The following is a guest contributed post to MMW from Christopher Lester, the vice president of sales at Emma.
Listen up, marketers: The days of casting a wide net and hoping for the best are over. Dynamic content is changing the game.
As the name implies, dynamic content adapts based on the demographics or preferences of your subscribers. That means dynamic content’s custom, personalized messaging helps brands be heard above the din of the noisy mobile landscape. And, it just might offer brands the keys to the kingdom when it comes to building long-term, value-based customer relationships.
With that in mind, here are 3 good reasons retailers should look for ways to inject dynamic content into their mobile strategy – today.
1. It keeps mobile subscribers from moving on.
Here’s a not-so-fun-fact: The average email list churns by about 30 percent every year. That means you’ll lose one out of every 3 of your current subscribers in the next 12 months. And since 56 percent of people unsubscribe from emails due to content that’s no longer relevant, personalized content is a modern marketer’s most timesaving and effective weapon in fighting the battle against subscriber attrition.
Dynamic content supercharges personalization, allowing marketers to deliver individual subscribers different content – all from a single email. It’s also incredibly diverse – uses range from simply inserting your subscriber’s name into a subject line to switching out images and full copy according to preferences or interests. The more personalized the content, the more effective the message – and the less likely your customers are likely to click “unsubscribe.
But don’t forget: The rules of the game still apply. Your dynamic content needs to be super mobile friendly. Make sure your most important content displays in the top few pixels of the page, and whenever possible, reduce your viewers’ need to scroll.
2. It provides a personal touch.
Seventy-four percent of online consumers get frustrated when content – like offers, ads or promotions – appears that has nothing to do with their interests. Do you want to show your subscribers that you know what they like – and establish your brand as a valued resource able to help meet those needs? Dynamic content provides that personal touch that can set you apart from crowd.
Even better news? It’s easy: Marketers can target individual subscribers with different content even when they’re on the same mailing list.
For example, School of Rock sent emails with images that corresponded to their subscribers’ musical interests. During the signup process, School of Rock captured data on which instruments each user plays. When the school sends an invitation for summer programs, percussionists see an image of someone playing the drums, pianists see someone playing keyboards, and aspiring vocalists are served an image of a singer.
Without dynamic content, this email strategy would be time and labor intensive. But with some simple copy and pasting of code, the School of Rock marketing team can create a customized experience that’s relatable and invites engagement. The result? Every email subscriber feels like the organization understands their interests, creating a feeling of community and common ground between the musician and the brand.
3. It’s uber simple to execute – and gets results.
Dynamic content is really, really simple to deploy. First, it’s incredibly adaptable – it works with whatever data fields you’re capturing from your audience. And it only displays the content you need, in response to the data fields you assign.
It’s also a good way to use existing resources. Integrating email marketing software with other marketing and CRM tools like Shopify, Eventbrite, Salesforce and Formstack is a low-effort strategy that creates an endless stream of subscriber data for you to use.
If you’re still not convinced, let me leave you with a few numbers that really bring it home: Dynamic content can improve click-to-open rates by as much as 73 percent, AVARI reports. And if you want to see the impact in dollars and cents, consider this: Personalized promotional emails also lift transaction rates and revenue six times higher than non-personalized emails, according to Experian.
For more tips on dynamic content and other modern marketing must-haves, download our Field Guide.