Personalisation is not just putting a first name in the greeting. For a business in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, it is about recognising that a resident of Union Island, a guest who stayed on Canouan last March and a Vincentian nurse in London want quite different things from the same newsletter.
Fields worth collecting
- First name: the simplest and still useful.
- Island or country of residence: St Vincent, Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Union Island, or overseas.
- Relationship: guest, member, customer, supplier, donor.
- Key dates: last stay, membership anniversary, birthday.
- Interests: diving, sailing, food, Carnival, business news.
Mailpro lets you store these as custom contact fields and use them in any email.
Three kinds of personalisation
Merge fields
Insert a name, a membership number or a last-visit year straight into the text with dynamic fields. A villa manager can open with “Welcome back, Sarah. It has been two years since your stay on Mustique.”
Conditional content
Show one block to residents and another to overseas contacts. The local version of a Christmas newsletter might list Nine Mornings events in Kingstown; the diaspora version could focus on ordering gifts for delivery to family at home.
Segmented sends
Sometimes it is simpler to send separate versions. A Carnival promotion to people who have flown in for Vincy Mas before is a different email from one sent to European guests who only travel in winter.
Timing is personal too
A diaspora segment in the UK is four or five hours ahead of SVG; one in Toronto is on the same clock in summer and an hour behind in winter. Send each segment at a sensible local hour.
A worked example
A Kingstown bakery sends a December newsletter. Everyone gets the same header and the same photo of the Christmas black cake. Below that, residents of St Vincent see the Nine Mornings opening hours and a pre-order form for collection, while contacts overseas see how to order a cake for delivery to family at home. Each greeting uses the first name, and the send is scheduled for 8 a.m. local time in each segment. One campaign, three experiences, set up in an afternoon.
Keep your data clean
Personalisation fails loudly when data is wrong: “Dear FIRSTNAME” or a Bequia offer sent to someone who moved to Canada years ago. Set sensible defaults for empty fields, such as “Dear friend”, and give subscribers a way to update their details.
Respect privacy
Only collect what you will use, and tell people why you are asking. If European guests are on your list, GDPR applies to their data. Mailpro hosts contact data in Switzerland, outside US jurisdiction, and never sells or rents it.
For more ideas, see our email personalisation tips, or go back to creating newsletters in SVG.