Personalize Emails with Eloqua Custom Objects

Email marketing is a tried-and-true strategy of the modern business world. But there’s more to it than just sending a generic email to someone’s inbox. Taking the time to personalize emails and offer the recipient something they actually want, instead of a general message, goes a long way. Customers appreciate a touch of familiarity. And with Custom Objects, Eloqua users can increase conversion rates.

What Does It Mean to Personalize Emails?

A personalized email goes beyond greeting the recipient by name. While you can technically stick a person’s name into a generic marketing email and call it a day, a truly engaging message provides the customer with something they would appreciate based on their past behavior. Maybe you could include a limited-time discount on a product they’ve shown interest in, or showcase a product that supplements something they already own. You could even offer a special coupon on their birthday. Whatever you choose, make it meaningful. A truly personalized marketing email will go a long way.

Is It Possible to Personalize Automated Emails?

Short answer: Yes!

Eloqua’s email automation system allows users to personalize emails, but it does require a little extra work. Let’s say you’re designing an email with a follow-up offer related to a previous purchase. First, you’ll need to set up Eloqua to monitor for new purchases. When the customer buys something new, it can trigger a new sequence of events. For example, a program can check the customer’s purchase history for a record of their most recent purchase, check if they own another complimentary product, and then use the CO to Contact Updater Cloud App to update the contact record with the data necessary to personalize an email offer. Eloqua merges this data with information from the customer’s contact record to create a personalized email offer. Finally, the email will be sent off. That’s it! 

How to Avoid Mistakes When Personalizing Emails

We’ve all received at least one marketing email with a clearly failed attempt at personalizing the message. One of these failed emails might open with “Dear FNAME”. In particularly amusing cases, the email automation program might assume the first half of the email address is the recipient’s name, leading to greetings like, “Dear bluediamond334”. Both are huge turnoffs to customers. So how can you avoid making this same mistake yourself in Eloqua?

There are two primary strategies to keep in mind here:

• Collect high-quality data and check your records regularly to scrub garbage data. This way, you won’t send a personalized email to someone who provided you with an obviously fake name like Superman.
• Create a pre-campaign checklist for email marketers to use. Ensure that they know exactly what the email will say and how it will look before sending it off.

Conclusion

Even in a world where we recognize the vast majority of marketing emails are automated, having one addressed specifically to us still feels special. Taking the time to personalize an email goes a long way toward maintaining or improving customer relationships. And with the right tools in Eloqua, it’s easier than ever. Get in touch with us today to learn more about our cloud apps.