Email marketing is one of the most effective online marketing channels. An estimated 3.7 billion people use emails worldwide. This figure is likely to rise to 4.3 billion by 2022. And you want to be where your audience is, that is why you need to make the most of the current email marketing trends for 2019 and beyond.
You have to understand that being ready for 2019 does not mean you have to be aggressive and pushy. A latest DMA Insights Survey shows, 53% of consumers expressed that they receive too many unwanted and irrelevant emails from different companies. Rather, you should create a league of your own with time-tested and working email marketing tactics.
So, what are the trends you should watch?
1. Targeted emails – Personalization vs. privacy
Nothing new!
As email marketers, we aim to deliver highly relevant and valuable content. With the latest tools and features, and changing consumer expectations, the concept of “relevance” has changed.
Consumers have developed a distrust for data aggregators. They feel uncomfortable with brands purchasing and revealing their data. As a result, new regulations are likely to be formed in 2019.
Subsequently, consumers have certain expectations from brands. They expect personalized communication and web experience. In fact, 33% of consumers opine that companies recommending products not matching their preferences are the primary reason to unsubscribe from the mailing list.
AI and machine learning are playing key roles in marketing. These trends are likely to stay.
So, how do you ensure that your emails are relevant in 2019?
- Segmentation: Effective segmentation would be the norm in 2019. You have to send differentiated campaigns to contacts based on their age, sex, location, and buying behavior.
- Personalization: Customers prefer personalized and direct messages that speak to them. When you start the message with, “Hi John,” it is easier to relate than a simple “Hello there!” Now, you can add more advanced personalization features to your emails to connect with your users. Dynamic content plays a vital role here, and email is an indispensable promotional channel. For example, Netflix uses personalized film recommendations based on user views, or Amazon shows products relevant to the search or purchase history of the user.
Source: medium.com
- Automation: With email automation, you can reach the correct contact, at the right time, with a relevant automated message. It boosts conversion and increases brand loyalty. You can use Scriptly here to send a personalized birthday or anniversary message or reward users with a promo code after their first purchase on the site.
2. Interactive emails
Your emails need to attract the user’s attention. In this crowded field, use your email as a weapon to be exclusive and shine through. We are all fighting for the same goal.
Being interactive with your emails allows users to respond positively. It not only makes the email visually appealing, but it also eliminates the risk of friction. It further allows users to purchase without leaving their inbox. Interesting, isn’t it?
Email developers leverage latest tools like AMP4Email and Email Markup.
However, to deliver a seamless user experience, it is essential to make sure the email is responsive. Understand that over 50% of emails users are mobile. As a result, email templates should be designed for mobiles and other devices. Each of these devices has different screen sizes, which affects responsiveness.
To make it impeccable, use an open-source markup language like MJML, this is responsive and allows coding interactive emails quickly. You can then download the emails in HTML and proceed.
3. Establish brand connection
The marketing space is fiercely competitive and overcrowded. As a result, consumer loyalty is your only way to success. Target email marketing campaigns to establish a connection with the brand.
Source: yotpo.com
In the past, competitive price and promotional offers (discounts, deals) were enough to ensure your customers come back. However, consumers are more conscious today, which is making a remarkable difference and compelling businesses to work harder for customer retention and loyalty.
Establish an emotional connection between the brand and its users to foster the relationship.
In 2018, some brands started making an effort to put their values forward to bond with customers. Having a positive impact is very important. To do that, you have to master the art of storytelling. Consumers are warier these days. You cannot move them by aggressive or pushy selling techniques. Instead they are more receptive to brand stories and values. So narrate your story in such a way so that it appeals to your audience.
4. Data protection and privacy
2018 witnessed a new email marketing trend – data protection and privacy. The GDPR confusion allowed consumers to regain control over personal data and information. Companies were also compelled to adapt to new rules and ensure 100% compliance with the latest regulation.
Data protection shall be pivotal in 2019. Companies would continue to work on providing in-demand data protection and security to consumers.
ePrivacy is going to be the norm very soon. It is a cookie law you must follow. So, if GDPR hasn’t sunk, get it sinking real fast as a new change is approaching. With this new law in place, it may transform the way businesses target online users by allowing visitors to specify whether they want to accept cookies or not.
As a result, marketers must look at a new way of procuring data that could have an impact on the marketing channels.
5. Email marketing to grow as social media landscape declines
People are developing a distrust for social media companies. According to a Sailthru research, almost half of all consumers want to delete at least one of their social media accounts in the coming year whereas 40% claim to have already deleted an account in 2017. The simple fact is that it did not trust the network with their data and information.
Of course, that does not mean social media would disappear. However, marketers gradually realize that depending on social media heavily can be risky. Social media managers understood that organic reach was affected when Facebook monetized in 2012. Until 2014, organic reach dropped from 16% to 6%, which was huge. For pages as large as with 500,000 likes, the organic reach dropped to 2%.
AdStage found that Facebook Cost-per-thousand-ad-impressions (CPM) increased by 91% year-on-year from 2017 to 2018. But it is not a sustainable rate of inflation.
Whereas, email consistently topped the list of channels that users prefer to receive an offer from brands and businesses. As the list size increases, the cost of reaching your subscribers may not increase proportionately. It is likely to see companies investing more in building their email database and improving email programs in 2019.
6. AI to be more prevalent
The year 2017 and 2018 were predicted to witness massive growth in AI use and machine learning technologies. However, AI has not worked as expected. In fact, it has taken on more significant roles in marketing in 2018 and this trend is likely to continue.
Predictive analytics is also reducing the cost of micro-segmentation as well as less labor-intensive. It is more dynamic and makes real-time personalization more accessible for smaller teams of marketing. Today, marketers are writing high converting emails with subject lines guided by machine learning and AI. It can also help marketers time their emails. Besides predictive email marketing is also necessary to decrease churn by identifying the contacts that are likely to unsubscribe.
Companies using AI for email marketing find it better, stronger, and more personalized. It helps email marketers from coming up with effective subject lines to images and predicting how potential leads interact with an email. It further makes emails more and more personal and estimates when viewers may unsubscribe from the email list. Hence, AI for email marketing automation is increasing demand to such an extent that global automated email marketing solely is expected to account for $2.7 billion by 2025.
7. Partnerships
Over the past few years, marketing teams saw changes in size and budget, with teams expanding and more people working together on email campaigns.
Collaborating with new teams and big companies, looking for innovative processes and tools, and working in synergy allows teams to become flexible and productive.
For email marketing, this literally translates into involving more people in creating different campaigns. Both internally and externally, together with other agencies, teams work together for better productivity. However, it is important to fine-tune teamwork internally and avoid mistakes or miscommunication. It is the top priority of companies.
Besides, it is necessary to find the right tools and make the process easier. Email Planner is an excellent solution for team coordination and mapping out email campaigns.
Final word
Email continues to grow. The battle for user attention is only going to get harder. It would be quintessential to target contacts with relevant emails, alluring interactive designs, and cogent storytelling that connects the company with users.
Data protection shall continue to be the key factor in the way brands and businesses operate, and ePrivacy shall influence email marketing heavily.
Overall, in 2019, companies would work on becoming more effective in their email marketing communications.
If you need a helping hand and a trusted partner in growing your business via effective email marketing strategies in 2019 and beyond, don’t hesitate to contact us. We have the knowledge, skills and experience as well as the software tools mastery to help your business find more quality leads, convert them into paying customers and finally achieve a healthy growth rate.