If McLaren wants to treat both of its drivers equally - fair enough. But in email marketing? Equality isn’t the goal. Relevance is.

Because if you send everyone the exact same message, your strategy’s about as subtle as a team radio argument after Turn 1.

🧠 Why personalization matters

Nobody likes generic emails that look like they were written once and blasted to thousands of inboxes with one click. Personalization is what makes your audience feel like they’re being spoken to, not at.

It’s not just “nice to have”, it works.

• 📈 Emails with personalized subject lines see 26% higher open rates.
• 📊 Segmented and personalized campaigns can drive up to 6–7x more revenue.

(Source: Campaign Monitor, DMA)

Because when people feel recognized, they pay attention. It’s that simple.

🏎️ Personalization in the motorsport inbox

In motorsport marketing, you can go far beyond first names.

You can ask about:

• Favorite driver or team
• Preferred circuit or race weekend
• Whether they’ve attended a GP before
• Grandstand vs. general admission preference
• Sprint weekend: yay or nay?

Then, use that data to make your messages feel like a one-to-one conversation.

Imagine you’re running emails for McLaren, and you send a Lando fan an email that starts with “Let’s talk about how brilliant Oscar was this weekend!” Oops. Wrong side of the garage.

💬 But what does “Personalization” really mean?

It’s not just inserting a name.

• Segmentation means you talk to groups (e.g., F1 vs. MotoGP fans).
• Personalization means you talk to people (e.g., “You were at Spa last year - ready for Round 2?”).

You can personalize:

• Subject lines
• Preheaders
• Body copy
• CTA buttons
• And much more

Even one tiny reference can make an email feel human.

⚙️ Strategy: Collect, segment, apply

Start with a clear plan:

1. What subscriber data are you collecting and why?
2. How will you use it to create meaningful segments?
3. What content will change based on those differences?

Always collect with consent, and be transparent. Fans should feel like they’re part of something exciting, not under surveillance.

And if your system allows it set up fallback values for personalization tags.

Better to say “Hey there,” than “Hey ,” - we’ve all seen that pit stop go wrong.

🏁 Final Lap: Personalization wins races

The more personal your emails feel, the better they perform. Even when subscribers know it’s marketing, it still matters how it’s delivered. Because fans respond to brands that speak with them not at them.

So, if you’re crafting your next motorsport email campaign, remember:

Question for you:

How do you personalize your emails and where’s your “pit limit” before it starts to feel too much?