By Klaudia Tirico, Features Editor
The Retail TouchPoints team and I just came off three very busy days at The NRF Big Show (check out our NRF Hub for all the highlights!). It was a whirlwind of information, new innovations and technologies — many of which revolved around one word: personalization. It’s clear that retailers (and the vendors that hope to serve them) know that in order to win customer’s hearts, it’s essential to provide them with one-on-one, personalized content, emails and even promotions.
While many retailers are doing their best to deliver personalized experiences, primarily via email, I recently came across a study that revealed a big gap — actually more like a yawning chasm — between retailers and shoppers when it comes to the actual impact of personalization efforts. The survey from Boxever, titled: Mapping out the Customer Journey: Expectations Versus Reality for the Modern Marketer — found that 81% of marketers use personalization for email marketing, but only 3% of customers describe their emails as “personalized.” I’ll let that sink in for a minute.
It’s clear that basic personalization, such as plugging the customer’s name into an email subject line, isn’t cutting it anymore. So how can retailers take their personalization efforts to the next level? Here are two great examples of brands going above and beyond that I’ve encountered recently:
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Dunkin’ Donuts Sends A “Year In Review” To Loyalty Members
I recently received an email from Dunkin’ Donuts that I believe can resonate with retailers offering loyalty programs. The brand sent a “2016 Year In Review” based on my own personal activity with the brand’s DDPerks app. It showed me — in a very visual way — my preferred Dunkin’ run time and day, my drink choices based on the season, and it also recommended a donut that would pair well with my favorite beverage.
What I enjoyed about this email was that it provided me with personalized facts and tips, but didn’t ask for anything in return. While it did subtly suggest I check out Dunkin’s on-the-go ordering feature and share my year-in-review, I didn’t feel obligated to react in any way. It was a fun email to get and inspired me to use the app more often.
Steve Madden Uses Contextual Clues
There are other ways to personalize an email beyond using the recipient’s name. Retailers can even tailor their communication based on contextual clues. For example, Steve Madden sends emails with countdown timers to drive limited-time sales, scratch-offs to reveal personalized promotions, and even the current weather conditions in the recipient’s location to promote products. The retailer works with a company called Moveable Ink to create these out-of-the-box contextual emails.
A really cool example featured a live Google Map embedded in the body of the email, which revealed stores closest to the recipient’s location based on when and where they opened the message.
Hopefully these examples have inspired you to turn your email marketing strategies up a notch. Customers expect a one-to-one relationship, and these ideas could be the ticket to meeting their demands.
