Email Automation is Killing Your Personalisation – Here’s How to Fix It

Efficiency is the new gold standard in email marketing automation. Automated email workflows that are triggered by customers or scheduled on a regular basis enable marketers to simplify communication, save time, and scale. But have we, in our drive to be efficient, abandoned the human touch that makes emails tick? In this post, we’ll see how automated email marketing results in cold, insincere email content, and how you can reintroduce personalised email campaigns to make automation work for you, not against you.

Automation vs. Personalisation: The Battle for Context

Email automation makes marketing easier, but results in cookie-cutter, bland emails that don’t get read. Yeah, sure, you can create an automated flow and distribute the same emails to hundreds or thousands of subscribers, but does that really matter?

If you’re sending automated emails without considering your subscriber's interest or needs, you’re losing touch with your customers. For instance, you might send a discount coupon for winter coats to someone who recently bought one last week. They’re not going to be happy because they already bought it. Additionally, if you were to send the same coupon to a customer who lives in a tropical climate, that would be irrelevant. That’s where targeted email marketing is useful — to send messages to the right people at the right time.

The Pitfall of One-Size-Fits-All Campaigns

Automated emails tend to deliver "one-size-fits-all" emails, in which every customer receives the same offer, coupon, or update, regardless of how they’ve been engaged. Not only does it feel cold but it has terrible open and conversion rates. Just sending automatic emails isn’t enough if they don’t resonate with your audience.

In email marketing best practices, you must provide value to your recipient with every campaign. You should be asking yourself, "Will this apply to this particular customer group?"

How to Segment Email Lists Effectively

Automation works best when combined with effective email segmentation. Rather than just send everyone the same automated email, segment your list based on customer behavior, demographics, and purchases.

For instance, if you’re running a new product promotion, you might create segments such as:

• People who purchased in the past 30 days
• Customers who have expressed interest in other similar products
• Users who have read recent emails but not bought yet

By segmenting your subscribers and sending relevant email campaigns, you boost the chances of engagement and conversion, essential for running a successful email marketing campaign.

The Value of Tailored Campaigns

Every automated email campaign should be thoughtfully crafted with personalisation in mind. Just because an email is automated, it doesn’t mean it can’t be personalized. Tailored campaigns can include:

• Recommended products based on browsing history
• Targeted discounts for frequent buyers
• Re-sales emails for abandoned carts that highlight products in more details

These examples are proof that automation and personalized email campaigns work well together, but only if combined with thoughtful segmentation and content.

Over-Automation: When It Starts to Worry

Perhaps the worst mistake of email marketing automation is over-automation — implementing automatic flow before thinking whether emails will still make sense to your recipient. For example, imagine sending a "Happy Anniversary" email that offers discount code to celebrate a year since their first (and last) purchase, only to find out that the customer hasn’t visited your brand in months. Instead of reconnecting them, this message might be tone-deaf and meaningless. And if so, you might need to evaluate if a re-engagement campaign is required before you introduce standard campaigns.

Check your automated email flows frequently to make sure they are still on-target for your customers. This is particularly important for longer-term sequences, such as abandoned cart reminders or post-purchase follow-ups.

How to Improve Email Personalisation

For a successful balance between automation and personalisation, here are some essential email personalisation tips:

• Utilise dynamic content: Add the recipient’s name, remark on previous purchases, or recommend products based on browsing and purchase history
• A/B split test subject lines and emails: Even with automation, split testing versions of your emails will help you discover what’s most effective for your subscribers
• Utilise behavioral triggers: Instead of sending emails on a strict schedule, send them on a behavioural trigger, such as visiting your site or browsing specific products

Using these strategies, you will be able to build automated email campaigns that offer personal touch, increase conversions and build brand trust.

Automation Can Supplement, Not Replace Personalisation

Automation in emails can be a useful feature, but never at the cost of personalization. Email campaigns require the right combination of automation, segmentation, and personalisation to maintain customer’s interest. Properly used, automated emails can make your life easier and still send helpful and valuable content to every recipient.

Before launching your next campaign, ask yourself: “Will this email provide value to the right customer segment?” If not, then it’s time to re-evaluate your approach and make sure your email marketing automation is working for you—and your customers.