Happy Friday! Chase and Jimmy here. 👋

Email inboxes are overflowing, attention spans are shrinking, and standing out in the digital noise feels tougher than ever. So, what's the secret to getting your emails noticed? Personalization.

But here's the catch: While we all want customers to feel valued, no one wants to feel like they're being watched 24/7. The trick? Finding the sweet spot between automation and that human touch that keeps your emails relevant without feeling creepy.

Let’s dive into how to personalize at scale—without losing that personal, human connection.

Overpriced email platforms are stressing you out.

You’re paying too much for email marketing. Simple as that.

Those high fees? They're not doing you any favors. In fact, we'd go as far as saying they’re probably making your email marketing feel like a chore.

Omnisend does it differently.

✅ Up to 60% less expensive than Klaviyo—why overpay?

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More revenue. Less stress. And no need to cross your fingers hoping you didn’t get hit with hidden fees this month.

Try Omnisend for free today.

💡 Knowledge drop of the week

Rapid fire tips—Chase shared 31 revenue-generating tips that will change the way you email.

How to Personalize at Scale Without Losing the Human Touch

Let’s be real – our inboxes are overflowing, and attention spans are shorter than ever. So how do you make your email marketing stand out? Personalization.

But here’s the tricky part. Customers love feeling special, but nobody wants to feel like they’re being stalked. To win, you need to balance smart automation with a human touch.

Let’s dive into why personalization matters, how to do it right, and the pitfalls to avoid.

Why personalization matters

Personalization isn’t just a nice-to-have. Your customers expect it. It makes them feel valued and understood rather than just another digital touchpoint.

And when done well, it can bring real results for your business, such as:

• Higher engagement rates: Personalized messages enjoy better open and click-through rates as they’re more likely to grab attention and resonate.

• Stronger customer loyalty: When customers are happy, they tend to stick around, spend more, and even recommend you to others.

• Lower churn, higher retention: Customers who feel valued are less likely to seek alternatives or switch to competitors.

Types of personalization

Not all personalization works the same way. Let’s break down the different ways you can make your marketing feel like a one-on-one conversation:

Basic personalization

Using names, locations, and past interactions can make your messages feel more personal. It’s the simplest form of personalization that most brands start off with.

Here’s how All Things Hair welcomes new subscribers:

Dynamic content

You can add smart content blocks in your emails that adapt to each recipient. Think product recommendations or custom offers based on browsing history or past purchases.

This helps you save time and effort by designing only one email instead of 10 separate ones, while still keeping it personalized.

Behavioral triggers

Set up automated workflows that trigger emails based on specific customer actions, like cart abandonment nudges, post-purchase thank-yous, or re-engagement campaigns.

For example, Danner sends abandoned cart emails that show you the exact items you left in your cart – along with a nice little incentive (free shipping!)

Segmented personalization

By grouping customers by shopping habits, engagement level, or demographics, you can send hyper-relevant messages to each segment.

For example, you might segment customers by product category (e.g. earrings or necklaces). So when a new jewelry collection drops, you can send tailored emails to each group based on what they’re more likely to be interested in.

Common mistakes to avoid

🚫 Over-personalization that feels intrusive

Tracking your customers too much can come off as creepy.

Nobody wants an email saying: “Hey, we saw you checking out those sneakers at 2:37 PM last Tuesday—still thinking about them?”

That’s not personalization, that’s surveillance.

What to do instead

• Use broader shopping habits (e.g., “Trending in your favorite category!”)

• Let subscribers choose the types of personalized emails they receive (e.g. product recs, birthday, anniversary etc.) rather than assuming what they want.

For example, sportswear company On gives subscribers an option to manage their preferences in the footer of their emails.

💬 Only using the first name without adding value

If your entire personalization strategy is just adding names, you’re missing the point.

An email that starts with "Hey Sarah” but then proceeds with a generic promo that applies to everyone isn’t really personal – it’s just a name tag on a mass message.

What to do instead

• Tailor content based on past purchases, browsing history, or preferences.

• Make emails feel conversational and specific, not just automated with a name.

Here’s how the folks at beangoods uses names and browsing history to give one last push to buy.

❌ Sending irrelevant recommendations 

Outdated data on your customers can often lead to mismatched offers, tone-deaf messaging, and lost trust.

For example, just because someone bought a baby shower gift once doesn’t mean they need to see baby product recs for the next six months.

What to do instead

• Regularly update customer data to keep recommendations relevant.

• Base suggestions on ongoing behavior, not just one-time purchases.

Cole Haan offers a great example of a personalized yet practical product recs email:

🔍 Creating too many micro-segments

Hyper-targeting is a great idea, but slicing your audience into too many tiny groups can make campaigns difficult to scale and sometimes even miss the mark.

For example, if your segments are so specific that you end up with 50 different email variations, you’re likely overcomplicating things.

What to do instead

• Keep segmentation broad enough to be scalable but still relevant.

• Test segments to focus on high-impact ones that drive real engagement.

🤖 Sounding like a robot

We’re big fans of automation, but your emails shouldn’t sound like they were written by an AI with no soul. Customers want to hear from other humans, not bots.

What to do instead

• Write in a natural, conversational tone that feels personal.

• Use dynamic content wisely, so messages sound customized, not templated.

We love this creative and witty email from Surreal.

Using AI and tech for smarter personalization

AI is making personalization sharper, faster, and more intuitive.

With the right tools, you can analyze massive amounts of data in real-time and find out exactly what customers want, when they want it, and how they want to hear about it.

Here are three ways marketers can leverage AI to improve personalization:

🛍 Smart product recommendations

AI-powered recommendation engines analyze browsing activity, past purchases, and even abandoned carts to suggest products that customers are actually interested in.

Some tools can even populate your emails, texts, and website pop-ups automatically with the right products for each user.

The result? More clicks, higher conversions, and a better shopping experience.

📊 Predictive analytics

Predictive analytics is a type of AI that helps you answer questions like:

• What’s the best time to send a promotional email?

• Which customers are about to churn?

• What type of offers will resonate most with subscribers?

Having this data at your fingertips helps you fine-tune your strategies, maximizing ROI and engagement from every single email or SMS you send.

📝 Adaptive content

AI-driven tools can adjust messaging on the fly based on a customer’s preferences, interactions, and past behavior – so they see what’s most relevant to them.

For example, if you sell fitness equipment, you could send a dynamic product recs email that shows different products to each customer based on their purchase history.

Someone who bought yoga gear a while back might see your new yoga mat collection. Others might see running shoes and activewear.

Final thoughts

Personalization is not just about adding a customer's name to an email. It's about leveraging data creatively and respectfully to build meaningful relationships with your audience.

Remember, regardless of where you are on your personalization journey, the key is to start with small, manageable changes and build from there.

Keep experimenting, adapting, and learning, because the world of personalization is as dynamic as the customers it aims to serve.

🔥 DTC Wins

Skulpt meet performance—NikeSkims soft launched their new relationship this week. The new women's brand is set to hard launch this Spring.

Annnnd that’s a wrap for this edition! 

Thanks for hanging with Chase and me—always a pleasure to have you here.

If you found this newsletter helpful (or even just a little fun), don’t keep it to yourself! Share ecomemailmarketer.com with your favorite DTC marketer. Let’s get them on board so they don’t miss next week’s drops.

Remember: Do shit you love.

🤘 Jimmy Kim & Chase Dimond