Customization is the platinum standard for e-mail marketing. With great CRM, ideally every piece of information in the database about that user will be reflected in unique messages sent to him or her. Customization turns e-mail marketing into a very personal conversation. Its targeted messages are specific to a prospective customer’s wants and needs.
Today’s consumers are empowered, busy, and want information that is specific to them. In order to customize, you need to create customer profiles that go beyond segmentation.
A simple segmented customer profile shows that people who purchased X also purchased Z. So after they purchase X, send them e-mails about Z. Customization gets much more granular and personal. Take a woman getting married in a year. A wedding planning site can give her a countdown calendar that includes information that she has entered. (“Did you get measurements for your bridesmaid’s dresses yet?”) But it can also present customized choices. Say the bride-to-be has chosen a color scheme of blue and gold—all the potential bridesmaid dresses and other items presented in the e-mail will have blue and gold in them.
While customization may seem like very expensive back-end information architecture, the payoff can be huge.
