Editor's Update: Check out our refreshed post, first published in 2023, now packed with new insights on email marketing and AI! We've updated this popular piece to bring you the latest trends in email marketing - explore our latest content and stay ahead of all the latest in email marketing.
You might be wondering whether email marketing trends still matter. Are people still reading emails?
Well, according to research done by HubSpot, 4 billion people use email daily, and 37% of brands said they are increasing their email budget. Think of your habits and that of your colleagues, friends, or family. Are they still reading emails?
Now that we've established that, yes, email is still a valuable marketing tool, what trends should you incorporate into your existing email marketing strategy? Customers want to know businesses care about them and what they like; privacy is an increasingly important issue, and people want to be entertained. As we know, with our own habits, more and more people use their mobile devices to do business, source information, and read their emails. For many small business owners, their mobile phone is their office.
Let’s look at the top email marketing trends in 2024.
Trends In Email Marketing
Navigating the ever-evolving world of digital communication requires staying ahead of email marketing trends to remain ahead of the competition. Are you curious about the latest email marketing trends for 2023/20024? We'll discuss optimizing emails for mobile, which is essential given the vast number of active mobile internet users worldwide. Crafting responsive designs, utilizing AMP email technology for interactive content, and prioritizing a seamless mobile experience is crucial.
Next, let's explore email marketing personalization – generic emails are a relic of the past. Uplift your strategy by embracing customer segmentation, generating tailored content, and fostering consistent engagement to build trust. Interactive email marketing is another game-changer; whether it's quizzes, polls, or eye-catching visuals like GIFs and videos, engaging content boosts user interaction and satisfaction.
Finally, optimizing emails for mobile usage is not just a trend but a necessity. From refining pre-header text to using buttons for CTAs and paying attention to column layout, these practices guarantee a quality mobile experience.
Take Personalization To The Next Level
The days of sending out a standard email to your entire subscriber list are long gone; even just personalizing it by using the subscriber’s name is not enough anymore. Take email personalization to the next level through customer segmentation, tailored content, and building trust with consistent email engagement.
According to Mailchimp, your email subscribers should be treated like VIPs; as it is a privilege to be invited into their inbox, and this should be honored by letting them be the first to know about sales and new products. Customers want more—they want to know you are thinking about them even when there are no special offers, such as on their birthdays. Regular engagement makes them feel special and builds trust. Do you have subscribers with disabilities? Improving their user experience by including accessibility features in your email marketing shows them that you care.
Segmentation and personalization allow you to send the right content to the right users at the right time, and this is made easier with automation. If you know your customers check their emails after 9 PM, send the personalized correspondence at that time, and they are more likely to open up the mail and engage with the content.
Use data, analytics, automation, and artificial intelligence (AI) for hyper-personalization of your communication and create targeted customized experiences.
Make It Interactive
Some people like quizzes. They find it entertaining and rewarding to see how many correct answers they can get. Have you participated in a poll on Twitter or LinkedIn? Some consumers don’t want to read promotional emails with a lot of words—they want to feel part of a brand by engaging with its interactive content. An interactive email with elements that invite readers to tap, swipe, watch, or click increases user engagement.
However, not all clients want to engage interactively, and email marketers should personalize email content to work for this audience.
Why should you create interactive emails? It increases engagement, improves conversion rates and sharing, gets customer feedback, and generates more qualified lead generation. Have you heard of AMP Emails? Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is an open-source project originally created to improve the performance of web pages for mobile devices. It has evolved to allow recipients of AMP emails to engage with dynamic content directly in the message while keeping user data safe, as no third-party ad features are allowed inside AMP emails.
What are some of the interactive elements you can use for this second email marketing trend of 2023
- Shopping carts
- Product pages
- Image carousels
- Videos and animation
- GIFs
- Quizzes
- Polls
- Countdown timers
Email Marketing Protection: Make Privacy the Focal Point
For years we have been using customer data in digital marketing. In 2023, we will have to make privacy a focal point as people are getting serious about protecting their personal information and who they share it with. When you store information and there is a data breach, it can have very serious consequences. It can result in legal action, financial losses, and significant damage to corporate reputation and customer confidence.
Data privacy changes are starting to impact marketers' ability to access consumer behavior information. In recent years, protection mechanisms have been enacted to protect consumers, including the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CPPA), and Quebec's Law 25 (formerly Bill 64).
In September 2021, Apple launched a privacy feature called Mail Privacy Protection (MPP). This update gives Apple users the ability to prevent email marketers from knowing when an email has been opened, and it hides the user’s IP address. With Apple MPP, images are downloaded when an email is received, artificially increasing open rates and impacting engagement metrics such as click-to-open rate. And because the IP address is obscured, location data is less reliable.
What does all this mean for email marketing? It means that marketers must protect the consumer data they collect, move from third- to first-party data, and look beyond the basic open rate metric to measure the engagement and performance of a campaign. And above all, marketers need to create and deliver more engaging emails.
Optimize Emails For Mobile Usage
Statistics show that in 2022 there were 4.67 billion active mobile internet users worldwide, and 59.72% of global online traffic was performed on a mobile phone—and the importance of mobile marketing was highlighted by Google’s mobile-first approach over the last decade. We need to embrace responsive design, use AMP email technology to create interactive content, and give potential customers quality mobile experiences. Since email design elements used for desktop content do not translate well to mobile, what should we change to increase engagement?
Refine the pre-header text. Standard email marketing best practice places the focus on subject lines. With mobile, pre-header text provides extra characters that might encourage recipients to click. Make the subject line and preheader text one connected message and personalize the text.
Use buttons and not links. Bring Calls-To-Action (CTAs) as far up within the copy as possible and use buttons instead of text-heavy links. Buttons are more distinctive and easier to click when using a mobile device. Leave sufficient white space around the button to enhance user experience (UX).
Previews can lead to engagement. Space is limited on a mobile screen, so like your subject line and preheader text, make sure to give sufficient attention to the preview, as it can influence a user to engage with your email and click through.
Column layout matters. Use single-column layouts for text-based emails as they support skim-reading and allow for more pronounced headings. Multi-column emails are ideal when there is a variety of content, including images.
How to Use AI in Email Marketing?
To leverage AI in email marketing, follow these smart strategies:
- Subject Line Optimization: Use AI to draft compelling subject lines that increase open rates and engagement.
- Personalization: Utilize AI to personalize email copy based on recipient preferences and behavior, enhancing relevance.
- Data Analysis for Audience Segmentation: Employ AI tools to analyze email data, identify patterns, and group your audience based on interests and behaviors.
- AI-Based Email Marketing Tools: Explore tools like HubSpot, Mailchimp, Sendgrid, and others for AI-driven capabilities in email campaigns.
- Campaign Planning and Workflow Optimization: Plan campaigns and workflows using AI to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
- A/B Testing with AI: Improve subject lines and calls-to-action through A/B testing with multiple AI-generated versions.
- AI-Powered Predictive Analytics: Use AI for predictive analytics to enhance personalized email campaigns and subscriber engagement.
By incorporating these AI-driven strategies, you can optimize your email marketing efforts, saving time and increasing overall campaign effectiveness.
WSI has access to a global digital marketing network and can help you build a digital strategy capable of remarkable results. Do you want to know how to boost your current strategy with the latest 2023 email marketing trends? Contact us today.
