When I was in high school friends of mine always referred to me by my last name. Or if anything, they removed the “E” and I simply became “Fort.” It was something I got used to and actually liked because it was unique to me.
People calling me by my last name or nicknaming me was comforting and nice especially among my close friends. As years went by my nickname was changed to just D. People stopped calling me by my last name. In a way it signified the end of my adolescent high school days.
Until recently.
My absolute favorite store – Ann Taylor Loft sends me email promotions regularly and it wasn’t until recently I realized they were referring to me by my last name. I chuckled a bit because it brought me back 14 to 15 years and I thought how personal is the brand getting with their customers if they can’t include a customer’s first name in the email subject line?
While I don’t mind it entirely and it gives me a good laugh each time, I think it is important to get your customer’s name correct – the whole name. Don’t leave anything out.
This shows that you as a retailer took the time to know who your customers are beyond what products they are shopping for.
Now it could entirely be because it was only my last name that was what imputed into the system when they first retrieved my information and I haven’t gone so far as to correct them (I honestly don’t care that much), but it just makes me think about how important the personalizing the experience for the customer really is.
Here are four tips you want to think about when personalizing your email campaigns:
- If you’re going to include your customer’s name spell it correctly and use the whole name. If you get anything incorrect, your customer will ignore the email or trash it all together. Because if you don’t take the time, neither will they to open the email.
- Tailor your email campaigns to a customer’s recently or relatively recent purchase. Ann Taylor Loft did something nifty in their recent email promotion to me, they gave me product recommendations for when the dress I just purchased “needs a break” from being worn. In the email they provided imagery of skirts and tops I might like. That was fun.
- Don’t send so many that you become an annoyance rather than something a customer can look forward to. I don’t get too many emails from Ann Taylor Loft, just enough to tell me about online and in-store promotions, sales only possible with my LOFT card etc. Nothing crazy.
- Make sure your email campaigns are readable and catch a buyer’s attention. Graphics, emojis, fun subject lines will entice your customer to open your email and go your site or nearest store.