Automation is a great time saver. But some folks allow it to suck all of the personalization out of their communications.
There are approaches to use to make emails and autoresponders more personal, so take a few minutes to understand them – and to use them to keep the personal touch in your automated communications.
Be conversational.
The language and tone you use influences the connection you build with your customers. If your tone is friendly, your readers will feel more personally connected to you.
Tests have proved that conversational language drives higher open rates and click-throughs.
Be real. Write your emails more like a real person talks. Those email addresses on your lists belong to real people so when your email sounds like a real person (and less like a marketer) your customers will respond better.
Be engaging. Invite real conversations with your customers by using a real email address rather than a noreply address. That way, they CAN respond to you.
Be attentive. Use the dates or milestones that you have to create campaigns that recognize them. Anniversaries of when they became a customers or joined your email list or their birthdays are great triggers for remembering them in a personal way. This is also a good way to send them a reward for loyalty such as a coupon or free download. Also set follow-up schedules in your automation so that you are reaching out to them again – in a personal way – at the appropriate intervals.
Be tech savvy. Use a personalization variable to automatically use the customer’s first name, anniversary, sign-up or birth dates in your email. You can easily sort on the variable you would like to send to specific groups.
Be content conscious. As you create your automated follow ups, use content that customers will find useful for a long time (evergreen content). One easy way to do this is to monitor the questions your customers ask frequently and the search terms that bring the most traffic to your website (which you are probably already doing) and focus your content around these topics. If you choose your content wisely, it will be relevant for customers now and a year from now.
Be original. Express your organization’s personality. You don’t always have to follow the crowd! Remember that you’re talking to people who are a lot like you! Striking a good balance between friendly and professional is very effective in getting responses and building rapport.
It’s all about getting readers engaged. If they feel included, they are more likely to become engaged and to respond. Experiment with your tone – split test an automated message with one that is strictly professional and one that uses a friendlier tone. Stick with the version that gets the best response by paying attention to your open and click rates.
If your efforts produce good results – keep it up! You will be rewarded with a new level of engagement from your readers.
