Personalization Beyond "Hello {{firstName || "there"}}!"

TLDR

{first_name} is technically personalization, but how much does it actually make people want to take action? Names of people or businesses can signal that your product knows something about you. And, over time, it may help to build familiarity. But seeing your name in an email isn't going to get you to activate on a product or inspire deeper usage. The real gains come from sending based on what users do, at the time it matters to them. You don't need machine learning for this. You need event tracking... and a touch of logic.

Personalization [Tier 1]

The honest truth is that some companies use first_name to personalize and call it a day because that's all the data they can get their hands on. When a user signs up, they usually input something like their name, company, and email address—and you're not going to personalize with "Welcome to Courier, chaz420@yahoo.com". When someone sees "Hi Sarah" instead of "Hi there," something does happen though. It's brief, but users make a little mental note: this company is personable.

That's not nothing. Over dozens of emails, it adds up. The product feels like it pays attention. This builds trust, slowly.

The research backs this up, sort of. Studies show mixed results. Some find a small bump in opens. Others find no difference. The pattern: names help with how your brand feels, but they don't make people act. There is, however, a gradient of personalization tactics I think will help.

See how this works for transactional notifications →

The five tiers

Each tier takes more work but gives more back.

Most teams are stuck at tier one. A few make it to tier two. The teams actually seeing results? They've reached tier three or beyond.

Different content for different people [Tier 2]

Same template, different pieces depending on who's getting it.

Say you're sending a weekly update:

• Free users see a feature highlight with an upgrade nudge
• Paid users see a power-user tip for that feature
• Enterprise accounts see the tip plus a link to their dedicated support

You're not just dropping in their name. You're giving them content that actually fits. Free users don't need enterprise support links. Enterprise users don't need upgrade prompts. Seems obvious, but most teams don't do this.

if user.plan == "free":
    show upgrade_block
elif user.plan == "enterprise":
    show support_block
else:
    show tip_block

The tradeoff: you need to define groups and write variants. Most teams can handle 3-5 before it becomes a maintenance headache. Don't create 47 variants. You'll hate yourself.

The gain is real but limited. You're still sending to everyone at the same time regardless of what they're doing.

See how Design Studio handles this →

Send based on what they did [Tier 3]

This is where things get interesting.

Instead of sending based on who someone is, you send based on what they did:

• Looked at pricing three times this week → comparison guide
• Created a project but didn't invite anyone → "hey, you can add teammates"
• Hasn't logged in for 7 days → check-in

The message shows up when they're already thinking about something. Not when your cron job runs.

Think about the difference:

Without this: Everyone on the free plan gets an upgrade email on Tuesday.

With this: Users who looked at pricing three times this week get an upgrade email within an hour of their third visit.

The second one reaches someone actively considering an upgrade. The first one reaches everyone, most of whom couldn't care less.

What you need to track:

• What users do (page views, features used, buttons clicked)
• What they haven't done (time since last login, unfinished flows)
• Milestones (first project, tenth order, one year in)

The triggers that actually work:

1. Abandoned actions. They started something and stopped. Cart, form, onboarding step. Intent was already there.

2. Milestones. They hit a mark. 10th order, 100th file, 1 year with you. People notice round numbers.

3. Gone quiet. They stopped showing up. Tricky to get right. "We miss you!" sounds desperate. "Your report from last month just got new data" gives them a reason to come back.

Common mistake: Triggering on everything. If users get a notification every time they breathe, they'll start ignoring all of them. Be selective.

See how Journeys makes this easy →

Send when it matters to them [Tier 4]

Not when it's convenient for your batch job. When it actually matters to them.

Instead of: "Here's your weekly digest" (sent Monday at 9am to everyone) Try: "Your report is ready" (sent when their data actually finishes)

Instead of: "Check out this feature" (blasted on Tuesday) Try: "You just used X—here's how to get more out of it" (sent right after they do the thing)

Timing beats copy. A mediocre message at the right moment outperforms a brilliant message at the wrong one.

The best time to suggest the next step is right after someone finishes the current step. They're in context. They're wondering what's next. That's your window.

Timing patterns that work:

• After they finish something → send the next step while they're still focused
• In their time zone → 10am their time, not yours
• When they're usually active → if they always check at 3pm, that's when you send
• When something changes → data they care about updated, tell them now

This requires your systems to respond fast. If you're running batch jobs once a day, you can't send "your export is ready" when the export actually finishes.

Watch out for: Optimization that clusters everyone into the same "best" window. If your algorithm decides 10am is optimal for everyone, you're now competing with every other notification that made the same call.

See how Journeys handles timing →

Predict what's next [Tier 5]

This is the fancy one. Using patterns to figure out what's useful before they ask.

"Teams like yours usually connect their CRM around this point. Here's how."

"Based on your project type, you'll probably need webhooks soon. Here's a guide."

You're not reacting to what they did. You're helping with what comes next. That's genuinely useful.

What you need:

• Enough historical data to see patterns
• A way to group similar users and see what they typically do next
• Confidence thresholds (don't guess unless you're pretty sure)
• Fallbacks for when you can't predict

The honest truth: Most teams don't need this. It takes a lot of data. Unless you have thousands of users with clear behavioral patterns, tiers 3-4 will give you more for less effort.

When tier 5 makes sense:

• Consumer products with tons of users and repeat behavior
• Products where most people follow similar paths
• Enough activity to actually spot patterns

Where to focus

If you're at tier 1 and want better results, skip straight to tier 3.

Here's why: tier 2 makes your current messages slightly better for each segment. Tier 3 lets you send completely different messages at completely different times based on what people actually do. The second approach usually gives 3-5x better results.

The question that matters more than tier

Before working on fancier personalization, ask this about every message:

Is this useful for what this person is trying to do right now?

If not, better personalization won't save it. A perfectly personalized message about something irrelevant is still irrelevant.

The best strategies combine:

1. Relevance. Is this something they actually need?
2. Timing. Is this the right moment?
3. Personalization. Is this fitted to their situation?

In that order. A relevant message sent at the right time beats a hyper-personalized message sent at the wrong time.

Getting started

If you're starting fresh:

1. Add action-based triggers for your most important user actions (signup, purchase, key feature use)
2. Add different content for your biggest groups (free vs. paid, new vs. veteran)
3. Send in their time zone before worrying about fancy optimization

If you're improving what you have:

1. Look at your current messages. What tier is each one?
2. Find the 3-5 with the most sends and worst results
3. For each, ask: could an action trigger send this at a better time?

What to track:

• Results by personalization tier
• How often messages lead to action
• Unsubscribes (too much personalization can feel creepy)

See pricing →

The bottom line

Names matter. They build familiarity over time. Keep using them.

But if you want better results, names aren't where the gains are. The gains come from sending based on what users do and when it matters to them.

You don't need machine learning to reach tier 3. You need to track what users do, build some logic about when to send what, and be willing to send fewer, better-timed messages.

The teams that get this right don't send more messages. They send more relevant ones.

This post is part of The Ping, a series about building awesome notifications for your product.