You’ve heard it a thousand times: “Good marketing is personalized!”
Marketers say this about cold emails, website copy, ad campaigns, and more.
Now, don’t get us wrong: Personalization is a good thing – but not always, and not all personalization.
Why most marketers get personalization wrong?
Marketers treat personalization like it’s an ingredient, something you sprinkle in to improve conversion.
And that’s why you get cold email copy like this:
- “Saw your LinkedIn post the other day. Great stuff.”
- “Wow, see you went to Stanford! Me, too.”
- “I see you’re in New York City. I’ve got a cousin who lives out there!”
Personalization is not an ingredient. It is a foundational component of how you construct a message, whether it’s an ad, email, or something else.
It determines the things you say, how you say them, and the intention behind the message you are presenting.
How to nail personalization in marketing?
The best personalization is done by qualification. Let’s say you’re selling a product that helps SaaS businesses track recurring revenue.
You could:
- Email 50,000 SaaS founders and personalize each message with superficial details.
- Or email 1,000 Series B SaaS founders with e-commerce facing products and personalize with information that’s relevant to these founders—then repeat this for other audience segments.
Many marketers default to the first bullet point. But effective marketing tends to look more like the second.
Bottom line
Don’t waste your time and resources on lazy, arbitrary personalization.
Instead, create personalized marketing based on who people are, what they do, and where they’re at in their journey.
Now let’s get out there and save the world from generic, cringey messages!
