When it comes to personalization, most email marketers are familiar with tactics that use recipient name in the address or subject line, tailor content based on past behavior or preferences, and target based on demographics or location. But have you considered the weather?
Using the weather to personalize email can be a highly effective strategy that provides several benefits for email marketers. These include:
• Increased relevance: When you personalize your email content based on the recipient’s location and weather, you are providing them with more relevant and useful information. This can help to increase engagement and lead to higher open and click-through rates.
• Higher conversion rates: By tailoring your email content to the recipient’s needs and preferences, you can increase the chances that they will take the desired action, whether that’s making a purchase, signing up for a service, or attending an event.
• Improved customer experience: When you personalize your email content based on the recipient’s location and weather, you are showing that you understand their needs and are willing to provide them with information that is relevant to their situation. This can help to improve the overall customer experience and lead to increased loyalty.
• Competitive advantage: By using the weather to personalize your email content, you can differentiate yourself from your competitors and stand out in a crowded marketplace. This can help to attract new customers and retain existing ones.
How to Use Weather for Personalization
Whether you are already taking advantage of the weather to personalize your emails or not, don’t worry. The sky isn’t falling. Here is a quick primer on how you can start using the weather to personalize emails.
Determine your customer’s location
The first step to using the weather to personalize your emails is identifying your subscriber’s location. Depending on the information you collect at email sign-up, product registration, or point of sale, your database may already contain country, state, city, street or zip code information. But if you are starting with minimal information, you can also use a geolocation API to retrieve subscriber’s location based on their IP address.
Use location-based weather information
The next step in using the weather for personalization is to gather location-based weather information. By using a weather API or a weather app, you can retrieve the weather conditions for the recipient’s location. This information can be used to tailor your email content based on the current or upcoming weather.
Create weather-based email content
Once you have gathered weather information, it’s time to create weather-based email content. For example, if it’s a rainy day, you could offer a promotion on rain gear or suggest indoor activities. Similarly, if it’s a sunny day, you could offer a promotion on outdoor gear or suggest outdoor activities.
Use dynamic content
Dynamic content is a powerful tool that allows you to show different content to different subscribers based on their preferences or behavior. By using dynamic content, you can create weather-based email content that is tailored to each recipient. For example, you could show different images, headlines, or CTAs based on whether it’s warm or cold in the recipient’s location.
Personalize subject lines
In addition to personalizing the email content, you can also personalize the subject line based on the weather. For example, if it’s a sunny day, you could use a subject line like “Sunny days call for outdoor adventures” or “Get outside and enjoy the sun!” Similarly, if it’s a rainy day, you could use a subject line like “Stay dry with our rain gear sale” or “Rainy day? No problem!”
Test and optimize
As with any email marketing campaign, it’s important to test and optimize your weather-based emails. Getting personalization right is key for demonstrating authenticity. Monitor open rates, click-through rates, and conversions of your weather-based emails and make changes as needed to find the messaging that resonates with your audience.
Summary
Using the weather to personalize your emails can be a powerful way to increase engagement and connect with your audience. By gathering location-based weather information, creating weather-based email content, using dynamic content, personalizing subject lines, and testing and optimizing your emails, you can build stronger relationships with your audience and achieve greater success with your email marketing campaigns.
