages other companies put out, the more personal your own targeted emails will feel to your readers.
What Target Areas Can I Create With My List?
One of the most incredible things about ecommerce is that the data is everywhere. And it’s just waiting to be used. By creating an email list, you’re already collecting a ton of information that can be used in email targeting—without even changing your process. Draw on data like users’ names, purchasing histories, and interaction rates to create quick sub-lists.
Then dig a little deeper. Ask questions based on your data and get answers. Which of the customers on your list made a purchase in the last six months? Which bought more than $100 worth of products? Do you have any ghost-users who haven’t been on your site in more than a year? And what do these users have in common? These and other questions can spark ideas for fantastic targeted emails.
What Content Do I Create For Email Targeting?
Once you have your conclusions, start creating content that matches it. Email targeting is all about differentiating specific types of users and marketing directly to them.
For example, create customized messages based on the purchase history of frequent buyers. Send them an additional coupon code as a thank-you for being a loyal customer. Highlight a new product that matches their style—based on their history. Or find a product they might not have seen that might work well with their previous purchases.
Don’t hold back. Get right to the point and show them what they want to see—based on the data you’ve already gathered. And automate it whenever possible!
You can also dig more out of your less active subscribers through email targeting. Create a win-back campaign for users who haven’t been on in a while. Remind them why they signed up in the first place. Or send an automated message when they abandon their cart—to give them another chance to click that “Buy Now” button. There are so many opportunities for email targeting you’ll never have to look far for ideas.
How Do I Collect More Information for Email Targeting?
Need more data to build your lists on? If you think your list would benefit from more specific email targeting, you can always ask for input from your users. Make it fun for them. Tempt them with the opportunity to contribute. Use a quiz to see which products they prefer—and then leverage that data in the future. It’s really that easy.
One simple method of doing so is to ask users to review your products after they make a purchase. Have them rate the product from one to five stars. Ask them if they’d recommend it to a friend. This data can generate even more ideas to use in targeted email marketing—disguised as engaging, interactive content.
How Do I Personalize My Email Messaging?
The most important step in email targeting is in the details. This is personalization at its finest. Not only can you send emails that cater to your readers’ preferences, you can also make a message appear as personal as an email from a friend. Most CRMs will allow you to input merge tags like *|FNAME|*, which will autofill with a user’s first name. Find out what is available with your platform and get creative.
For most platforms, you can use these merge tags almost anywhere in the message. Customize the to/from fields. Start the body text with the user’s name. Create individualized subject and preview lines that will call them by name. Plus, if you’re using a customer’s purchase history, include a photo of the product they bought previously. That’s personalized email targeting that can work wonders on your metrics.
Ultimately, it’s much nicer to receive a personal note than an ad designed to hit as many people as possible. Even with tech-savvy folks who understand that this is done with a computer, it still adds a one-to-one touch that is simply irresistible.
Where Do I Turn When It’s Too Much To Process?
Email targeting is an important aspect of email marketing—and a tough thing to learn when you’re first starting out. Want the help of an expert team of email marketers with the experience to sort out great targets from your list? Schedule a free 20-minute consultation with the email experts at Email Broadcast.
What Our Clients Are Saying
How It Works
Transform your email marketing in three easy steps:
Book Appointment
We offer a free 20-minute consult to talk about your business and see if we might be a good fit. If a partnership sounds promising, we'll schedule a discovery call.
Review Proposal
After we have all the facts, we’ll present a proposal outlining our tailored, full-service solution—what it will include, what it will do for your business, and what it will cost.
Win More Business
This is where we execute a world-class email campaign to help you win more business while you celebrate, breathe a sigh of relief, and move on to your next project.
Book an Appointment
Schedule your free 20-minute consultation to see if your business can profit from expert email marketing.
