I have long felt that subscribing to receive emails from a company is a very personal thing. By checking that box, I am stating that I want to see that organization’s name in my inbox. I am willing to make them part of my day and devote a portion of time — large or small — to check out the content they’ve put together for me. On some level, it is a very personal relationship.
It sounds cheesy, right? At its core though, isn’t that what email marketing is? As marketers, we’re attempting to make a personal connection with someone based on limited data and even more limited interaction with them, yet in today’s world subscribers expect content to be relevant and personalized to their likes and needs. The challenge we face daily is how exactly to do that. An increasingly important way to for us to meet this need is by utilizing personas to understand our audience on a much more personal level.
For those that are not familiar, personas are fictional representations of your audience. Constructing personas allows you to identify the needs of your audience, and leverage that insight to effectively target messages that best meet their needs. That is where many people stop though. When done effectively, personas allow you to get beyond the data in a database and gain a better understanding of who your audience is. What challenges to they face? What is their daily life like? What motivates them? Personas allow us to answer these questions that we just wouldn’t be able to otherwise.
A positive user experience is vital to the success of any email marketing program. Emails should be easy to interact with and the content should be timely and relevant. Having a better understanding of who your audience is not only identifies what their needs are, but helps you recognize how your organization can meet that need. Your organization can begin to think about the messages being sent in a whole new way, for example:
- Personalize story content that is custom based on the audience, building one email that simply displays different content depending on the persona.
- Change the menu options at the top of your email. Perhaps you want to direct a segment of your audience to more online resources and another to a membership portal.
- Test content elements based on your audience type. Students may respond to more images and detail in the text, whereas executives may prefer a more direct, bulleted list approach.
A better understanding of your audience. Personalized content. Increased engagement. Personas give you greater customer insight that will allow you to move your audience along the journey by cultivating a deeper connection that can lead to increased involvement, and ultimately becoming a brand advocate.
We’ll be talking personas and personalized content a lot at the 2015 Informz Superfan Summit in Arlington, Virginia, on November 4-5. If you’re an Informz client and haven’t registered for this event yet, secure your seat today.
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