Boost Email Campaigns Combining Segmentation with Personality Traits

Imagine this: not only predicting how likely a contact is to engage with your next email, but also tailoring your content to match their unique personality. That's exactly what we did by combining thalox and TraitSpotter in our latest nurture campaign!

As marketers, we are constantly seeking innovative ways to enhance engagement and nurture our audience effectively. In pursuit of this goal, we conducted an experiment, merging the power of two software tools – thalox and the software of our partner TraitSpotter – to tap into the potential of audience segmentation based on engagement levels and personality traits.

Ok, but first, what is thalox?  

thalox's automatic segmentation divides your contacts into three lists (high engagers, dormant potentials, and inactives) based on their predicted future engagement level with email marketing campaigns. Schedule a meeting with our team to discover more about our solutions.

And what is TraitSpotter?

TraitSpotter’s analyzer feature equips your team with valuable insights into each contact’s unique communication style and personality traits. For example, it determines if they are introverted or extroverted towards an email.

Combining Thalox Audience Segmentation with TraitSpotter Personality Traits

The experiment aimed to validate the hypothesis that tailoring messages according to both audience engagement and personality traits would significantly increase overall engagement and sustain audience nurturing.

To achieve this, first, three distinct nurtures were created in HubSpot targeting different segments of the audience:

• Nurture 1: High Engagement Segment (HES) – Targeting contacts from thalox's provided list displaying high engagement levels.
• Nurture 2: Dormant Potential Segment (DPS) – Focused on contacts with untapped potential who exhibited lower engagement.
• Nurture 3: Inactive or Indecisive Segment (INS) – Aimed at contacts who were either inactive or demonstrated indecisive behavior.
  
  

What comprised the Nurtures?

Four personalized emails, each sent with a delay of 6 days (with the extroversion profile experiencing a delay of 4 days).

These nurtures were planned using Thalox Engagement Scores to identify the appropriate audience segments. Lists of contacts provided by thalox that were used on the nurtures:

• High Engagement Segment
• Dormant Potential Segment
• Inactive or Indecisive Segment

Additionally, TraitSpotter personality traits were utilized to personalize messaging for each segment, ensuring a tailored approach that resonated with individual preferences and characteristics. In the Nurtures 1 and 2, the following TraitSpotter traits  were used:

• Early Adopter Low + Introverted
• Early Adopter Low + Extroverted
• Early Adopter High + Introverted
• Early Adopter High + Extroverted

TraitSpotter traits used in Nurture 3:

• Introverted
• Extroverted

Note: For all those contacts that didn’t match the filter criteria of the lists created, we considered them to be high adopters and extroverted.

Personalized Content Based on Engagement Level and Personality Traits

By leveraging Thalox for audience segmentation and TraitSpotter for personality insights, 4 emails were created. Each email text and subject line were adapted according to the recommended approach/tone that each personality trait from TraitSpotter entitles.

For Nurtures 1 and 2:

• Email 1: Customer Success Story. CTA: Read more or See full story here | Schedule a call
• Email 2: White paper Two Dimensional Lead Scoring. CTA: Get it now | 30 minute call
• Email 3: Offer a marketing strategy demo. CTA: Schedule a demo
• Email 4: HubSpot Data Audit. CTA: Reply YES | Schedule a cal

For Nurture 3:

• Email 1: Reasons to love thalox and HubSpot. CTA: Get started Today
• Email 2: Let's Talk AI in Marketing. CTA: Download WP 2D lead scoring | 30 minute call
• Email 3: HubSpot Data Audit. CTA: Reply YES | Schedule a call
• Email 4: Savings in HubSpot. CTA: Download WP #3
  

Results

With this experience, we successfully boosted the open rate and click-through rates of our nurture campaigns, leading to enhanced engagement and interaction with our audience.

Nurture 1: High Engagement Segment (HES):

• Overall all profiles had a good open rate.
• Profile HighExtro had the most stable open rate throughout all 4 emails.
• Introverted profiles had a lower open rate, while Extroverted profiles appeared to outperform them.
  
  

• Overall all profiles had a good open rate.
• Profile LowExtro had the weakest performance, while LowIntro had the best.
• Profile Introverted in average showed a better open rate when compared to Extroverted.
  

*Only one contact from our database was characterized in the Dormant Potential List as having an Adoption Low + Extroverted profile.

Nurture 3: Inactive or Indecisive Segment (INS):

Key Findings

1. Distribution of Profiles: The analysis reveals that the majority of contacts fall into the "adoption high + extroverted" category, highlighting a limited sample size for other profiles.

2. High Engagement Segment: Within the high engagement segment, the extroverted trait consistently outperformed others. Particularly, when combined with low adoption, it exhibited higher open rates, while pairing with high adoption led to superior click-through rates.

3. Dormant Potential Segment: In the dormant potential segment, introverted profiles tended to yield better open rates across most emails. However, the "adoption high + extroverted" profile stood out for achieving superior click-through rates.

4. Inactive or Indecisive Segment: The inactive segment had significantly more unsubscribes than the other two segments, with most having extroverted profiles. Therefore, it's essential to evaluate whether it's beneficial to maintain these contacts in our database or if it's time to remove them.
   
   

In conclusion, the experiment was a success as it resulted in increased overall open rates and click-through rates in our email nurture campaigns. By understanding not only how engaged our audience is but also who they are on a deeper level, we can deliver messages that resonate on a personal level, fostering stronger relationships and driving meaningful engagement.

Further improvements will focus on enhancing the overall click-through rate. This necessitates conducting a comprehensive review of the call-to-action (CTA) elements to ensure their efficacy in driving engagement. Additionally, a plan to test the performance of layout emails versus plain text emails is in the pipeline. This comparison aims to provide valuable insights into which format resonates better with the audience and yields higher performance metrics. By experimenting with different email formats, we can refine our strategies to maximize engagement and achieve better results.

Moving forward, marketers are encouraged to embrace tools like Thalox and TraitSpotter to enhance personalization and boost engagement. The experiment serves as a testament to the effectiveness of personalized messaging. By prioritizing the convergence of data-driven insights and personalized communication strategies, brands can forge deeper connections with their audience.