In today’s crowded digital landscape, standing out in your customer’s inbox is more challenging and crucial than ever. As a digital marketing agency working with clients across various industries, we’ve seen firsthand how personalised email campaigns consistently outperform generic ones. It’s no longer enough to simply address your recipient by name; modern email personalisation requires a sophisticated, multi-layered approach that speaks directly to individual needs and behaviours.
Why Email Personalisation Matters in 2025
The days of “spray and pray” email marketing are firmly behind us. With studies indicating that 64% of millennials and 60% of Gen Z consider email the most personal method of brand communication, marketers must capitalise on this preference by creating truly personalised experiences. Recent data shows that emails with personalised subject lines are 50% more likely to be opened, and personalised emails generate 41% higher unique click rates compared to generic messages.
What’s particularly striking is how quickly consumer expectations have evolved. Just a few years ago, seeing your name in an email subject line felt special. Now, customers expect brands to understand their preferences, anticipate their needs, and deliver value in every communication.
The Three Tiers of Email Personalisation
Not all personalisation strategies are created equal. As we guide our clients through developing their email marketing programmes, we often describe personalisation as existing on three distinct tiers:
Basic Personalisation
Even simple personalisation techniques can make a meaningful difference in how your emails perform:
Personalised “From” names: While your company name is a safe choice in the ‘from’ field, consider using “[Your name] from [Company Name]” or “[Department name] at [Company Name]” to add a human touch.
Subject line personalisation: Beyond using the recipient’s name, try incorporating their location (“Attention London – our pop-up store opens today!”) or referencing past behaviour (“Enjoy more recipes like the one you loved”).
Basic content personalisation: Address recipients by name throughout the email and reference basic information you have about them.
Intermediate Personalisation
Once you’ve mastered the basics, these strategies can take your personalisation efforts to the next level:
Segmentation strategies: Divide your master list into smaller targeted ones based on specific criteria such as demographics, geographic location, time zone, or behavioural information.
Behavioural triggers: Set up automatically triggered emails based on customer behaviour, such as welcome emails, purchase confirmations, event registrations, and re-engagement campaigns.
Location-based personalisation: Tailor content based on the recipient’s location, including seasonal references, local events, or weather-appropriate recommendations.
Dynamic content blocks: Create sections of your emails that change based on recipient data.
Advanced Personalisation
For truly cutting-edge email personalisation:
AI-powered content recommendations: Leverage artificial intelligence to analyse vast amounts of customer data and deliver highly relevant content and product suggestions.
Predictive personalisation: Anticipate customer needs based on their behaviour patterns and engagement history.
Cross-channel personalisation integration: Ensure consistent personalisation across email, website, social media, and other touchpoints.
Hyper-personalised customer journeys: Create sophisticated automation flows that adapt based on individual customer actions and preferences.
10 Email Personalisation Strategies That Drive Results
1. Craft Personalised Subject Lines
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Your subject line is the gatekeeper to your email content. Personalising it effectively can dramatically increase open rates. Beyond simply including the recipient’s name, try referencing their recent activity, location, or interests. For example, “Lucy, your favourite jumpers are back in stock!” is much more compelling than a generic “New arrivals” subject line.
2. Use Individual Sender Names
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We’ve found that emails from a real person consistently outperform those from a generic company name. In our own campaigns, switching from “Axelerate Team” to “Akin from Axelerate” increased open rates. This simple change helps build a human connection with recipients and makes your communication feel more personal.
3. Segment Your Audience Effectively
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Effective segmentation is the foundation of personalisation. Consider dividing your list based on:
Demographics (age, gender, location)
Purchase history
Engagement level
Website behaviour
Customer lifecycle stage
For B2B organisations, you might segment by company size, industry, or job role. The more specific your segments, the more targeted your messaging can be.
4. Implement Behavioural Trigger Emails
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Triggered emails respond to specific actions taken by your subscribers, making them inherently personalised and timely. Some effective trigger-based emails include:
Welcome emails for new subscribers
Abandoned cart reminders
Post-purchase follow-ups
Re-engagement campaigns for inactive subscribers
Birthday or anniversary messages
These automated yet personalised touches can create meaningful moments of connection throughout the customer journey, keeping them engaged and loyal.
5. Leverage Dynamic Content
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Dynamic content allows different subscribers to see different versions of the same email based on their data and preferences. For example, a clothing retailer might show men’s products to male subscribers and women’s products to female subscribers, all within the same campaign. This approach ensures maximum relevance without requiring separate email sends for each segment.
6. Provide Personalised Recommendations
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Product recommendations based on browsing and purchase history can significantly boost engagement and conversions. TikTok does this particularly well – after following one of my favourite actors, I received suggestions for similar accounts that were remarkably relevant. This level of accuracy demonstrates the power of well-executed recommendation algorithms.
