If you think B2B emails are dead? Keep reading.
Already got your marketing emails covered? Keep reading.
Don’t think personalisation is scaleable? Keep reading!
If you’re like me and many other marketers, Account-Based Marketing has been the natural response to a world where the B2B inbox has never been louder, and standing out is harder than ever. I’ve seen this trend evolve since I first practiced ABM in 2019, 6-years and two marketing agencies ago.
Why? Because It’s well documented to improve performance:
- Momentum ITSMA’s latest benchmark: “nine in ten B2B organisations now run ABM”
- Forrester’s 2024 State of ABM survey: "81% of ABM programmes outperform “traditional” demand gen on ROI”
Despite this, you rarely see 1:1 personalisation make it’s way into lead generation efforts like email campaigns.
Think back to the last marketing emails you sent, can you say it was truly personalised to each individual?
Think back to the last marketing email that blessed your inbox, did it feel like it was truly personalised to you?
The reason is the same as it’s always been. Because good ABM is painstaking: hours of research, dozens of tabs, and only so many people-hours to go around.
AI changes the math. With tools like Compass Data, you can turn a handful of basic facts into relevant, human-sounding insights - at scale. In other words, the gap between “we know we should personalise” and “we actually do” is finally closing.
That’s me in the video! Follow along to learn how to truly personalise your emails.
What if you could personalise 1,000 emails with just 5 data points per contact?
Most marketing teams are sitting on a goldmine of contact data - and wasting it. Raise your hand if you have the following data readily accessible for pretty much all of your customers and leads:
- Company
- Industry
- First name
- Last name
- Job title
Now raise your hand if you’re using this data to personalise your emails (or any other marketing outreach) so that they feel like they couldn’t possibly be meant for anyone else?
I see this with my clients all the time, and it’s not because they don’t want to do personalised email marketing. It’s because personalisation typically takes a large amount of time, research, and money. Which then limits the number people you can market to.
Compass Data changes that. It uses AI to generate tailored, human-sounding messages - starting with as little as five data points per contact. Whether you’re working with just a job title or a full set of data fields. Compass Data doesn’t rely on enriched profiles or behavioural tracking. Instead, it uses smarter prompts and contextual awareness to produce high-quality output from whatever data you already have - no add-ons, no extra integrations, just intelligent AI doing more with less.
Has email personalisation been solved by tools like Salesforce & HubSpot?
The short answer is absolutely not!
I’m not talking about formulaic structures like “Hi {First Name}, I saw you work at {Company}…” that people see straight through. According to Gartner, 63% of B2B buyers say the messages they receive feel generic, even when their name and company are included. That’s because swapping tokens isn’t personalisation - it’s automation dressed up.
Tools like Salesforce Marketing Cloud and HubSpot, while powerful, often require either extensive CRM integrations or costly data enrichment add-ons to produce anything beyond this type of surface-level personalisation.
Think about how tools like Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign handle personalization: they rely on flowcharts and branching logic that resemble tree diagrams - "If user clicks link X, send email Y three days later." Or, "If contact is in segment Z, insert paragraph A." It's rule-based automation, not intelligence. The result is that even well-sequenced campaigns still rely on token-based placeholders and rigid templates, with minimal true context or nuance. There's no understanding of the person - just boxes ticked.
Why is Compass Data the best way to do personalised marketing at scale?
Compass Data doesn’t rely on static templates or basic field merges. It uses advanced language models, online research, and human-quality prompt design to craft insights that resonate. It’s not just filling gaps - it’s generating real relevance, at scale, using the data you already have. Let’s break down how to turn basic contact data into high-quality personalised copy:
1. Upload your data - Start with a CSV file. It could include five common fields (first name, last name, company, job title, industry), or any other structured data relevant to your use case. Compass Data accepts a wide variety of formats and fields - and if you're using our managed service model, you don’t even need to worry about formatting. Just share what you have and we’ll take care of the rest.
