Email might be old school but thanks to technology that is affordable and easy to implement, there are ways to turn it into a powerful marketing tool. Not everyone is keen on using email marketing as part of their advertising & branding strategy but if you know the trick and trends in email marketing, then it can help you succeed a lot in your business.
Here are some of the trends in email marketing to help you reach your target audience:
1 – Interactive Email
Turn your email campaign into an extension of your website by using nice design elements and adding dynamic content. This can help increase engagement and conversions for your business. You can include animations, quizzes, games, surveys, videos, add-to-cart and click-to-purchase functions. For example, you are able to promote the latest Youtube video uploaded to your channel.
2 – Marketing Automation
Marketing automation allows you to respond to behavioral triggers of your prospective customers. With the help of Mailchimp’s algorithm, it will allow you to make the emails more personalized and make sure that the messages that you convey are relevant to your audience.
3 – Mobile first
Most people these days use their mobile phones to check their email more than they use their computer. Emails need to be designed for a mobile-first-world.
4 – Personalization and Segmentation
Emails sent to your audience should no longer make an individual recipient feel like he receives the same email as many others. The messages should be more personalized in such a way that your audience feels that you are reaching out to them on a personal level. You can start by addressing them by their first name. You can recommend products and services based on their purchase history or even give them freebies or discounts on their birthday or on the national holiday in their respective country.
5 – Triggered Emails
Triggered emails are a great way to attract potential customers. You can setup triggered email campaigns for new subscribers or those who might want to reorder after purchasing something. Or think about the famous abandoned cart email in e-commerce: whoever doesn’t finish the check out on the website but already left his email address, gets an email offering him a 5% discount if he now completes his purchase. This is a cost-efficient and effective way to get new customers, increase sales and keep your target audience engaged with your brand.
6 – Testing Subject Line Success
In order for you to have an effective email campaign, you should have a short subject line that captures the attention of your audience. Use emojis and a more conversational tone. You can test the effectiveness of your subject line by using different tools. Tip: there are tons of recommendations for good subject lines online.
7 – Predictive Marketing
Predictive marketing allows you to analyze the customer data such as the purchase history and website browsing behavior in order to better understand the needs, habits, and interests of your customers. This then enables you to draw conclusions and adapt your strategy.
8 – AI (Artificial Intelligence)
AI will be able to predict the content and offer that are most likely to drive an individual subscriber to convert, along with the best time of day and the frequency that is most likely to keep him engaged. The leading email marketing softwares such as Mailchimp are already getting better in this area and it’s just the beginning.
9 – Respecting Personal Data
You should be able to handle personal data well and not use it to your advantage. With the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) in the European Union, the use and collection of personal data needs to be regulated. Personal data should be used in such a way that it maintains the confidentiality and integrity of a person.
10 – Using Conversational Tone
A conversational tone creates a more genuine and personal interaction with your customers. You can ask questions and start a conversation in order to keep them engaged. Refer them to your social media profiles to interact with the community.
What trends have you witnessed recently in email marketing? Share your thoughts with us!
Email marketing at Digipave
At Digipave, we use email marketing for many of our customers, both in B2B and B2C. We strongly recommend the 4-1-1 rule. This means that out of every six email newsletters, four should be about one type of content (such as educational or entertaining, content that is new and interesting), one email is a soft promotion (product news, event happening), and one post can be a hard promotion with a clear call-to-action (“Buy now”, “Donate now”). Reach out to us for more information about this approach.