What happened
Entrepreneur published a piece stating that mass email newsletters are losing effectiveness. E-commerce brands that have used templated emails for years are recording a drop in ROI. At the same time, companies that have implemented personalization at the level of customer behavior and preferences are achieving results unattainable with the old approach. The key takeaway: this is not about the name in the email, but about dynamic content that changes for each subscriber.
How this is useful for business
Personalized email campaigns increase open rates by 26%, click-through rates by 14%, and conversions by up to 6 times compared with universal newsletters. For an online store with a base of 50,000 subscribers, this means an additional $7–13 from each email. Investments in personalization pay back in 2–4 weeks with proper implementation. Brands that ignore this trend lose up to 40% of potential revenue from the email channel.
How to make money from this
The email personalization market is growing by 12% annually. Demand is emerging for automation services that analyze user behavior and generate individual offers. You can create tools for audience segmentation, dynamic content platforms, or agencies specializing in email strategy transformation. Revenue is generated through subscriptions, one-time setups, or a percentage of the client's increased revenue.
Business ideas
1. Automatic segmentation service with AI. Charge $200–800 for connection, $150–400 monthly for maintenance. Target audience: small and medium e-commerce.
2. Marketplace of email templates with dynamic blocks. Sell ready-made solutions at $50–300 per template, subscription revenue $15–50 per month.
3. Email personalization consulting agency. One-time projects from $2 000, subscription-based service from $500 per month. Work with clients whose open rate is below 15%.
4. Platform for A/B testing personalized emails. Subscription $100–400 per month depending on mailing volume. Additional revenue: selling reports and recommendations.
5. Educational product: an email personalization course for marketers. One-time sales $150–400, corporate licenses from $1 500. Monetize a topical blog through affiliate programs of email platforms.
6. White-label solution for email services. Licensing personalization technology to large providers for a one-time $5 000–50 000 fee plus royalties.
Risks and limitations
The main problem is the balance between personalization and privacy. GDPR and CCPA regulations require transparent data collection. Configuration errors can lead to loss of audience trust. Technical implementation requires competencies in working with APIs and databases. Competition intensifies as the market grows, so it is important to occupy a niche before saturation.
7-day action plan
Day 1–2: Analyze the current metrics of the email channel: open rate, click-through rate, conversion. Determine the gap with industry benchmarks.
Day 3: Study 3–5 personalization tools: Klaviyo, Dynamic Yield, Optimizely. Choose a suitable solution for testing.
Day 4: Collect data for segmentation: purchase history, website behavior, subscription source. Clean the database of inactive contacts.
Day 5: Set up the first personalized trigger, for example, an abandoned cart with individual recommendations.
Day 6: Launch an A/B test of a personalized email against a control group. Record the metrics.
Day 7: Analyze the results, prepare a report. Plan scaling the successful approach to the remaining segments of the database.
Original news: Entrepreneur · See other news in the news section.
If the idea fits your business, see which stages make up the cost of development and where it makes sense to start.
