How to amaze subscribers and add value with dynamic content Ensure your email content is always timely, fresh and exciting 4:51 ASTON 24 HOUR SALE
Using dynamic content in your email marketing is a great way to surprise and engage your subscribers. It makes your emails feel more personal, timely and relevant meaning it will grab your readers attention and keep it for longer. In this guide, you ll discover: 1 2 3 Why including dynamic content will make your emails more effective Simple ways to start using dynamic content Success stories from brands that have seen great results from dynamic emails
Dynamic content: the basics In short, dynamic email content is anything that adjusts automatically. That can mean tailored or personalized content based on a subscriber s location, industry or browsing history. It can also mean content that updates itself when the email is opened, such as an RSS feed that always shows the most up-to-date deals or articles and posts for B2B businesses. You might already be doing this If you send emails that greet each customer by name, then you re using dynamic content. But that s just the beginning of what you can do with it. As you ll discover in this guide, dynamic content provides endless opportunities to make your emails more engaging and exciting. Dynamic email = relevant email Your customers want content that feels relevant to them, but they don t often get it. For example, one study by Harris Interactive and Janrain found that 74% of online consumers are fed up with seeing content that doesn t relate to their interests. Using dynamic content ensures your emails are relevant when they re opened, not just when you send them.
And the benefits are? Reasons to use dynamic content include: Add energy to an already static inbox with countdown clocks and animations Use data you have now, such as subscriber name and industry Save time and money by creating content that self-adjusts, and eliminate human error Give subscribers the most up-to-date content as your emails update themselves after sending Ensure emails are as timely and personalized as possible by adding dynamic content to triggered emails Get close to targeted one to one marketing that your subscribers love because it s relevant and timely B2C and B2B: why it works for both 14% more click-throughs and 10% more conversions from personalized emails, according to the Aberdeen Group. 42% improvement in conversion rates from personalized calls-to-action to the topic and stage in the customer journey, according to research by Hubspot. 20% increase in sales opportunities from leads nurtured with personalized content, according to B2B marketers polled for a report by DemandGen. 40% more willingness to buy when individual B2B stakeholders receive content that feels tailored to their individual needs, according to the CEB/Motista 2013 B2B Brand Survey.
Personalization vs. customization There are two types of data you can use to create dynamic content: given data and observed behavior. The data you have been given by subscribers could include: Demographics, e.g. name, company name, job title, industry Details of the subscriber s organization, e.g. location, business type, number of employees Interest and selected preferences The data you observe from their behavior could be: Opens, clicks, social shares Conversions of any sort: downloads, purchases, sign-ups Contextual data like location, weather, time of the day Harness useful data You can even make use of behavioral data you observe, like the time and location of email opens. And harness information from external sources, such as maps, weather forecasts and travel departure times. 4:51 ASTON
Four ways to create content 1 Conditional content Custom content is displayed based on set criteria, such as industry, preferences, the device on which the email is opened or any other data you already record in your database that you can use to differentiate. 2 XML or remote content XML or RSS feeds can be used to provide up-to-date information, which could be from your own website, blog or social media feeds and/or from external sources. Using this with conditional content can make it even more powerful! For example, a retailer might send out a general promotion email with remote content but then use customer preferences to include relevant products that are on sale based on interests. 3 API Single-Send Use customized content in triggered or one-off emails to make them as personalized as possible. This can be as simple as including tracking links and further purchasing suggestions in a delivery confirmation. 4 Real time email As well as adapting to different subscribers, locations or devices, dynamic content can also be used to provide the most timely and relevant information like including flash sale products with up-to-date prices and stock levels. x4
Try this: create urgency Countdown clocks or timers are a great way to create a sense of urgency while giving customers real-time information. Try counting down to: The latest time to place an order for next-day delivery The closing date for entering a competition The deadline for buying early-bird tickets to an event The amount of time left to take advantage of a promotion See it in action: countdown clocks The Diamond Store wanted to promote its sale on Black Friday, a day of fierce competition for attention in the inbox. The aim was to create a sense of urgency around the 24-hour sale and increase email-driven conversions. The email featured a live countdown clock which updated at the time of it being opened. To increase the sense of urgency, this was followed up with a reminder email four hours before the sale ended. The campaign had a click-to-open rate of 24%. Compared to previous big sale campaigns with a similar email design but no countdown timer, the click-toopen rate was 171% higher and the conversion rate was an amazing 400% higher.
Try this: use the weather Local weather can be a great basis for dynamic content. For example, you could use it to adapt a travel promotion suggest breaks in the sun for people experiencing a cold snap while focusing on another selling point, such as relaxation, for those in warmer areas. You can also use the weather in subtler or hidden ways, such as promoting products based on weather from selling Sandals in Sydney, bikinis in Brazil and Mukluks in Manitoba to promoting hot or cold drinks. See it in action: weather-based content Blizzard used local weather conditions to promote different dessert treats, inviting customers to beat the heat or fight ice with ice cream.
Nordstrom promoted different outfits based on local weather customers were shown whichever image was most relevant to them.
