If your email marketing has a human touch, you’ll improve your customer experience and you’ll improve customer relations.
It can be hard to make emails seem friendly and personal. Because the vast majority of emails are automated, they typically come across as just that. But automated emails don’t build relationships.
If you want to build better relationships with your clients and customers (and who doesn’t!), you need to inject kindness and consideration into your emails. As compiled by Email on Acid, here are a three big ways to do it.
Personalisation!
What personalisation is really about is this – making each one of your subscribers feel as if the emails they receive are designed and written specifically for them.
You can do this in a number of ways:
- Personalised recommendations based on what your customers have purchased from you in the past – or the type of content they’ve downloaded in the past.
- Use knowledge of what your customers have bought or interacted with in the past to craft email content based upon their specific areas of interest.
- If you only have a customer’s name, don’t just use it as the intro to an email. Do something creative with it!
- Undertake surveys, and personalise emails based upon customers’ responses.
Empathy!
All decisions to buy, regardless of the type of business you’re in, regardless of who you’re selling to, they all come down to emotion. Think carefully about what your customer needs.
Whatever your customers care about, that’s what you need to care about.
- Make personalisation efforts with titles – what pronouns do your customers like to use?
- Allow opt-outs for certain holidays. Maybe your customers are uncomfortable with Mother’s Day, or another holiday. Allow them to opt-out.
- Allow customers to respond and give you feedback – and craft your future emails based upon that feedback!
Authenticity!
Don’t trick your customers, don’t use underhand tactics, don’t try to steal their data in dodgy ways. Trust is very hard to build up, but it’s very easy to lose. In business, trust is essential.
Remember that the people who are receiving your emails are real people, who’ve chosen to receive those emails. Treat them as such!
- Don’t use gimmicky subject lines or sender names. Don’t pretend you’re someone else. Be very clear about who the email is from and what it’s about.
- You should have a brand voice. Own it – and use it in all of your emails.
- Think very carefully about apology emails. Use them only when you really need to.
Marketing is really just a type of customer service. You should bear that in mind with every marketing decision you make.
If your email marketing has a human touch, you’ll improve your customer experience and you’ll improve customer relations.
Improve consent, transparency and empathy in your emails and you’re on your way to treating your customers correctly.