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227: The Power of Personalization: Creating Emails That Resonate with Host Kendra Corman · Imperfect Marketing

• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Hey there, welcome back to another episode of Imperfect Marketing.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, kendra Korman, and today we're talking about a topic that is near and dear to my heart personalization in email marketing.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Okay, so I know some of you might be thinking not another email marketing episode, kendra.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: But trust me, this one's a little different.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: We're not just going to be talking about the basics.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: We're going to talk about how personalization can take your email game to a whole new level.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: But before we get into the nitty gritty, let me ask you this have you ever received an email that just felt like it was written for you?
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: You know the kind that makes you feel like the sender really gets you and your needs.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: That is the power of personalization, and today I'm going to show you how that power to harness that power to create emails that not only resonate with your audience but will help you grow your business.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: So first let's talk about why personalization matters.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: When you personalize your emails, you're not just adding someone's name to the subject line or the dear so-and-so right, although that's a good start.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: You're creating a deeper connection with your audience.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: You're showing them that you understand their unique challenges, goals and interests, and when you do that, that's when the magic happens your open rates go up, your engagement skyrockets, your subscribers start to see you as more than just another coach or consultant in their inbox.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: They start to see you as a trusted advisor, someone who genuinely cares about their success.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: But how do you actually create personalized emails?
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: Well, it all starts with segmentation.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Segmentation is the process of dividing your email into smaller groups based on specific criteria, such as interests, behavior, demographics whatever it happens to be that fits for you right.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: By segmenting your list, you're tailoring content to each group's specific needs and preferences.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: For example, if you're a business coach, you might segment your list based on the stage of your business your subscribers are.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: In that way, you can send targeted content to new entrepreneurs, growing businesses and established companies, rather than sending the same generic content to everyone.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: This is great.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: When you're segmenting by industries too, I've seen a ton of success with creating emails just for nonprofits and for profits as those two segments.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: This is really powerful.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: And you're probably saying but Kendra, that's a lot of extra work, that's a couple extra emails, right.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: I get that.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Sometimes it's just a small tweak in what you include in it.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: Sometimes it's a slight tweak in the delivery you really want to think about the problems, people, that you're solving for people at different levels and what matters to them.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: This matters even as far as, like Google AdWords People that are buying search terms inside Google to generate website traffic.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: They're segmenting their audience, too.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: They're segmenting them based on where they are in the buying process, right.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: If they're looking for certain search terms, they may not be aware that their product even exists, and as they get more and more focused, then all of a sudden, they're actually looking for the product that they have, right.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: So I want you to really think about segmenting your content segmenting about either where they're in their journey, where they are in their business, whatever that happens to be.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: Once you've segmented your list and again, it doesn't have to be complex Constant Contact and ConvertKit will do this for you.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: For the most part, it's going to be time to start crafting your emails, and when it comes to personalization, the devil is in the details.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: It's not be time to start crafting your emails, and when it comes to personalization, the devil is in the details.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: It's not, again, about using someone's name, although that's important too.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: You want to use a conversational, relatable tone that makes your subscribers feel like you're talking directly to them.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: It's about offering value and solving problems rather than just promoting your latest offering.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: It's about incorporating storytelling and humor if that fits your brand into your emails and it makes them more engaging and memorable.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: Now I know some of you want to say I, something like Kendra, I'm not a writer.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: How am I supposed to create compelling personalized emails?
