In this era of information overload, buyers are rapidly evolving their inbox behavior.
The fewer emails in their inbox, the easier their day ultimately becomes.
Even if your cold email gets opened, you still have to motivate buyers to invest time with you or (at the very least) keep you on their radar for the future.
What you know about each buyer’s situation and how you use this information is what separates your message from the thousands of other emails buyers receive.
The challenge is finding a way to generate good results with personalized cold messaging without spending too much time or money in the process.
Luckily, there are many creative ways to personalize B2B emails using easy, accessible information. Here are 7 examples of some good personalization tactics you can use.
1 – Company Name Personalization
Every company doing outbound prospecting likely gets a name of the account they’re targeting.
Instead of dropping the same company name with a repetitive format, you can customize the name throughout the email to appear more genuine.
For example, a company with a name of Mark’s Real Estate Agent Services could have a personalized subject line with MREAS, Mark’s RE Agent Services, or Mark’s.
2 – Phone Number Personalization
Phone numbers aren’t just useful for calling prospects.
You can include their phone number or a company number within your email to show buyers you’ve done your research.
This personalization can even be used to verify numbers.
For example, you might include a sentence at the end of your email that shares the phone number you have on file and asks if that’s the best way to get in touch.
3 – Geographic & Timezone Personalization
Personalizing cold messaging to a buyer’s local area & current events can generate great results, though you don’t need sophisticated personalization to achieve success.
You can share observations about their location or include their timezone in the message to show the buyer you see them as a human, not a commission.
For example, you could drop the nickname of their city, mention a recent visit to their state, or include their timezone in an offer to setup a call.
4 – Employee Title Personalization
The role or title of your buyer can be customized.
Instead of using the same generic employee title you receive through a lead list, you can create different variations of their role.
For example, a Vice President of Research & Development could be positioned as a VP of Research & Development, Vice President of R&D, or even R&D Leader.
5 – Industry Personalization
Industry is an important component of targeting leads because buyers want solutions that have experience or can tailor solutions to their specific situation.
Whether it be industry personalization from a lead list, LinkedIn profile, or your own research, this information can make your emails more relevant and position your brand as a good fit.
For example, you could reference industry personalization when highlighting a pain point, presenting a value proposition, or sharing social proof to increase relevance.
6 – Recipient Name Personalization
How you address your buyer is essential because people want emails to be personalized specifically to them and their identity.
Unfortunately, many companies fail to use the correct name at all. Variations in how you present their first or last name can show buyers that you clearly know who they are.
For example, you could include a known nickname they use, a formal title with mister or miss, or a shortened version of their name where appropriate.
7 – Team & Department Personalization
A buyer’s title or role isn’t the only way to show your knowledge of their world.
Going beyond the employee title, you can personalize emails using information about a recipient’s place within their team, department, or organization.
For example, you could include their department name, team function, or their team’s purpose within the email to show your knowledge of their organizational structure.
Conclusion
Every personalization tactic will produce different results based on the industries and roles you target, your brand, messaging, and how frequently the strategy is used.
To make cold email personalization successful, you need to find the most efficient, timely method to achieve the conversions you need to hit your goals.
As simple as it looks, adding little pieces of information can make your emails more engaging and give off the impression that you did your research.
These simple tactics help let recipients immediately know that your message is unique and that you’ve done good research on why you’re reaching out.
[Generating outbound leads? Check out our new free video series the Cold Email Playbook to get insights and content from 7 cold email experts]