In a world where there are so many brands and countless options for customers, your emails need to stand out as much as possible. And that’s why general, simple emails are a thing of the past. You need something powerful, different, and which helps push the boundaries. The best approach here is to opt for personalized images. These have changed the way marketing works, and they continually push the limits of growth for businesses. But what is behind these personalized images, why are they so persuasive? Let’s find out!
The reason why our brain responds to personalizatio
It’s rather easy to understand, we are always inclined to read or view something which is related to our interests. It can be related to the things we like, our location, our name and so on. When you see that, it automatically grabs the attention. That’s why a “Hello, John” is always better than a “Hello Everyone”, because you see your name there and you automatically feel that the brand is addressing you. And that alone can encourage you to read what the brand has to offer, something that’s really handy.
Relevance bias
Maybe the most important thing that comes from personalization is that people feel relevant when something is addressed to them. That’s because personalized visuals are breaking through the filter where people would normally ignore stuff. When you have an email that has your username in an image, products you already used or bought in the past or visuals specific to your location, then your brain flags these things as important.
It’s called relevance bias, since our brain is aligning this content with our needs or identity. Hence the reason why these personalized images are outperforming the generic ones. They are seen as inherent value, and that alone makes them a game-changer a lot of the time.
Less thinking, more action
Another upside that comes from Image Personalization is the fact that the brain always prefers info that’s very easy to process. Hence the reason why people watch videos instead of reading. In the case of emails, personalized images are great because they remove the need to search for info, they present tailored content and highlight everything that matters. Plus, all of that leads to cognitive ease, which makes the users more likely to click and engage.
Familiarity always builds trust
We have to understand that having a familiar system is helpful, because it allows us to become more accustomed with an offer. With personalized images, you can embed that sense of familiarity. But if you are just using generalized imagery, then that will become an issue. That’s the problem, you need to adapt and implement things appropriately, and in doing so, results can be much better than expected.
It’s all about “me”
A major psychological trigger appears when there are self-references. People appreciate and like whenever something is about them. It makes them feel very important, and that alone becomes extremely interesting. The crucial thing here is that you want to boost cognitive processing, increase attention, behavioral intent and so on. Images are great here because they push things to the next level, since our brain processes visual references a lot faster.
Another thing to consider here is the fact that images evoke emotions a lot quicker when compared to words. When you have visual personalization, this allows users to feel recognized, and the messages feel intentional. Not only that, but the brands feel more human. It’s a great way for you to establish an emotional bridge. Most brands find that difficult to create, because they don’t have the right tools and means to establish such a connection. But with the right approach, you can make it happen.
Why do images amplify personalization?
The great thing about images is that they capture attention very fast. They are delivering the information faster when compared to text outlining the same thing in an email. And, as we said earlier, images help create a very powerful emotional impact. When you have personalized images, that helps you establish an excellent experience, and that alone can be a massive benefit that you rarely get to find anywhere else.
With personalized images, you can overlay personalized text right into images. You can also generate images dynamically for every user, and also scale 1:1 experiences across your entire email list. That’s excellent, and it allows a much better way to boost the connection that you normally have with other people, so that’s something to consider here.
Does personalization backfire?
At some point, using personalized images can be against you, so that’s why you want to be very careful when it comes to using this type of systems. The truth is that you must experiment, see what works and what you can adjust/adapt. But if you are using it carefully, the outcome can be second to none.
Using personalized images might backfire if users feel that their privacy is invaded. It can also backfire if the message you are trying to send is manipulative and if the personalization is creepy in nature. That’s why you want to use helpful data, avoid any intrusive personalized images and keep everything contextual, as well as relevant. Remember, good personalization feels like a service. On the other hand, bad personalization will always feel like surveillance, so try to keep that in mind.
Why do personalized images convert?
Clearly, they are doing something right. But what is it? For starters, personalized images are great at helping you grab people’s attention towards your messages. Whether you want to educate people, sell them a product or share an idea, they will be hooked to your message if it’s personalized.
Then, these personalized images are reducing the decision-making effort, which a lot of people are trying to streamline. The same thing is valid when it comes to reinforcing relevance, and increased emotional engagement is another major thing. But what does that entail for your email marketing campaign? Simply put, you will have way higher open rates, a lot more clicks and a very good conversion rate. That matters a lot, especially if you want to reach more people and generate more sales.
Best practices
- Always make sure that you have meaningful data to start with, because it matters quite a bit
- Ensure that the visuals are clean and focused, so use that to your advantage
- Additionally, stay away from overly-personalizing everything
- Test different image variations to see what works and what doesn’t
- Use personalization as the means to add value, and not just follow novelty.
- In general, you want to have relevant content and not complex things.
There’s no denying that personalized images are excellent if you want to have emotional recognition, cognitive shortcuts and a very good attention trigger. It’s never going to be easy to expand, reach new clients and push the boundaries in more ways than expected. With that in mind, the most important thing is to avoid any rush, ensure that the content is relevant, personalized, and designed with the individual in mind. Use that as an advantage, because you always want to surpass expectations, so experiment and see what can deliver the best possible experience and value!