Using Geotargeting in Email Marketing
As email marketing professionals, we make every effort to ensure that our campaigns are correctly interpreted by all browsers and email clients. design responsive to make emails adaptable and readable on all devices and screen resolutions, we optimise code and images for avoid loading problems and we spend a lot of time evaluating the data obtained and looking for improvements. However, the focus is seldom on a factor as important as the user location.
Nowadays, the emails we receive are much more relevant than a few years ago thanks to the personalisation and segmentation of databases and we are getting closer and closer to the ideal of offering the user what they want or what they are interested in. What many people have not yet realised is that in many occasions what the user needs depends on where he/she is located.. For example, offering discounts in restaurants will not generate the same interest if there are generic offers for the whole city as if a map of discounted restaurants within a 1km radius is displayed.
How can we segment geographically?
There are two main forms of geographic targeting in email:
- Via IP - through the sending tool we use (ESP) and/or a geolocation service provider, and dynamic contents.
- By geographical area (country, province, address, postal code, etc.) - using data from the records in our database.
The choice of each of these will depend on the objective we want to achieve and of our technical or database limitations:
If our objective is online sales, branding, or simply does not require immediate consumption, we can use the classic segmentation by geographic area, so we will need this data from our records.
If, on the other hand, it is a sale flash In physical shops or any action that requires knowing the user's location at the moment they open the email, IP targeting can give great results, so we will need a provider that allows this type of targeting.
However, it is important to say that none of these options is 100% accurate (unless we have the physical address). However, whether in the traditional way by segmenting the database by geographic area, or by IP and using dynamic content, we will always be more relevant by segmenting geographically than by not doing so.
What does geographic segmentation allow?
The main aim is to increase personalisation and relevance of the content to the userby offering them what they are interested in and where they are interested in it. Clearly, if we provide our records with more relevant content, we will achieve a higher click-through and conversion rates on and offline.
But it is in combination with the agile marketing and using dynamic content that geographic targeting can provide us with the best results. This would allow us, for example, to show:
- Weather information by city.
- Type of currency depending on the country in the price of a product.
- A map with the nearest restaurants, shops or services.
- Personalised offers based on the location from which the email is opened.
- Any previous information updated at the time of opening.
It is clear that compared to the traditional static email we are still used to, these new options represent a huge qualitative leap. In the current market situation, where it is often very difficult to stand out and differentiate yourself from the competition in terms of price or service, those who know how to take advantage of these new opportunities will make the difference.