7. Celebrate Customer Milestones
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Everyone loves to feel special on important occasions. Birthday emails, purchase anniversaries, and achievement celebrations (like “You’ve been with us for one year!”) create positive emotional connections with your brand. Savage X Fenty effectively uses this strategy by offering personalised discounts inspired by customer feedback and requests.
8. Personalise Based on Location
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Geographic personalisation can make your emails more relevant and timely. Reference local events, weather conditions, or regional preferences to create a sense of locality and understanding. This approach is particularly effective for businesses with physical locations or region-specific offerings.
9. Humanise Your Brand
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Make your emails feel like two-way communication rather than corporate broadcasts.
Use words like “we” and “I”
Avoid complex words and sentences
Use active voice instead of passive voice
Make your sentences short, clear, and easy to read
Break the rules. Don’t worry about starting sentences with “and,” “because,” or “but,” to keep your sentences readable
Use contractions
Engage the reader by asking questions
Be empathetic2
This conversational approach helps recipients feel they’re hearing from a real person, not just a faceless brand.
10. Implement AI-Powered Personalisation
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As we move through 2025, AI will continue to revolutionise email personalisation. Advanced tools can analyse customer data to identify patterns and preferences that would be impossible to detect manually. This enables predictive personalisation that anticipates customer needs, optimised send times based on individual engagement patterns, and dynamic content that automatically adapts to recipient preferences.
Outstanding Personalised Email Examples
1. Withings Health Score Emails
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Withings, a health monitoring device company, calculates each user’s health score and sends personalised recommendations to enhance their customer experience. This data-driven approach provides genuine value while encouraging continued product usage.
2. Grammarly’s Usage Reports
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Grammarly sends personalised emails congratulating users on their tool usage, highlighting achievements and providing useful insights about writing habits1. These emails make users feel accomplished while subtly encouraging continued engagement with the platform.
3. Etsy’s Personalised Product Recommendations
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Etsy excels at creating highly personalised emails that reconnect customers with items they’ve previously shown interest in. Their “Your Favourite” emails showcase products that customers have already viewed or saved, creating an immediate emotional connection with the recipient.
Email Personalisation Best Practices for 2025
Unify Your Customer Data
Effective personalisation requires a comprehensive view of your customers across all touchpoints. Invest in systems that consolidate data from your website, CRM, social media, and other channels to create complete customer profiles that inform your personalisation efforts.
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Respect Privacy and Compliance
As personalisation becomes more sophisticated, the line between helpful and intrusive can blur. Always prioritise transparency in your data collection practices and ensure compliance with privacy regulations like GDPR. As privacy becomes increasingly important to consumers, employing a data-respectful strategy will help build trust that is essential for long-term relationships.
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Test and Optimise Continuously
Personalisation isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it strategy. Regularly test different approaches to see what resonates with your audience. A/B test subject lines, content variations, and personalisation elements to continuously refine your approach.
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Ensure Mobile Optimisation
With the majority of emails now being read on mobile devices, it’s crucial to adopt a mobile-first design approach. Ensure that your emails are responsive, engaging, and easily navigable on smartphones and tablets.
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Maintain Brand Consistency
While personalisation should make your emails feel unique to each recipient, they should still clearly represent your brand. Maintain consistent visual elements, tone of voice, and messaging to reinforce your brand identity across all communications.
Common Email Personalisation Pitfalls to Avoid
Over-Personalisation
Using too much personal information can make recipients feel uncomfortable rather than valued. Strike a balance between relevance and respect for privacy.
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Poor Data Quality
Inaccurate data can lead to embarrassing personalisation errors. Regularly clean your database and implement systems to maintain data quality.
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Lack of Segmentation Strategy
Without thoughtful segmentation, even personalised elements can feel random or irrelevant. Develop a clear strategy for how you’ll divide your audience for maximum impact.
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Ignoring the Customer Journey
Personalisation should account for where each recipient is in their relationship with your brand. A new subscriber needs different content than a loyal customer of five years.
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Failing to Test Personalisation Elements
What works for one audience segment might not work for another. Always test your personalisation strategies to ensure they’re having the desired effect.
Tools and Technologies for Email Personalisation
The right technology stack can make sophisticated personalisation accessible even to smaller marketing teams. Consider tools that offer:
Advanced segmentation capabilities
Dynamic content blocks
Behavioural trigger automation
AI-powered recommendations
A/B testing functionality
Analytics and reporting features
Popular options include Klaviyo, Mailchimp, and HubSpot, each with their own strengths depending on your specific needs and industry.
Measuring the Success of Your Email Personalisation Efforts
To determine whether your personalisation strategies are working, track these key metrics:
Open rates and click-through rates
Conversion metrics
Revenue attribution
Customer lifetime value
Engagement over time
Compare the performance of personalised campaigns against non-personalised ones to quantify the impact of your efforts.