2. Add your prompt - Inside Compass Data, you provide context: what you want the AI to do, who the message is for, what kind of tone you want, and how you want the output structured. If you're on a managed retainer, we help craft and optimise the prompt for you. You don’t need to be a prompt expert - we provide examples and templates that help you get it right.
3. Generate insights - Compass Data combines your data with its own contextual and online research. It doesn’t just regurgitate what’s in the spreadsheet. It looks for meaningful angles - like industry trends, company milestones, or job role challenges - and reflects those in the copy.
4. Create personalised copy - The output can be a sentence, a paragraph, or a complete message. You can tell Compass Data to insert the insight into a broader message, write multiple options, or follow a specific structure. Whether you’re generating this in-platform or having our team deliver it to you directly, you stay in control.
5. Review, edit, use - You get a table of outputs you can drop straight into email tools, LinkedIn messages, landing pages - wherever you need it. With the managed service, we can even deliver pre-checked, campaign-ready assets.
This workflow is fast. You can go from raw data to usable, relevant copy in minutes. And because Compass Data works line by line - generating for each contact individually - you avoid the repetitive, templated feel of batch tools.
Real output - before and after personalisation
Let’s look at the difference Compass Data makes in practice.
Here’s an example of the type of personalisation you can expect with traditional outreach tools, stop me if you’ve seen or sent an email that starts like this:
"Hi John, I saw you work at Acme Corp. We help companies like yours achieve better results with automation."
This kind of message is so generic it could be sent to anyone. There's no context, no relevance, and no value exchange. You’re making the recipient have to put in effort to determine if you’re worth their time - which is the exact moment they delete your email.
Here’s an example of what Compass Data can do using the same datapoints shown above (First Name, Company, Job Title):
"Hi John, I noticed Acme Corp has recently expanded into industrial robotics. That shift creates new pressure on your operations team - which is where our intelligent workflow engine can help."
That’s the power of insight. Compass Data doesn’t just personalise names - it personalises context.
We’ve seen clients:
- Reference industry trends specific to the recipient's company
- Surface recent news or strategic priorities
- Tailor language and tone to the role’s likely responsibilities
Even across large datasets, every message feels considered - because Compass Data works line by line, adapting its output to each contact.
And for teams using Compass Data as a managed service, these outputs are reviewed and packaged in the exact format you need: ready for email platforms, CRMs, or sales automation tools.
The results - why this works
Case Study: Northern Data Group
Northern Data Group used Compass Data to personalise outreach to more than 4,000 contacts across seven verticals in just two weeks. Each message included custom insights tied to job role, sector challenges, and recent company activity - delivered line by line through our managed service.
The results? A 52% increase in open rates, a 3.4x boost in replies compared to their previous outbound average, and an 18% lift in booked meetings. With no extra tooling or internal workload.
Personalisation isn’t about gimmicks. It’s about relevance. And when it’s done right, the results speak for themselves.
Clients using Compass Data regularly report:
- 50%+ increases in open rates compared to standard campaigns
- 2-3x higher reply rates on outbound outreach
- Substantial time savings - what once took hours of manual writing now takes minutes
Why? Because Compass Data surfaces insights that feel natural, not forced. Instead of guessing what matters to your audience, you’re drawing on real information - delivered with just the right context.
You don’t need a bigger team. You don’t need more tools. You just need to use the data you already have in a smarter way.
And with the managed service model, you’re not left figuring this out alone. We help you set up, test, and optimise - so every message is dialled in from day one.
Ready to personalise smarter?
If you’ve made it this far, you already know the old way isn’t working. Templates, tokens, and enrichment tools don’t scale the way you need them to.
Compass Data gives you a faster, simpler, more effective path to personalisation - from as little as one data point per contact. Whether you’re looking to test a campaign, unlock a new market, or scale outreach across thousands of leads, we’ll help you do it right.
Just share your goal and your data. We’ll handle the rest.
Drop us a message and we’ll walk you through how Compass Data could transform your outreach - no pressure, no jargon, just a quick look at what’s possible.
Transform your data into actionable insights
The best sales and marketing teams have the best intel, so get in touch to find out more about Compass Data
