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How to Use One to One Email Marketing for Your Small Business

One-to-one marketing is not a new concept – in fact, a hyper-personalized customer approach is something marketers first began using in-store.

It makes perfect sense that customers are more likely to pay attention to your brand communications when you absolutely nail the content tailored to their specific needs, wants, and interests. 

Sure, personalizing content for subscribers might seem a little less daunting when you have a robust marketing budget to afford software to manage a massive subscriber list. But what about the one-man marketing team? What about the small business with a quality, engaged email list – who deserves the content they really want no less – but perhaps doesn’t have the time or budget to use an advanced CRM software? Is it worthwhile to expend effort on personalized email marketing to a smaller subscriber base?

Yes, it certainly can be. 

In this article we will cover:

  1. What is one to one email marketing? 
  2. 3 Steps to personalize your small business one to one emails 
  3. One to one email FAQ

What is one to one email marketing?  

One to one emails are essentially personal emails that are sent from you to your subscribers. One to one email marketing can be a really useful channel for small ecommerce businesses to capitalize on a more personal relationship with customers, by focusing on quality over quantity. The secret is using emaill templates that don’t read or feel like templates - you never want to give your customers the impression that you don’t care about them on a personal level.  

3 Steps to Personalize Your Small Business One to One Emails with Privy

Personalizing your small business one to one emails can be easy with the right tool. Luckily, Privy Email is built to support small businesses in building big relationships with email automation. Here are 3 steps that you can take to level up the one to one emails you are sending using Privy.

Get to know your email audience before using automation

A simple way to get personal with your one to one emails would be to identify detected attributes and user level analytics. Answering these questions are a good place to start: 

  • When did they sign up to your list?
    Celebrate one year of being ‘friends’! It’s an important milestone and perfect opportunity to remind them of your brand.
  • Where are they geographically located?
    Target specific locations to offer free shipping.
  • What led them to your site in the first place?
    Show them content similar to the ad they clicked through, or the Facebook contest which led them to be interested in your brand.
  • Have they shopped with you before?
    Show them relevant products or new items.

Customize email content based on what your audience wants to reduce unsubscribes

Identify a few specific data points that would make sense for your customers, then create an evergreen email to send to a hyper-targeted segment each time a new subscriber fits the mould. The more specific, the better, since the whole point of one-to-one marketing is to treat each subscriber as an individual after all.

Send emails with to the point subject lines for better click-through rates

The key for a small business attempting a one-to-one email marketing strategy is to keep it simple. Use clear and concise language to communicate the point of the email in the subject line so that your audience can engage with your content. You can really get creative here by using emojis or language that will pique their interest. Don’t be too click-baity though, you want to make sure that you are delivering value with your one to one emails! 

One to One Email FAQ

How to send a one to one email to an email list?

To send a one to one email to an email list, you will first need an email marketing tool to help. Privy Email is a really good solution for small business owners looking to establish themselves in the market.

When to send a one to one email?

This depends entirely on knowing your email audience and will vary based on the industry you are in. There are two ways you can decide when to send your one to one emails: ask your audience in a survey or A/B test different send times to see which ones perform the best.

How to personalize a one to one email?

You can use email automation to personalize a one to one email. The key to doing it well is to make sure your template does not feel like one. This requires a firm understanding of who your audience is and what they want from your brand.

Is sending one to one emails worth it?

Yes, one to one emails is a really useful email marketing technique for small business owners to build relationships with existing or potential customers. With email marketing automation, one to one emails become pretty easy to incorporate into your marketing strategy.

Have you tried to add more personalization into your marketing? What works best for your small business? Let us know!

Related: learn how to grow your email list by personalizing your on-site experience in Email List Growth 101

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Written by Sam Goodnow

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