Personalization is important to a good experience, but marketers need to walk the fine line between getting personal and being creepy. In a the final panel at the Email Insider Summit today
called, "Creating Breakout Email Content," Erin Junge, manager of Web design & development at Mutual of Omaha, summed it up by saying, "I like it when a brand gets me but I don’t want them
to get me too much."
"When the brand becomes your stalker, that is not great," said Roger Foisy, senior manager of email marketing at Carnival Cruise Lines, who said that he once searched a
travel site for a trip to Mexico and years after he took the trip he was still getting Mexico messaging from that company.
Wacarra Yeomans, director of creative Services
at Responsys, pointed out that personalization is more about offering a service than knowing someone's name. If you know what they are looking for, use the data to offer them the service
they want, and don't get caught up stalking.