Personalisation or Bust: Why 71 % of Customers Expect You to Know Their Name (and Next Move)

Picture this: A shopper hits “add to cart,” bounces to Instagram, and by the time they’re back on their laptop, there’s a DM waiting with a 10% off code and a link to the exact colour they almost bought. Creepy? Only if you botch the execution. Otherwise, it feels like premium service, which is why 71 % of customers expect brands to personalise every interaction and 76 % get irritated when they don’t according to a 2023 McKinsey & Company article, “What is personalization?”.

Below is the STRENUE playbook for delivering that white-glove experience to every subscriber, without hiring a data-science army.

Three-Layer Segmentation Model

Rule of thumb: Segment first, automate second. Otherwise you’re spraying “Hey [first-name]!” everywhere and praying it sticks.

Layer Tag Examples for HighLevel

1. Demographic (Who are they?)

   • Tags: location_AUS, role_fitness_coach, age_25-34

   • HighLevel trigger: Form field or custom value on opt-in.

   • Baseline personalisation (tone, slang, offers).

2. Behavioural (What did they do?)

   • Tags: clicked_ebook_nutrition, watched_VSL_75%, cart_abandon

   • HighLevel trigger: Link click, video-watched webhook, or page visit.

   • Triggers just-in-time messages.

3. Lifecycle (Where are they in the journey?)

   • Tags: lead_new, lead_nurture30, customer_12mo+, dormant_90d

   • HighLevel trigger: Opportunity stage change or “last activity” rule.

   • Controls frequency & depth of comms.

A single contact can, and should, wear tags from each layer. That’s your GPS for hyper-relevant messages.

4 Triggered Campaigns (automation playbook)

1. Browse-Abandon SMS

   • Trigger: Tag cart_abandon applied

   • Message: “Still mulling over [Product]? Reply YES and I’ll save your cart for 24h.”

   • Time-to-send: 15 min after tag

   • Why It Wins: Captures impulse while intent is hot.

2. Loyalty Tier Email

   • Trigger: Tag customer_12mo+

   • Message: VIP invite to beta group + 15 % renewal credit

   • Time-to-send: Anniversary day

   • Why It Wins: Turns retention into expansion.

3. Win-Back Offer

   • Trigger: Tag dormant_90d

   • Message: $29 mini-course bundle

   • Time-to-send: 90 days idle

   • Why It Wins: Re-activates cold leads at break-even.

4. On-Boarding Nurture

   • Trigger: Tag lead_new

   • Message: 5-day quick-start drip + usage milestone SMS

   • Time-to-send: Immediate

   • Why It Wins: Shortens “time to value” and slashes refund risk.

Each workflow takes <60 minutes in HighLevel. Stack them, and you’ll have a behaviour-aware engine humming by Friday.

Trust First: GDPR & APP Quick-Check ✅

• Collect only data you’ll actually use for segmentation.

• Store consent logs inside HighLevel or your DPA-compliant CRM.

• Link out to Privacy Policy anytime you request personal data.

Pro tip: Use a custom field for “data-processing consent.” Tag refusals to skip all personalisation flows automatically.

Metrics That Matter

1. Open Rate

   • Definition: Emails opened ÷ emails sent

   • Healthy Range: 35 – 45 %

   • Why it Matters: Signals list hygiene & subject relevance

2. Click Rate

   • Definition: Unique clicks ÷ emails sent

   • Healthy Range: 4 – 7 %

   • Why it Matters: Measures content-offer fit

3. Revenue-per-Recipient (RPR)

   • Definition: $ Revenue ÷ total recipients

   • Healthy Range: $0.35+

   • Why it Matters: Combines volume + value

4. Lead-to-Customer Time

   • Definition: Days from opt-in to first purchase

   • Healthy Range: <14 days

   • Why it Matters: Shows funnel friction

If RPR is flat but opens climb, your copy’s good, but your offer isn’t. If opens sink, segmentation needs work. Adjust accordingly.

Your First Personalisation Prompt (Copy → ChatGPT)

“Act as a lifecycle-marketing strategist for an online course creator. List three behavioural triggers that justify a personalised email, write the subject line for each, and cap the body at 120 words.”

Paste, tweak, deploy. Instant relevance.