72. Hot Seat: How to make your email automations feel personal with Rachel Smith

What if your email automations could do the heavy lifting of personalisation... without you writing a separate email for every type of subscriber?That's exactly what we dig into in this hot seat episode with Rachel Smith, freelance journalist, copywriter, and the founder of Rachel's List, a thriving jobs board and membership community for writers of all kinds. Rachel is a Retention Lab member, and came to me with a real headache around her email marketing, and we worked through it together live on the show.What we cover:Why personalisation isn't really about first names (and what to do instead)How to use application form data to create conditional content that feels bespokeTrigger links and what they can tell you about hot leads sitting in your sequenceThe case for re-engagement flows at the three and six month markHow to incentivise feedback so people actually complete your surveysMilestone tagging inside your email platform and why it matters for retentionActivity scoring to spot disengaged members before they quietly cancelConnect with Rachel Smith:https://rachelslist.com.au/https://rachelsmith.com.au/https://www.instagram.com/rachelslist/https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelsmithsydney/https://rachelslist.com.au/portfolio/the-pay-rates-report/ View the episode transcript here.Where to from here?Grab the 2026 State of the Customer Report FREE right here.Generate 10 tailored-to-you survey questions FREE right here.Join Retention Lab🧪, the community to help you build a signature customer experience that keeps people coming back, gets them talking and grows your business without you having to start from scratch every single month. Join here!Find out how you can get my strategic customer experience brain on your brand here.Check out my favourite CX tools and resources here.😍 Love the show?Hit subscribe or follow so you never miss a new episode.Submit your question so I can answer it in an upcoming episode (or invite the perfect guest expert!).Leave a positive review to help the show get found by more small business owners just like you. To leave a review:👉 Find What Would They Do? on Apple Podcasts👉 Scroll to ‘Ratings & Reviews’👉 Tap on the stars to rate the show before writing a reviewPost a screenshot with your key takeaway on your IG story and tag me @candocontent and #WWTDpod so I can repost your content.