May 26, 2010
[Insert name]: the lazy way to personalise an email?
Back in the office after the London leg of Usability Week 2010 and we’re buzzing with ideas and keen to try out what we learnt. Email Newsletter Usability with Amy Schade reinforced what we knew about using meaningful subject lines in emails, but also shed new light on the use of recipient names.
The email usability studies by Nielsen Norman Group revealed that 58% of users did not like their name used in email newsletters.
One theory is that when people see their name, they assume the correspondence will be personal to them. If none of the email content is tailored (except their name) that’s a letdown; you haven’t met their expectations. If all of your email content is generic, it may be best not to use recipient names.
What’s your take on marketing emails addressed to you by name? Do you think it’s a cute touch or a lazy method of email personalisation?
Posted by Claire Bussey to customer emails, jakob nielsen, usability, Usability Week 2010
Exactly. When I see my name, I know it’s simply part of a mail merge.
In a busy inbox, marketers have to make a difference, and stand out from the crowd. Personalization in the subject heading is ok, as long as you follow up with personalization in the email. Make sure if your going to aim this directly to the reader, that it is something they want to read.
Worse thing you can do is start with a subject line ‘Hi Claire, New offers for you’
Then the first line of the message is ‘Hi All’. Big Fail.
There are many pieces of information you can gather now to make email more relevant, and this is the way to make email marketing profitable.