Why Dynamic Content Will Deliver for the Marketing Industry This newer method supercharges personalization, allowing marketers to deliver individual subscribers different content, all from a single email.
By Cynthia Price Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
In recent years, a number of so-called game changers have hit our industry. Automation, retargeting, social influencers -- these are just a few to have laid claim on the title of "The Next Big Thing" in marketing.
Today, dynamic content is the new contender, and for good reason. It's poised to deliver in a big way for the industry. Why do I think dynamic content is marketing's new heir apparent? It's a natural fit for the way today's consumers interact with brands online.
We all want it exactly our way. Personalization is the name of the game in everything we do -- there's no more one size fits all. Now, we want to create a customized experience, define our own unique user preferences and use technology to orchestrate every interaction with our consumer environment so it speaks directly to our needs and wants.
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This attitude has created high expectations, and a growing demand for marketing campaigns that wield a laser instead of a net. In fact, 74 percent of online consumers actually get frustrated when content, such as offers, ads or promotions, appears to have nothing to do with their interests. Fortunately, dynamic content is the cure for this frustration. It supercharges personalization, allowing marketers to deliver individual subscribers different content, all from a single email.
Here's a quick example: Using dynamic content, a retailer can send an email that shows each recipient a different new product based on purchase history. Customers who typically purchase jeans would see your new line of denim, while customers who typically buy sweaters would see your new winter sweater collection.
But dynamic content doesn't just provide an enhanced experience for customers. It's a game-changer for email marketers, too. By giving you the ability to target individual subscribers with unique content even when they're on the same mailing list, one email now does the work of many, saving you tons of time. I could rattle off a whole list of benefits, but there's one that really matters: Dynamic content can help staunch the flow of unsubscribers that we see every day.
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The average email list churns by about 30 percent every year. That means you'll lose one out of every three of your current subscribers in the next 12 months. Since 56 percent of people unsubscribe from emails due to content that's no longer relevant, personalized content just might be our most effective weapon in fighting subscriber attrition.
Implementing a dynamic-content strategy is easy and allows marketing departments to make the most of their resources and all that customer data they're collecting. From simply inserting your subscriber's name into a subject line, to switching out images and full copy according to preferences or interests, there's no limit to how you can use your data to personalize content. The more personalized the content, the more effective the message, and the less likely your customers are to click "unsubscribe."
What's more, it generates huge results. Dynamic content can improve click-to-open rates by as much as 73 percent, AVARI reports. If you prefer 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.
If that's not dynamic, I don't know what is.
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