Hi Email Personalization in the Obama Campaign!.

Hi Email Personalization in the Obama Campaign!.

If you want to make a couple hundred dollars quickly, use a knife.

If you want to make a couple thousand DOLLARS quickly, use a gun.

If you want to make a couple million DOLLARS quickly, use a politician.

Or EMAIL MARKETING, if the amazing success of the Obama campaign is any proof!

USA President Barack Obama’s election campaign’s story is almost fable-like.

Beating overwhelming odds, one man, one vision for change and one inspiring quote to rally behind – ‘Yes We Can’.

… the realistic (but not as glamorous version) has to do with EMAIL MARKETING, personalized EMAIL MARKETING to be exact!

The Obama administration was grossly underfunded when compared to the Romney campaign. However, after using EMAIL MARKETING and Email Personalization, Obama was able to raise the majority of his 690 million dollar campaign through Personalized Emails.

When you hear the term email personalization, what do you think of?

When it comes to EMAIL MARKETING, most people think of including the recipient’s first; name in the subject line and the opening line in the email. 

While this is an important type of email personalization, it is not the only one! Obama’s EMAIL CAMPAIGN made heavy use of 

‘Appearance Email Personalization’.

Appearance Email Personalization:

A personalized message can mean more than just fields that change depending on recipient – and it should.

The layout, template and subject line that appears as a personal letter or informal message is an example of Appearance Email Personalization. It doesn't matter if you send out your email to thousands of subscribers, as long as it appears personal, it will have the desired effect.

“The subject lines that worked best were things you might see in your in-box from other people,” 

,...says Toby Fallsgraff, the campaign’s email director.

Obama’s emails are a good example of Appearance Email Personalization. 

They begin with a slightly informal tone while communicating in the first person about relevant, everyday and human topics slowly bringing the election and fundraising in as the main focus. 

Within reason, the same approach can be applied to your own EMAIL MARKETING CAMPAIGN!

However, testing through A/B tests is extremely important for Appearance Email Personalization, as Amedia Showalter, Obama’s digital analytic expert points out,

 “We did extensive A-B testing on the subject lines and the amount of MONEY we would ask people for.”

Some Tips for Appearance Email Personalization;

• Don’t be too personal – slang and lingo is never well received.
• Don’t be too specific – if you’re too specific you risk isolating a percentage of your readers.
• Use the first person and simplify words where you can to appear friendlier.
• Keep context in mind – if you’re a legal company, for example, you do not want to sound unprofessional and not serious.

Gain that Vote of Confidence!

Use email personalization to gain the trust of your subscribers and their vote of confidence in your business.

Some of the available services offered include advanced email personalization and segmentation tools to all their clients, allowing them to achieve higher open rates, higher revenue and higher deliver ability in their EMAIL MARKETING CAMPAIGN.

Do you have any tricks for email personalization? What are some of the lesser known email personalization tricks you know of? Let us know in the comment section below!