As we consider the role that personalized email might play in helping connect people to our services, it’s useful to look at Matthew Hayes’ simple three-point checklist on adding value to personalized email communications. An excerpt:

“The best two sources of data to use for versioning are declared data (preference center/welcome program) and behavioral data (browsed and click data). A component of regular, calendared email marketing should be relevant. Preference center data is the most relevant at time of action or update. Integrate this data into welcome series emails when they have just selected their preferences. Another clear action that begs for follow-up is when customers update their profile. Deliver a tailored communication stream according to their updates to bring greater relevance to your communications with them.  Browsed and clicked data, although harder to implement, can give you the biggest response return. Try versioning a component of the message based on recent website browsed data and recent email clicked data. Both sources will add value to a component of regular communication.”

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