Drive better user loyalty with personalized loyalty emails

Want to know how important personalization is to customers today?

Check out these stats from SmarterHQ:

“72% of customers say they only engage with personalized messaging. And 90% of those surveyed are willing to share behavioral data for a cheaper and easier brand experience.”

Those two statements alone tell you almost everything you need to know about personalization today. Customers are demanding it, so the question is, are you giving the people what they want?

Hopefully, the answer is yes. 

Here’s why.

The numbers show personalization matters

We’ve talked about personalization in emails a lot. And that’s because it really is a big deal, the numbers prove it.

Being able to highlight and showcase personalized content can help drive all of those essential metrics, including open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. 

It’s an ever more competitive marketplace where brands have to compete with the likes of Amazon and other huge ecommerce shops. Small strategies like leaning into personalization can make or break your success, especially when it comes to building customer loyalty.

We know that loyal customers are more likely to buy again and tend to spend more on the purchases they do make. And we also know that it costs far less to convince a customer to buy again versus trying to snag a brand new customer. 

So it makes sense to try and boost that loyalty through personalized email campaigns. 

Loyalty has become more sophisticated

Loyalty programs have come a long way since the days of buy ten coffees and get one free punch cards. 

Today, with advanced data from consumer behavior, you can create much more sophisticated loyalty programs that actively engage your customers along the way. 

Here’s a cool one from a brand called Tarte Cosmetics:

They have a loyalty program that earns you points from not only shopping but engaging with their emails and social media too. 

This system benefits both the consumer and the brand. By joining the rewards program, customers get access to more points, which can translate to perks like free shipping, surprise gifts, and early access to exclusive products. 

All of that sounds pretty good for a customer and starts building positive feelings and loyalty right from the start. 

Their emails help tap into that personalization as well. 

Check out this one, for example:

Here it highlights the number of loyalty points the reader has and their rewards level (this program offers three levels). So right away, it’s personalized to this specific customer.

This email is also highlighting a particular product that is on a featured sale. The lower part of the email makes it easy to click through to other products too.

Here’s another example:

In this email, it’s all about the rewards. Even the call to action button asks the reader to start redeeming some of those hard earned points.

Now, if you’re a customer who has had their eye on something and you know you have enough points, then clicking that button to start shopping becomes really easy.

Where Tarte could go a step further in personalizing these emails is to pull in some consumer behavior and past shopping data to showcase products that are related to or replacements for items the customer has already bought.

Using data for relevancy

There’s so much you can do when it comes to personalization once you move beyond the basics. And don’t forget, personalization is increasingly what customers want.

So put all the information you have at your fingertips to use. 

Here are a few things you can do.

Hype up your loyalty program and make it something worthwhile to your customers. Consumers don’t want generalized incentives; they want to get specific bonuses and rewards that tie to what they want and how they shop. 

Provide customers with personalized information on their rewards and points. Knowing exactly where they are in a rewards program can push them to take action and level up to the next set of perks. 

Don’t forget to include loyalty information across your email campaigns. If you’re running an abandoned cart email campaign, for example, you can use it to gently remind your customers that they have items in their cart and loyalty rewards they can use towards them too. 

The same is true for shipping updates as with this example:

Personalization isn’t going away, in fact, as we’re able to gather more data on consumer behavior and as customers increasingly want information that only applies to them you’re going to see it more and more.

So, there’s no better time to start getting prepared.