Email for publishers is having a moment in the sun. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, subscriptions have been on the rise and it’s been paying off. According to LiveIntent research from June, publishers are seeing revenue bumps of up to 103% from email newsletters.

Used to its full potential, email for publishers can be an effective way to drive traffic and build loyalty. Email newsletters keeps the brand fresh in readers’ minds, while encouraging them to visit the site on a regular basis. That’s especially true when publishers incorporate personalization

Say Yes to Segmentation

Segmenting your audience is one of the best ways to ensure your readers receive content that’s tailored to their interests. This helps you to keep them interested in your offerings and avoid list fatigue. When it comes to segmentation, some of your best options are to segment based on geography and engagement level. Segmentation is a strength in Food52’s email marketing strategy, sending different communications to people who read the site and those who shop on it. 

A major advantage to segmenting by geography is it lets you deliver content geared to readers in a specific region, creating a kind of local email newsletter. This increases the likelihood that the content will be relevant to them and that they will engage with it. Segmentation by engagement level is another way to enhance email for publishers. Highly-invested readers should receive more messages than those with lower levels of engagement. Sending more emails to engaged readers, you’re more likely to see higher open rates and increased traffic.

Deploy Dynamic Content Recommendations

Some of the most effective personalization tactics are content recommendations tailored to each individual reader. Highly personalized recommendations based on a reader’s interests and behavior ensures they receive content that’s relevant to them. For example, if a subscriber spends a lot of time reading articles on entrepreneurship, send them business-related content. Publishers can compound on these dynamic content recommendations, creating a similar experience onsite. 

Before National Review started working with Marigold Engage by Sailthru, the publisher’s email marketing program was high volume-low engagement. But National Review began using dynamic content in both body and subject lines to catch readers’ attention, and suppressing disengaged subscribers. Proving the case for personalization as a traffic driver, National Review increased its email clickthrough rate by 132%.

Keep Ads Personal

Publishers should extend their personalization to ads that appear in their emails. If readers see advertisements that are of interest, they are far more likely to click.

Personalized ads benefit both readers and publishers. Subscribers learn about products and services that better address their specific interests and needs, and will likely feel more engaged with the brand. And for brands, using highly personalized ads can result in higher clickthrough rates and of course, site traffic.