When times are tough and budgets are tight, email marketing looks very attractive.  It is relatively inexpensive, immediate and effective.  However, sometimes we get so caught up in the procedural logistics of email marketing that we forget we are communicating with real people. We think in terms of lists, databases, target audiences, and segments.

With email, as with conventional marketing channels, it's important to remember that there are real people on the other end of our messages. When we press the send button, we're not just delivering messages to in-boxes, we're communicating with individuals.  If we have done our research thoroughly, our email will be opened and acted on by these individuals because it is about what works for them, our customers.

Although most reputable email marketers don't intend to literally bombard their customers or prospects with messages, using that term to describe email marketing puts us in a broadcast vs. conversation mind-set.  The goal of any good direct-response effort should be a dialogue, not simply a one-way transmission.  Whether it is a return email, a telephone call or a click on a link provided in the email, this is the critical measure of an email campaign's success.

Here are some tips to help you personalise and "conversationalise" your email.

1. Speak in human rather than promotional terms

Yes, you can be more personal and conversational in your commercial email messages than in mass advertising and formal brochures.  Speak in terms of "you" and "us.  Humanise your copy instead of keeping it general and impersonal.  Talk to people, not at them.

Recognise unique segment (or, if your technology allows it, individual) characteristics and past behavior of each recipient or group of recipients. Your recipients will appreciate that you are paying attention and acknowledging them as live humans rather than as part of a nameless, faceless mass.

Segmentation produces better results.  A recent benchmark survey (produced by MarketingSherpa) found that segmented campaigns producing at least 30% more opens and 50% higher CTR (click through responses) than undifferentiated messages.

Last year, Sears, a multi-channel retailer in the USA introduced a new e-mail and Web personalization program to help keep the customer conversation going and allowed the retailer to respond to customers' needs.  Previously, Sears had simply relied on "batch and blast” e-mails to an entire customer list, but in June the company shifted its strategy to a content-driven approach meant to make the messages more relevant. It is a strategic move from a mass-media mindset into a very specific customised experience designed for the individual customer.

It's not just putting the customer's name in the subject line; it's about speaking to the customer in a more intelligent way.

By implementing A/B testing that divided emails into a control group that does not receive personalized e-mails and a test group that does, Sears have been able to track the results of personalization.  Compared to non-personalized e-mails, the test group of personalized e-mails have seen a 41% increase in revenue per clickthrough, a 178% increase in conversion, a 59% increase in average order volume and a 215% increase in clickthroughs.

2.Get your message right

The most important component of an email is the subject line.  People typically respond well to the mention of a "Top 10” as well as statistics such as "75 percent of new businesses need…”.  The subject line needs to have a sense of urgency or a call for action.

Try measuring the effectiveness of your subject line by sending out the same email campaign with different subject lines to various groups of recipients.  Where did you get the most response? 

Be very careful with your creatives.  With mobile rendering now the biggest concern, it's time to face the problem of unreadable e-mails.  If you want to use images, reduce the imagery in the top three inches of your design and set the heights and widths on all images. If your call to action is an image, provide viewable text links.  Readers should be able to get the message without having to download images or click on a web version. Make your imagery complement, not carry, the message.

The body of the messaging should be short and tell the reader how you can solve a problem for them.  If your technology allows it, you should track what recipients do when they receive their messages.  If you have included a link to your web site, you should capture which part of your website the recipient visited and what products and services seemed to hold their interest.  This can give you a huge visibility into potential interest of a customer or prospect and can be incorporated into your lead generation strategy for sales or customer service.

Next, look for remarketing opportunities. Before you dream up a new campaign, examine previous campaigns and see where you might harvest new opportunities.   Perhaps your copy just needs tweaking or your subject line needs to be more current or relevant.  Market to individuals who opened but didn't click and to individuals who clicked but didn't convert.  Market to "loiterers” — those who opened or clicked on eight of your past 10 campaigns but still haven't purchased.

2. Leverage your brand personality

Does your brand or product have a unique spokesperson or character associated with it?  Is it known by a distinct personality?  Is your brand synonymous with a quality (dependability, exclusivity, leading edge)? If so, those are exactly the aspects to leverage in your email marketing.

Think of the Kleenex puppy, Megan Gale for David Jones, or the M&M's candy cartoon characters.  Consider Apple's personality (futuristic, intuitive, elegantly simple and technologically streamlined) and how consistently this personality comes across in all its advertising. 

Bring personality into your email; or, at a minimum, keep the personality of your email consistent with the rest of your marketing.

Email marketing can help you extend your brand message to a variety of audiences.

Two years ago, Seiko did no digital advertising to promote its popular men's and women's watches. Today they spend about 20% of the advertising budget on digital channels such as e-mail.

For Seiko, e-mail helps build its brand in several ways.  To communicate with retailers that sell the watches, to keep in touch with consumers in its loyalty program called the Elite Group; and to reach members of the press. To help build the brand, e-mail creative is always tied to national ad creative by pulling the basic assets from advertising into the e-mails.

3. Solicit user-generated content (UGC)

How easy do you make it for your audience members to share their experiences as customers with you? Do you routinely provide a mechanism for both positive and negative customer feedback? Do you go the extra mile by encouraging positive feedback, such as inviting customers to share success stories, testimonials, photos, or videos? Do you run contests in which entrants must tell a story or submit content to enter?

Any of those simple steps can produce a wealth of UGC that your marketing and advertising content can never equal in credibility, confidence, and relationship value. People love to hear about how other real people are interacting, benefiting, or learning from you, so tell them.

Email marketing is an important tool for your business marketing efforts.  The Internet is evolving toward increased transparency, access, and authenticity and away from a mass-marketing mind-set.  With that in mind, always remember the golden rule.  People don't buy from companies or brands. People buy from people. Be human!