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: Well, my friend, this is where best practices come in.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: One of the most important things that you can do is gather relevant data and insights about your subscribers, the people you want to sell to.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: That means paying attention to their behavior, their feedback, their interactions with your content and with you.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: If you just go to networking events, you can still segment people from the information you get from them at those places.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: The more you know about your audience, your target, the easier it's going to be to create emails that resonate with them.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: The easier it's going to be to create emails that resonate with them, the easier it's going to be to create pieces of content that go with them.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: Okay, so look, let's talk about another best practice of focusing this creating the most compelling subject line possible.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: Your subject line is the first thing that they see, right after your from name.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: It can make or break your open rates and whether or not they're opening.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: So I want you to take the time at least as long as it took you to write the email to craft subject lines that are clear, concise and intriguing.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: If you need some help and some ideas along the way, be sure to check out my subject line guide, kenricormancom slash subject lines.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: I'll link to it in the show notes if you want to grab it later.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: But you want to use personalization tokens like the recipient's name or location to make them feel like you're talking to them.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: Right, it feels more targeted.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: Don't be afraid to get creative or even a little bit cheeky, as long as it aligns with your brand voice, of course.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: But perhaps the most important best practice of all is to focus on providing value.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: Your emails shouldn't be about promoting your latest course or coaching package.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: They should be about solving your subscribers' problems, offering them valuable insights and resources and helping them achieve their goals.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: When you do that, you're not only going to create emails that resonate with your audience, but you're going to build trust and credibility that can translate into more clients and revenue for your business.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: Personalization is not easy.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: Let me repeat that again Personalization is not easy, I get it.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: It's a lot easier to think of something, hurry up, jot it down and send it out, because you have 800 million other things going on.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: But I want, I want you to think about it.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: I want you to take the time and think about how you can personalize your emails, how you can leverage and take and tweak a little bit of content to appeal to a couple of different groups that you're contacting.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: And if you really only have one group, then that's fine.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: One email is fine.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: But there's still other ways to segment by taking out people that have already bought a course or a package, or including them if they didn't buy it.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: There's ways again to go ahead, tag and find the interests and include that content.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Now there are some common mistakes that people make when trying to personalize their email.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: Number one is being creepy.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: Okay, over-personalization is one of the biggest mistakes and again, it's creepy.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: You know, like maybe you use someone's name in every sentence or you're referencing personal information that maybe you shouldn't even have in a way that feels invasive.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: Think about it.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: If you wouldn't want someone saying this behind your back, you definitely don't want to be including it in their email.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: It's not about crossing boundaries.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: A second mistake is neglecting to segment your list properly.
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: If you're sending the same content to everyone, regardless of their interests or needs, you're really not personalizing your emails at all.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: You're just adding a name to a generic message, even if you love your generic message.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: So I want you to take time to create meaningful segments and tailor your content accordingly.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: If you're just starting out and you don't have the capacity to really segment your list and send multiple emails, I get that too and that's totally fine.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: But make sure you're setting yourself up for success with this information.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: That's going to be hugely important.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: I mean, could you imagine being a clothing online, clothing site, right, and you have someone that only buys men's clothes, even though it's a female buyer?
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: Maybe it's because she's buying stuff for her husband, her significant other, her son, whatever it happens to be right.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: Or maybe she just likes men's clothes, so to send her female clothes and things like that that she's never bought, never expressed interest in clothes and things like that that she's never bought, never expressed interest in, that's not personal.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: That's not personalized.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: I get that for coaches and consultants.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: For those of us who are service providers, it can be a little bit harder to segment and really create that differentiator, but it's important to give it a try.
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: It's important to at least have that information so that you can use it later.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: So finally, I want to say do not make this mistake of focusing too much on selling and not enough on providing value.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: That is a problem that people regularly run into.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: Yes, your ultimate goal is to grow your business and attract more clients, but if every email is a hard sell, your subscribers are going to tune out or, worse, unsubscribe.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: Instead, I want you to think about building relationships, providing value first.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: When you do that, a lot of times, the sales naturally follow, because email just keeps you top of mind.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: So there you have it the power of personalization and email marketing.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: By segmenting your list, crafting compelling subject lines, providing value and avoiding the common mistakes, especially the ones that make you creepy, you can create emails that truly resonate with your audience and help you grow your coaching or consulting business.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: Don't take my word for it.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: Try it out for yourself.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: Take a look at your current email strategy for me and find ways to incorporate more personalization.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: Start small, don't be big.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: Think about segmenting on one or two key criteria.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: Then start crafting emails that speak directly to each segment's needs and interests.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: Don't forget to have fun with it.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: Personalization does not have to be serious or boring.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: Be sure that you're always injecting some of your unique personality and humor if that fits your brand into your emails, and then watch your engagement soar.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: Until then, keep embracing the imperfect.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: If you learned something today, it would be really helpful for me if you would rate and subscribe wherever you're listening or watching.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much again for tuning in to another episode of Imperfect Marketing.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: Have a great rest of your day.