The Future of Email Personalisation
Looking ahead, we can expect email personalisation to become even more sophisticated. AI and machine learning will enable increasingly accurate predictions about customer preferences and behaviours. Interactive elements like embedded surveys, GIFs, clickable carousels, and short videos will transform passive readers into active participants. And cross-channel personalisation will create seamless experiences across email, web, mobile, and other touchpoints.
Conclusion
Email personalisation has evolved from a nice-to-have feature to an essential component of effective email marketing. By implementing the strategies outlined in this guide, you can create email experiences that resonate with your audience on an individual level, driving higher engagement, stronger customer relationships, and ultimately, better business results.
The most successful email marketers in 2025 will be those who balance sophisticated personalisation technology with authentic human connection. After all, behind every email address is a real person looking for relevant, valuable content delivered at the right time. By keeping this truth at the heart of your personalisation efforts, you’ll stand out in even the most crowded inbox.
FAQs
What can businesses do to personalise their emails to customers?
Businesses can personalise their emails through multiple strategies including using the recipient's name in subject lines and content, segmenting their audience based on demographics or behaviour, implementing dynamic content that changes based on user preferences, utilising behavioural triggers for automated responses, personalising product recommendations based on browsing history, creating location-based content, celebrating customer milestones, and leveraging AI-powered personalisation tools. The key is to use customer data thoughtfully to create relevant, timely communications that resonate with individual recipients.
How effective are personalised emails?
Personalised emails are significantly more effective than generic ones. Studies show emails with personalised subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened, and personalised emails generate 27% higher unique click rates and 11% higher open rates compared to non-personalised messages. Additionally, revenue from personalised emails is 5.7 times higher than non-personalised campaigns. This effectiveness stems from increased relevance to recipients, making them feel valued and understood.
What is the difference between email segmentation and personalisation?
Email segmentation involves dividing your subscriber list into smaller groups based on shared characteristics such as demographics, purchase history, or engagement behaviour. Personalisation takes this a step further by customising content for individual recipients based on their specific data, preferences, and behaviours. While segmentation creates the foundation by grouping similar users together, personalisation tailors the actual content within those segments to address individual needs and preferences. Both work together to create more targeted email marketing campaigns.
How do you gather data for email personalisation?
Data for email personalisation can be collected through various methods including subscription forms where customers provide basic information, website tracking to monitor browsing behaviour and interests, purchase history analysis, customer surveys and feedback forms, social media integration, and email engagement metrics like opens and clicks. The key is to build a comprehensive customer profile over time while respecting privacy regulations and being transparent about data collection practices.
Can email personalisation improve customer loyalty?
Yes, email personalisation significantly enhances customer loyalty by making recipients feel understood and valued. When customers receive content that addresses their specific needs, preferences, and interests, they develop a stronger connection with the brand. Personalised recommendations, exclusive offers based on purchase history, and acknowledgment of customer milestones all contribute to building lasting relationships that encourage repeat purchases and brand advocacy.
Does personalisation affect email deliverability?
Personalisation can positively impact email deliverability as personalised emails typically generate higher engagement rates, which email service providers view favourably. However, improper personalisation techniques or excessive use of personalisation tags could potentially trigger spam filters. The key is to implement personalisation thoughtfully and authentically while maintaining best practices for email deliverability.
How can small businesses implement email personalisation with limited resources?
Small businesses can implement effective email personalisation by starting with simple strategies that don't require extensive resources. Begin with basic personalisation like using the recipient's name in subject lines and greetings, segment your audience into a few key groups based on readily available data, utilise the personalisation features built into most email marketing platforms, focus on collecting quality data through sign-up forms and customer interactions, and test different personalisation approaches to see what works best for your specific audience.
What are the most common mistakes in email personalisation?
Common mistakes in email personalisation include over-personalisation that feels intrusive, relying on inaccurate or outdated customer data, failing to segment audiences effectively, neglecting to test personalised elements, focusing solely on first-name personalisation while ignoring deeper personalisation opportunities, sending irrelevant content despite having customer data, and not respecting privacy concerns. Avoiding these pitfalls requires a thoughtful approach to data collection, management, and application in your email marketing strategy.
How is AI changing email personalisation?
AI is revolutionising email personalisation by enabling more sophisticated and scalable personalisation strategies. AI-powered tools can analyse vast amounts of customer data to identify patterns and preferences that would be impossible to detect manually. This allows for predictive personalisation that anticipates customer needs, optimised send times based on individual engagement patterns, dynamic content that automatically adapts to recipient preferences, and more nuanced segmentation based on complex behavioural patterns. As AI technology continues to evolve, email personalisation will become increasingly sophisticated and effective.
