When it comes to building, managing, and elevating a CX program, your work is never truly done. Because a personalized customer experience needs constant attention, iteration, and innovation to deliver results—not to mention the rewarding interactions your customers and your brand marketing initiatives deserve.

Unfortunately for too many businesses out there, improving the customer experience is overly complicated. If you’re relying on static tools and siloed databases to inform big-picture decisions, it can be tough to figure out where to make changes or how to take advantage of new market trends from one season to the next.

So relax, take a deep breath, and start with step one: CX program design. Having a master plan that details how, why, when, and where you collect and use first-party data is a huge bonus that elevates any CX program. Especially if you add these three low-effort, high-impact email personalization strategies into the mix:

Keep your customers content with dynamic email content

If you can’t analyze data to determine the bigger picture, you can’t elevate a CX program—much less expect it to perform. “Business as usual,” or “That’s how we’ve always done things around here,” cause too many brands to waste valuable time, money, and customer goodwill because the marketers involved are too afraid to evolve. But not all hope is lost!

If you’re stuck in a similar situation, one seemingly small personalized email element can turn your CX program around by addressing the root of most problems before they have a chance to happen. If you have a headache, for example, you take an aspirin to manage the pain. But if they keep happening every day, you’re likely heading to the doctor to address the cause of the issue to find a long-term solution.

In this case, our recommended prescription is dynamic content. By giving your email marketing team the ability to automatically update and replace messaging, you create a more relevant and engaging message today. But, whether you know it or not, you’re also making it easier to elevate your customer experience going forward.

Dynamic email content adds value to your A/B testing efforts because it allows you to make adjustments based on buyer behavior changes, market trends, and more on-the-fly. In some cases, even after the original message is delivered.

Now, you’re never left wondering ‘what if’ after clicking send. Rather than trying to make sense of months’ worth of data every time you need to make a change, you have the ability to analyze customer feedback and make adjustments in real-time—keeping your CX program healthy and performing optimally. And, best of all, making it possible to build unforgettable customer experiences in mere seconds.

The customer is always right, so ask them what they want

As you know, getting a customer’s attention can be tough. But keeping them engaged is what separates successful brands from everybody else. To do this, you must understand your buyers at a fundamental level. And while you could spend weeks or months conducting research to find the answers to your most important CX program questions, it turns out one of the most effective ways to collect these is also one of the most fun, interactive emails you can possibly send.

An embedded email poll or survey gives you a live look at the pulse of your customer experience and how well it’s performing at any given time. By shying away from broad, open-ended questions, you make it easy for loyal shoppers to submit their personal info—giving you a greater understanding of what motivates them to buy, how they feel about your brand, and how you can ultimately increase engagement to elevate your CX program.

After all, personalized email elements like this one increase CTR by an average of 17 times—leading to email interactions that are six times more likely to result in revenue than static alternatives!

Beyond these benefits, however, embedded email polls and surveys take your customer profiling and segmentation capabilities to the next level. Because these tools make it easy to ask individuals about the things most important to their customer experience—giving you all the info you need to personalize their next email based on unique preferences, buying habits, and other critical considerations.

As a best practice, we recommend you take a step back and think before adding surveys into every send. What exactly are you trying to find out from your loyal subscribers? And—more importantly—how can you make this experience feel less like an ‘ask’ and more like a conversation between trusted friends?

These personalized email elements can be especially helpful during seasonal or customer lifecycle shifts when buying behavior changes on a dime once you’re able to confidently answer these questions. So why wait any longer to progress your CX program through live polling?

Don’t build a customer base. Build a community.

A successful CX program is everyone’s job, so be sure to focus your design discussions on how you can include more people in the process to align organizational values and mission statements with your most loyal customers’ needs to build an engaged community of buyers and brand fans.

An exceptional customer experience is one that reflects seasonal trends and adapts to changing conditions as they occur instead of after the fact. So, don’t make the goal of every email you send or interaction to take part in a sale. Reserve special messaging and campaigns for your most important shoppers to show that they mean more to you than new revenue or a simple dollar amount.

A carefully crafted message, a promotion featuring a timely charitable cause, or a social media campaign that gets your customers involved can take your CX program further than you ever thought possible. By cultivating a community of active, engaged brand evangelists at every opportunity, you add a sense of purpose, belonging, and value to each customer interaction.

And, thanks to these extra-rewarding relationships, you can be sure your customers pay you back big-time for the personalization you deliver now.