Email marketing is an absolute must if you want to stay relevant with current customers and connect with potential new customers at the same time. According to McKinsey, email marketing is 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers than both Facebook and Twitter combined.
In 2017, there were 269 billion emails sent each day. By 2022, that number is expected to reach 333 billion. This year, customers will have more control over their privacy and the emails they receive.
As a business owner, it’s your job to build authentic relationships with your customers and deliver personalized emails they will appreciate. Make sure you stay up to date on email marketing trends so you can stay competitive and relevant in the marketplace.
Email marketing is constantly changing and evolving, and, to be great at it, you have to stay abreast of the latest trends and technology. Here are three things you need to know about email marketing this year.
Interactive email content will be king
Interactive content is anything email recipients can click on, swipe, or somehow interact with. And it’s perfect for email marketing because it increases open rates by 73%. Adding video content increases open rates by up to 300%.
And this is true for both consumer and B2B audiences. So what is the best interactive content to use in your email marketing efforts? According to one study:
- 69% prefer GIFs as opposed to 31% that prefer static content
- 65% prefer video as opposed to 35% that prefer text
- 82% prefer interactivity as opposed to 18% that prefer static content
And it only will continue to get easier for companies to send interactive email content. Google is currently rolling out a beta version of AMP for Gmail. AMP for Gmail is designed to make emails feel more interactive and to keep users from ever having to leave their inbox.
Interactive content is anything email recipients can click on, swipe, or somehow interact with.
Predictive email marketing will take over
Predictive analytics uses both past and current data to predict future trends. It can’t tell you what will occur in the future but it can predict what is likely to happen. This allows you to plan accordingly.
Predictive analytics can analyze your customers’ browsing history and shopping behavior to predict what they might buy in the future. This gives you a better idea of how to market to them and it helps you establish the lifetime customer value.
This information will help you determine:
- The best times to email your customers
- How often you should email your subscribers
- What your customers are likely to purchase next
- Ways to reward and retain current customers
- How to identify when a customer is likely to become inactive
Adobe recently announced they are introducing AI capabilities into their Experience Platform. This will allow marketers to use predictive analytics to send offers based on previous customer data.
Expect heightened concern over data privacy
In recent years, there have been a number of data security regulations rolled out. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which went into effect in 2018, was one of the most highly anticipated changes for businesses. It put limits on how companies can obtain and store personal data about their audience.
Then California passed a similar law, called the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. This imposes the following limits on businesses:
- Businesses must disclose how they obtained any personal consumer information.
- If asked, companies must provide personal information to consumers.
- The law restricts companies from selling or disclosing personal information.
These laws will continue to affect the landscape of business and email marketing. Companies will have to earn the trust of their customers and provide email content that respects customers' privacy.
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