Adding Custom CRM Fields to Personalized Email Campaigns

Using email personalization is a great way to connect with your customers, increase brand loyalty, and in many cases, improve your profits! 

First things first though…

 

What is Personalization?

Personalization, as it relates to Marketing 360, is using the Nurture app to send targeted email marketing to specific customers based on the details collected in their contact profiles in the CRM app. These details could be information like the products or services they've purchased, where they live, or any number of other details. 

 

Why Personalization Matters

In early 2020, Forbes comprised a list of some powerful stats like this to show the value of personalization.

 

"90% of U.S. consumers find marketing personalization very or somewhat appealing."
-Statista 

 

That being said, you can be confident that personalizing your marketing efforts will appeal to a larger audience and encourage your customers to be more engaged with your brand.

Personalization is a lot more than including the customer's first name in the email subject, though that's a great place to start! Let's dive into some of the ways you can leverage the CRM and Nurture apps in Marketing 360® to create more engaging, conversion-driving email content.

 

The process overall can be broken down into seven parts, click below to skip ahead if you're already done with any parts of the process.

• Part 1:  Add new field(s) to your CRM
• Part 2: Add the field(s) to your form
• Part 3: Create a new CRM list
• Part 4: Assign your CRM list to an email marketing list
• Part 5: Include the new field in the email list
• Part 6: Build a personalized email campaign
• Part 7: Schedule delivery to the email marketing list

 

 

Part 1:  Add new field(s) to your CRM

To start personalizing email content based on the details you store about your contacts, you first need to make sure you're collecting and storing the right info.

In this case, we're going to build an email campaign suited for CRM contacts that are interested in winter sports like skiing and snowboarding. 

1. Navigate to the CRM by selecting it from the global app menu in the top left corner the top of the page.

 

2. Click the three-dot icon in the top right corner of the page, then select Edit Contact Fields.

 

3. Click + Add Contact Field near the bottom of the page and add the custom field(s) you'd like to use for personalization.

In this case, an option was added to let the user pick summer, winter, or both using a checkbox field. This is the field that'll be used to segment the email lists for Summer and Winter enthusiasts.

Additionally, text fields were added so the user can select a home mountain or a home climbing area where they spend the most time during their season(s). This is the field that will be displayed in the email content.

 

 

Part 2: Add the field(s) to your form

Now that your CRM has the ability to store these custom details for your contacts, it's time to add them to the form you use on your website so you can collect the custom fields when new users reach out to you.

1. Navigate to Forms by selecting it from the global app menu near the top left corner of the screen, then click the form name to start editing.

 

2. Click + Add Field.

3. Select which type of field to add.

In this example, checkbox is used to give users the option to select multiple options.

4. Check the option to Sync this field with the CRM and select the appropriate field. This will allow the user's submission to be stored in the CRM field created in part one.

5. Enter a field label. You can also enter a description if you'd like to give your users any extra instruction.

6. Require the field if you'd like to make sure and collect the info for all users that submit the form (suggested, but not necessary in all cases)

7. Click Submit to save the form field.

Repeat the process for any new fields that are needed for personalization.

For this example, two more text fields were added so the user can select a ski resort or climbing area they frequent.

 

 

Part 3: Create a new CRM list

Once you're collecting and storing these new custom fields for each user, the next step is to create custom CRM lists based on the values that each user submits.

 

1. Navigate to CRM Lists by clicking CRM from the global app menu, then select Lists from the sub-navigation. 

 

2. Click the + List button in the top right corner of the page to create a new CRM List.

 

3. Enter a name and description for the CRM List.

4. Click Add Custom Filter to create a custom rule for adding new users to the list.

5. Select the field you'd like to base the rule on.

In this example, we're adding any contact that selects Winter their season of choice.

6. Select a Match Type of is. This option will add users to the list that match the following selection

7. Select the appropriate field value.

In this example, we're selecting 'Winter'. This will add all users to the list whose season of choice is winter.

8. Click Submit to save the CRM List.

 

 

Part 4: Assign your CRM list to an email marketing list

The next step is to connect your new CRM list to an Email Marketing list. This allows the Email Marketing tools in the Nurture app to communicate with the CRM to allow you to leverage things like the custom fields you just created in your email content.

 

1. Back on the CRM Lists page, click Assign to Email List next to your new CRM List title.

2. Select + Create New List & Assign to create a new Email Marketing List from this page. Alternatively, if you've already created an Email Marketing list, you can select it from the list.

3. If you created a new list, give it a name.

4. Click Submit.

 

 

Part 5: Include the new field in the email list

1. Click your new list's title to view the list details.

2. On the list detail page, click the Custom Fields tab in the right panel.

3. Click the + icon and select Add Custom Field to add your new CRM field to the CRM List fields.

4. In the modal window that displays, select the Contact Field from the list, then give it a name that will be used within the CRM and email lists.

 

 

Part 6: Build a personalized email campaign

Ok, now that the custom field(s) have been added and the connection between the CRM List and the Email Marketing List is in place, it's time to add personalization to the email itself. 

 

1. Navigate to Email Marketing in the Nurture app by clicking Nurture from the global app menu at the top left corner of the page.

2. Click Create Campaign if you'd like to start a new campaign or select an existing one if you've already created one that you'd like to personalize.

3. Name the campaign, then define the subject, pre-header, and sender, then click Next.

4. Choose a starting point to build your campaign.

In this example, we're going to use a pre-built template for the campaign. If you'd like to learn more about creating a template, click here to read the Knowledge Base article on creating templates.

 

3. Find the block of content you'd like to add personalization to, and add new content as needed.

4. To add the custom field, click Insert from the editor menu, then select Custom Fields.

5. Select the Email Marketing List, then select the custom field to add to your email content.

6. Include fallback text that will display to any user who does not have a value stored for the custom field.

In this example, we're displaying 'your favorite resort' to anyone who does not have a 'home resort' value stored in the custom field. The result looks like this : [HomeResort,fallback=your favorite mountain]

If a recipient's home resort is Telluride, they'll see "We've got the gear and services you need to have a rad season at Telluride."

If a recipient does not have a 'home resort', they'll see "We've got the gear and services you need to have a rad season at your favorite mountain."

7. When you're done updating the content of the email campaign, click the green Preview button in the top right corner of the page, then click I'm done, return to snapshot.

 

 

Part 7: Schedule delivery to the email marketing list

The last step is to define the recipients of the new campaign and decide when to deliver the campaign.

 

1. Back on the Campaign Snapshot, click the green Define recipients button, then select the Email Marketing List you created earlier as the recipient, then click Next. This will give you the opportunity to preview the email content as your recipients will see it.

2. When you're happy with your content, click the green Schedule delivery button to schedule when the email campaign will be sent.

3. Click Send it now if you'd like to send the campaign immediately or Schedule for later to define a specific date & time for delivery.

 

 

Conclusion

While this may seem like a lot of setup work to connect CRM fields into your email campaign content, once you get the hang of it, you'll be ready to see gains in engagement and conversions. Not convinced? Here are a couple more stats compiled by Forbes that might change your mind. 

 

"80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that provides personalized experiences."
-Epsilon

 

"72% of consumers say they only engage with personalized messaging."
-SmarterHQ

 

What are you waiting for? Fuel Your Brand with the Marketing 360 CRM & Nurture apps to take advantage of email personalization today!