It is possible to overdo personalization.
Something has been bothering us here at Area 224 HQ. First we thought it was a pretty nice touch to receive personalized emails. Opening up an email because its Subject Line says something like this:
David, Want an Edge in Business with the Latest Industry News?
Or this:
David – Hot Franchises for 2010
I’ve got nothing at all against personalization. But there’s a way to do it right, and a way to muck it up.
First of all, for the newbies, the great thing about modern tools such as the Interwebs and social and CRM is this automation stuff that, while it won’t make my coffee for me in the morning, allows my messages to take on a “mass personalization” tone.
Simply put, by inserting a couple lines of code – similar to the “{!firstname}” tag above – allows you, the marketer, to send a message to me, the marketee, that drops my name in. Easy-peasy, {!firstname}.
Problems can abound, though, if you do something like this:
Dave Woops – bad link now fixed
OR
, have you hit a plateau?
[BTW, all four of these subjects are from actual emails in my inbox. I find only one “actionable” – and that’s because of a combination of who it’s from and what it could do for me.]
AH, the WIIFM.
I can forgive the misstep on coding from the “plateau” message above. It happens.
I can also forgive the guy (or gal) who assumes that I, Dave, am interested in one of the hot franchises.
But the real – REAL – issue here is the following:
If your email doesn’t say “What’s In It For Me?” – I’m not opening.
Even if you are on a {!firstname} basis with me.
