How eCommerce Brands Can Tap into Personalization

The number of emails sent every year shows no signs of slowing down. That makes it increasingly more difficult to compete. Between being buried under a pile of emails every day and everyone’s attention getting pulled in every direction, it’s hard to find just a few minutes to open and read an email.

Selling in this environment is tough. Today, far more consumers open their inboxes and skim. So you have very little chance of standing out. One way to do it is to have a killer subject line that grabs attention. Another is to be a brand consumers trust and want to hear from, so your emails grab their attention.

You know how this works. You’ve probably done it in your own inbox. There are a handful of brands where you’ll open their marketing emails because you trust them; it gives them a leg up. 

Brands, but especially eCommerce shops, need to find ways to get this kind of customer attention because they rely so heavily on email. One of the best approaches? Email personalization. 

Here’s where to focus.

The numbers don’t lie

First, let’s look at the numbers. Study after study shows that personalization throughout the shopping experience is a determining factor for many consumers. 

For example:

• Over 90% of consumers are more likely to shop from brands that send them personalized recommendations and offers. 
• 72% of consumers say they will only engage with messaging that’s personalized. 
• 80% of consumers who call themselves ‘frequent shoppers’ are only interested in buying from brands that offer a personalized experience. 
• Two-thirds of consumers say they won’t buy from a brand that doesn’t offer personalized content.

Every eCommerce brand, regardless of size, needs to take those stats seriously. The main takeaway is this: if you aren’t personalizing your content or offering a more personalized customer experience, you are very likely losing customers. 

So that’s the bad news, now let’s look at the opportunities because it’s a lot easier to start adding personalized content to your email than you think. 

Where eCommerce brands can start personalizing

If you look at the anatomy of a perfectly personalized email, you’ll see just how many places you can add personalized content. 

Between Smart Banners and Smart Blocks, you have multiple areas to start creating and delivering better email content based on your customer’s data and behavior. And, you aren’t limited to sales and marketing emails either. Smart Banners and Smart Blocks give you the opportunity to add personalization to every email you send, including transactional emails.

Making sure to feature ratings and reviews in your emails is another easy way to stand out. An email like this, which is animated, and focused on social proof from other happy customers, can move the needle, especially when the reader is in the market for that type of product.

A kinetic email, like this one, adds some dynamic content right from the inbox. You’re going to see a lot of these types of emails in 2022 and beyond. Add in the fact that the sale data is curated for the customer, and that’s an email that is going to drive engagement.

Consumers love getting personalized sales, deals, and offers. A reveal-based email like this one adds something different into the mix too. Personalized images and visual-heavy emails are going to continue to trend in 2022. Emails with the ability to offer personalized coupons and deals, are a winning combination. 

Keep personalization top of mind

While every type of personalization may not apply to eCommerce brands, there are many that stand out. Look to see where you can move beyond the generic and start adding high levels of personalization to your campaigns. 

Your customers will appreciate the efforts and engage far more, improving your open, click, and conversion rates. Increasing those numbers, even by a few percentage points, is a big win for any eCommerce brand.