7 Ways to Make Your Email Marketing More Personal

Something that has been at the top of my list of priorities for developing my business is to include more of my personality and personal stories in the content I’m creating. This is something that I’ve been teaching as a branding technique for a while now but, quite honestly, I could probably be doing a better job of myself. That’s why I started brainstorming some ideas for how to make your email marketing more personal.

If you own a business and also use the internet, you probably know why having an email list is important. If not, please go read this post right now!

Ok, so now we’re all on the same page; it’s important to have an email list and building your email list should be a top priority for your business. If you’re crinkling your nose at the term “building your list,” I totally feel you. Think of it as growing your tribe or community; that’s exactly what it is!

And now without further ado, let me tell you a short personal story…

At my very first job after college, I worked in online marketing for a small indie record label in Los Angeles. One of my job responsibilities was to design and code email newsletters to promote new releases to our customers. I would spend hours creating elaborate emails every week, because that’s what was what was expected and what was working at the time.

Luckily for you and I, that’s a thing of the past.

These days, “email newsletters” don’t have to full of polished graphics and fancy layouts. People aren’t looking to be “wowed” by visuals when it comes to emails. They just want to get information that is valuable to them – quickly and easily – and then move on with their day.

This is good news and bad news.

The good news is...you don’t have to spend hours and hours putting together fancy schmancy, old-school “email newsletters” anymore.

The bad news is…people are so bogged down with inbox overwhelm (yes, that’s a thing; I just googled it), it can be hard to get noticed, even by those who were excited to sign up for your list in the first place.

So how do you earn the attention and inbox space of your tribe members? By getting personal!

Why do you want to make your email marketing more personal? Let me explain:

When people fill out the opt-in form on your website, they’re doing a couple things:

• They’re validating that what you are offering has an audience.
• They’re “raising their hand” (this is an industry term I remember from my time at a top ad agency in LA) to you and your content. In other words, they’re saying “I like you and I want more.”
• and most importantly, they’re inviting you into their precious inbox.

What does all of that mean? Well, after you finish your happy dance about gaining a new subscriber, your main focus should be to deliver on your promise…send them more of the great stuff you’re creating.

But don’t forget about the other half of the equation – send them more of YOU! (Because that’s what they were really asking for when they signed up for YOUR list)

If you’re thinking…”ok that sounds like a great idea but how do I actually do that?!” then you’re in luck. I’ve put together a bunch of tips for how to make your email marketing more personal to help build a stronger connection with your tribe.

7 Ways to Make Your Email Marketing More Personal

Send content they’ve already expressed interest in

One great way to make your email marketing more personal is to make sure you’re only sending stuff that is relevant to the recipient. When someone signs up for your email list, don’t just plop them in a pool with everyone else and send them generic emails!

First, I recommend setting up what’s called a “nurture sequence.” This is a series of emails that new subscribers receive before being added to your general list where they would start receiving all of your other emails, such as new blog post announcements or other promotions. These emails give you a chance to introduce them to you and your business in a curated way. But not only that, it gives you an opportunity to show an interest in them by asking questions about who they are and what they are looking to learn from you.

This is key! This is a great moment to get their feedback on what they want to learn more about so that you can keep creating great content that your tribe wants to see. A great way to gather this feedback is using “tags.” This is a feature offered by my favorite email service provider, ConvertKit. You can set up what they call “link triggers” so that whenever someone clicks on a specific link in your email, you can log that data to their profile.

For example, if someone clicked the link “email marketing,” you could add that as a tag so that in the future you would know that person has an interest in that topic. That way you could send specific content to anyone who has that tag on their profile. (super cool, I know!!)

Connecting with others often means being empathetic and showing that you understand where other people are coming from. You can do that by sharing your personal stories that relate to what your audience is currently experiencing. Click To Tweet

Get vulnerable (share your story)

Don’t be afraid to open up. Like I said earlier, when someone signs up for your email list, they’re already essentially saying they like what you’re up to!

Connecting with others often means being empathetic and showing that you understand where other people are coming from. You can do that by sharing your personal stories that relate to what your audience is currently experiencing.

You’ve probably worked really hard to build your business to where it is now and equally as hard to establish your expertise.

Don’t let this tip make you nervous – it’s not going to undermine how awesome you and your business are!

In fact, it will do the opposite. It’s going to help people realize that if you can go from where they currently are to where you are, then you are the person to help them do it.

People don’t want someone talking down to them – they want someone they can relate to. So show your subscribers, your audience, your tribe who you really are. They will just love you even more!

People don’t want someone talking down to them – they want someone they can relate to. So show your subscribers, your audience, your tribe who you really are. They will just love you even more! Click To Tweet

Be on a first name basis

I don’t know about you but I receive SO many emails every single day. Most of them are subscriptions, a lot are spam.

It’s hard to weed through them all to find the ones that matter to me.

I know that when I see an email that has my name on it, I’m much more likely to open it.

It signals to me that the sender either knows me or has my name because I gave it to them. (or the third thing which means they end up in the spam folder!)

My point is, if you want to gain the attention of your readers in their inbox, it can help to use their first name.

When you set up your opt-in forms on your website, be sure to include the field for their first name. You can use this when you send emails to address the message directly to that person.

(btw – this kind of personalization is another great feature of ConvertKit)

Write to them personally

If you’re just starting out or your list is not super huge yet, you may consider personally writing to each of your new subscribers. In a world of SO much spam and where so much is automated, a personal email can be so refreshing.

If you have a lot of subscribers, you might consider picking a certain segment to write to. Perhaps you personally email anyone who has consistently opened all of your emails in the past. Let them know that you’ve noticed their loyalty and wanted to chat with them some more.

Making the little bit of effort to make these personal connections can solidify the relationship and has the ability to transform a fan into a client or customer.

Ask questions (& respond if you can)

If you can’t email everyone individually, that’s ok. You can also engage people by asking them questions in your emails and encouraging them to hit reply with the answer.

This is a great tactic because it shows that you care their thoughts, opinions, questions, etc.

It gives you an opportunity to reply with some personal knowledge, feedback or answers that can help them solve a small problem or give them a quick win; this further helps establish your expertise while at the same time build rapport.

Behind the scenes

Include more of you in your emails by through in some extra details about your life or business. Emails are a great platform for this because, as I discussed earlier, the only people who see them are those who have already told you they like you!

These are the people who are saying “give me more” – so do it!

Throw in a couple sentences about what’s new in your life, a lesson you recently learned or an issue you’re currently struggling with. Give people a chance to see who you really are.

THIS is what people connect with. And this is what creates relationships with your audience that can transform into sales for your business.

Use images and videos

This is sort of an extension of the last tip. Show people snippets of you and your business. It’s important for people to see your face from time to time to remember that you’re a real person!

You could use images or video to give some behind the scenes peeks into your life or business. (Insta stories and Facebook lives are a great tool example of how and why this works.)

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I hope that this post has helped shed some light onto how to make your email marketing more personal, and why it’s important.

Do you want to send emails to your audience but aren’t sure what to send them? Get even more tips with my guide to creating great email content. If you’re in need of a great email marketing tool, check out why I switched from MailChimp to ConvertKit.

I’d love to hear about you’ve tried and works for you. Please leave a comment below with any questions or examples you’d like to share!