Four more ways to get started Live feeds Include a live currency feed to give customers the most up-to-date information about buying currency for their holiday or business trip. Maps and directions Use location data to show maps and directions. Display a customer s nearest branch with store opening times, or provide directions to an event from their current location. Personalized images and videos Why show customers a generic image when you can create something personalized? Use customer names to create individualized images, such as mock-ups of credit or loyalty cards. Air Charter Service used this to show their subscribers how their club card would look with each subscriber s name, bringing it one step closer to reality. Want to take it one step further? Companies like Vidyard now offer the possibility to create personalised videos inserting the viewer s name and tailored message into frames of the video.
Order tracking Provide a live tracking link so customers can check the progress of their order with just one click. You could also include further product suggestions based on the items they bought. Tip: know your place Location-based content works well because mobile device users are often happy to share their location data. Some email service providers can also provide you with location information through their platform. Live reveal Think about the excitement of scratching a Lotto card to see if you ve won. Now you can do that online! The surprise will make your customers a lot more engaged with your competitions and discounts if they have to scratch with their mouse of finger on a virtual card first.
Make it work for your users Best for: lots of email opens Use embedded video to engage your readers with animations, explanations or recorded interviews. They fall back to animated GIFs for most email clients that don t support video so you still create dynamic in the inbox. Best for: mobile conversions Deep-link to your mobile app by promoting it in emails and link to a native app store to encourage downloads. You wouldn t want an iphone user to be redirected to a Google Play store or simply to your website. The easier and quicker you make it for subscribers to complete an action, the more likely they are to do it. Best for: promoting events Include live maps to show event locations and directions, as well as local weather predictions. That way, you ll help your subscribers arrive in time and comfort. Most attendees will probably put the address details in Google Maps or another navigation system, so why not provide that link for them directly? A grateful, happy subscriber is a long term subscriber. Best for: converting business prospects Personalize images to make things more relevant. For example, use different images to promote a white paper or report to specific industries and include industry-relevant logos. Tip: create a default version You should also consider what you ll show users if you don t know which group they re in. For example, if you re personalizing by industry you ll also need a neutral default version.
See it in action: content feeds Adestra We ve coded the Adestra newsletter so it automatically displays our most recent case studies and blog posts Telecoms.com Telecoms.com provides news and analysis for the global telecoms industry. Marketing staff were spending two hours a day copying and pasting content from the website to the daily e-zine, which wasn t necessarily up-to-date by the time it was opened. The solution was to automate the content using XML, with four different feeds set to automatically populate the majority of the email template. This ensured the daily bulletin would always be 100% up-to-date because the information was transferred at the time of opening, not at the time of sending resulting in improved click-through rates. It also reduced the time needed to create the daily e-zine from two hours to 20 minutes, giving the site s marketers extra time to spend on more meaningful tasks.
Tip: design matters Dynamic content requires a template that s intelligent, robust and easy to update. Dynamic content for customer journeys Dynamic content can be a great way to engage customers at key points in their journey. Tip: Mobile is a must Whichever type of dynamic content you decide to use, look at your Email Client report and optimise for the most popular clients. Mobile will be high up there, but put fallbacks in place for desktop and webmail clients to ensure an enjoyable customer experience for everyone. Browse or basket abandonment Tempt customers back to complete their purchases by showing them images of the exact products they ve been looking at. Create a sense of urgency with real-time stock levels ( only five left get yours before they go! ) and a countdown to the cutoff for next-day delivery. Complementary products and recommendations Encourage existing customers to make further purchases by showing them personalized recommendations. Dynamic content takes this one step further by ensuring they see the most up-to-date information possible so the email stays timely no matter when it s opened.
Remember: it s all about the customer As you can see from this guide, there are lots of ways to use dynamic content in your emails. Pick the right ones by thinking about your typical customer. What s their path to conversion? What will they value? For example The jet-setting traveller Recommend new locations they might enjoy, such as different regions of a country they ve visited before or its neighbors. Next, recommend a hotel. Then send them the weather forecast before they leave and wish them a great trip. The industry expert Offer an early-bird discount for events, with a live feed of how many tickets are left at that price to create urgency similar to what Litmus did. Send online content telling them about confirmed speakers. Provide directions before they go. Then send videos from the event and tell them about other events that might be of interest. The savvy shopper Recommend up-to-date deals from your website. Once they make a purchase, tempt them back with a discount code and more up-to-date recommendations.
Key takeaways 1 2 3 4 Use dynamic content to make your emails fresh and exciting, e.g. by including personalized images and weather-based conditional content. Consider what will be relevant and valuable for your customers don t use dynamic content purely for the sake of it. Make use of all the information at your disposal, including the data you own and the data you can observe. Dynamic content is about what your customers see when they open your email. So rather than planning content for when the email is sent, plan it to be relevant no matter where and when it s opened. Next steps We hope you ve found this guide useful and informative. To start adding more dynamic content to your emails, here s what to consider first: What are your top priorities? Do you want to promote time-sensitive offers or provide extra information? What experience do you want customers to have when they open your emails? What actions do you want them to take? Ready to send your first hyper-relevant email? Download the pre-launch checklist. /resources/downloadableeguides/pre-launch-marketing-campaign-checklist/