Email Marketing: 5 Ways to Personalise Black Friday Campaigns

Gone are the days when a brand sends a generic email campaign to its whole list. Personalisation is the name of the email game and it is even more important throughout the biggest sale season of the year, Black Friday.

Subscribers expect email campaigns to be more personalised that ever before, and are actively looking out for them in their inboxes. But there's a win-win. Personalisation is a powerful way for brands to increase email ROI and engagement rates. Check out how you can supercharge your emails with personalisation using these epic tips. 

First, what exactly is email personalisation?

So what do we really mean by email personalisation? Our email heroes can help you answer this question...

"Simply put, personalisation in email marketing is how brands use subscribers' data within their emails to make the content feel bespoke for the intended subscriber. It could be information like their name, the last product they brought or where they are in the customer journey. In theory, any data point can be used for personalisation."

Why is personalisation so important with Black Friday email campaigns? 

Black Friday is without a doubt the biggest spending day of the year. With the continuous rise of online shopping and in what seems to be an e-commerce downturn, there is so much marketing noise around this holiday season. Some people may say it's the most wonderful time of the year...but for email marketers, it's the craziest time of the year. So, when creating Black Friday email campaigns you need to be sure they are going to get noticed. 

To get your emails opened, you have to be some sort of inbox celeb'. Subscribers are getting pickier with what emails they'll choose to open - people take less than 3 seconds to make that decision. This just shows how creating bespoke, personalised email campaigns is the key to real inbox success. 

Yep, now's the time to start crafting your super personalised Black Friday emails! 

Here's how you can enchant your BFCM emails with personalisation tactics...

Tip 1: Personalise your subject lines 

Personalised subject lines are a powerful way to stand out in your subscriber's inbox and grab their attention almost immediately. Email marketers, the secret is to use what you already know about the customer in your Black Friday subject lines. Are you on a first-name basis? Do you know what they are interested in? Using customer data in subject lines makes your subscribers feel valued and that the email is personalised just for them. 

Throughout Black Friday, your emails are going to have plenty of company in your subscriber's inbox. Therefore, you need to create subject lines that are going to resonate with your subscriber and stand out in the sea of BFCM campaigns. 

The subject lines that usually catch subscribers' eyes are the ones that mention their names. Including a reader's name in a subject line makes it seem like they have received a message from someone they know not just another generic Black Friday sale email.

Your Black Friday subject lines can be personalised in many ways:

• Use their name - "Lauren - check out our Black Friday sale NOW!"
• Interests - "Dog leads on sale until Sunday" 
• Transaction history - "Products similar to 'Little Red Dress' are on sale now"
• Urgency - "Only one more day to shop our Black Friday sale"
• Location - "Black Friday sale: 30% off winter coats" 

Personalising your subject lines can be done through tags/fields/properties - whatever your ESP calls them. Although this may take a little longer to create, it is worth it, trust us. 

Tip 2: Tailor your offers based on customers' recent behaviour and interests 

Another great way to personalise your emails throughout Black Friday is to customise offers. These can be based on a customer's recent purchasing behaviour or interests.

With personalisation becoming more important to readers, brands can no longer offer a customer an awesome promotion and watch them run towards you with purchasing in mind. Today, consumers want a highly personalised experience if they are going to choose you over the competition. Creating these tailored experiences is very important throughout the Black Friday holiday, considering the levels of competition entering your subscriber's inbox daily with the same discount. 

Personalised discounts are usually based on a customer's previous purchase history. So superheroes, instead of sending boring emails that will end up in the trash bin, enchant your emails by using your customer's data to tailor Black Friday offers just for them. Customised Black Friday offers make your email campaign feel more relevant and appealing to individual subscribers, so you should see higher engagement and conversions. Makes sense? 

Tip 3: Give your subscribers early access 

Black Friday is the perfect opportunity to show your subscribers that being part of your email list has value. Offering early access to your sale shows your subscribers how much you appreciate them. One way to do this is through a pre-launch campaign. 

A pre-launch will allow subscribers to bag their favourite items before anyone else - it makes them feel super exclusive. A pre-launch campaign will allow you to connect with your loyal subscribers on a deeper level, making them feel unique and important. These emails also serve as a great way to encourage additional purchasing throughout your Black Friday sale. 

Take a look at these pre-launch body campaign ideas: 

• You'll be one of the first to get early access 
• We have got something just for you and it's coming soon!
• Get notified before anyone else 
• Get access to our exclusive pre-sale  

Subscribers love exclusivity, so be sure to create a buzz around your pre-launch campaign and make subscribers feel special. 

Tip 4: Honour existing customers in your email copy

For your Black Friday email marketing to be truly personalised you need to communicate with segments differently. Although both prospects and customers are very valuable to your brand, you should speak to your existing customers differently from how you would speak to your subscribers. When communicating with your existing customers, treat them like a friend by using conversational language throughout your headlines and copy rather than just a sales push. This segment of people have already purchased from your brand, so you want to show that you appreciate them moving from a subscriber to a customer. 

One way to do this is to apply simple behavioural economics. We like to use affinity bias, where people gravitate towards others who appear similar to them without realising it. So how can you integrate this into your marketing?

Well, when you want to talk to your customers, you need to think and speak like your customers. Speak your consumer's language. Customers are likely to favour a brand that they have an affinity for. Building connections and making your customers feel special is so important throughout Black Friday, due to the level of competition there will be entering your subscriber's inboxes every day. This stand out can make all the difference.

Examples:

• A VIP like you, should never have to wait 
• You are a valued customer of ours and we would like to invite you to shop our BFCM sale before anyone else 
• Thank you for being a loyal customer. We want to offer you early access to our Black Friday sale

Tip 5: Show customers products they have recently browsed 

Another way you can personalise your Black Friday emails is by combining your customer's recent browsing history into BF marketing emails. 

You could create a wish list email for subscribers with products and collections they have looked at previously but haven't purchased - these products may have been viewed many months ago, and this is a time to consider bringing them back into your creative. Doing this allows you to create relevant, engaging BFCM email campaigns with product recommendations that are unique to each subscriber in your email list. 

When a subscriber receives an email with product recommendations specific to them they are more likely to open the email and take the intended action. 

Wrap Up 

As you can see, email personalisation doesn't have to be complicated or time-consuming. Just using one of these awesome tips will help your email get noticed in your subscriber's inbox. Check out this blog written by our email heroes about How to Improve Your Email Marketing Personalisation.

Throughout the Black Friday holiday, it is super important to add personalisation to your email marketing strategy to ensure your emails stand loud and proud from the rest. If you need a hand with your Black Friday strategy, then get in touch with one of our experts today.

Good luck and get personalising those emails!