Take your email strategy into the next decade with these marketing trends.
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As we move into a new decade, you may stop and ask yourself — is email marketing still relevant? When you consider the first mass email was sent in 1978 it’s a great question to ask.
You may be thinking, how can a marketing tactic that has been around for that long still be as effective as it once was? Well, email marketing has stood the test of time and evolved with the marketing world year after year and into several new decades — this one is no different.
From adapting to a mobile-first world to using predictive analytics to hyper-personalized content, email marketing is still one of the most effective marketing tactics available. In this article, we’ll take a look at a few email marketing trends that you’ll want to keep an eye out for in the coming years.
Here’s a quick look at the different trends we’ll cover:
- How hyper-personalization is taking over email marketing
- How predictive analytics can improve your customer experience
- Why incorporating user-generated content to make your emails stand out
- Tell readers what to do next with a clear call to action
- Why you should always optimize for mobile
4 Email Marketing Trends to Watch in 2020
Just as email had to evolve to meet the changing needs of a mobile marketing world, it needs to keep morphing to stay relevant in 2020 and beyond. With the help of new technology and data-driven tactics, you can expect to see email marketing continue to thrive in the years to come.
Now that we’ve established that email marketing isn’t going away in this new decade, let’s look at a few trends that will keep email marketing alive.
1. Implementing Hyper-Personalization
When we talk about email marketing, personalization always comes up as a trending topic. But what happens when our basic personalization tactics start to fall short? The more we begin to personalize things to our customer’s needs, the more they will begin to expect of us.
That’s why in today’s world, a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work. Simply adding a customer’s name to the subject line or sending a birthday email won’t cut it anymore. You need to understand your customers on a more granular level and provide them with content that is relevant.
Personalization is the future of marketing — but to be successful and stand out from the competition you need to take it a step further. Use the data you have on your customer base to provide them with a hyper-personalized experience that will encourage them to make a purchase. Image courtesy of Quora.
Here are a few different ways you can improve your email personalization:
- Recommend products based user shopping and browsing history
- Share ratings and reviews on the products your customers are interested in
- Create abandoned cart emails to remind them of a product they left behind
- Provide coupons to customers that you know need a little extra incentive to purchase
Taking the time to learn more about your customer base and target and segment your list will pay off in the long run. By providing them with the right content at the right time, it’s much more likely that your customers will make a purchase and eventually become loyal customers.
2. The Use of Predictive Analytics
Predictive marketing technology includes the use of predictive analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) to drive data-driven marketing decisions. Using this technology to drive what you send customers and when will improve your metrics while providing your readers with improved customer experience.
When you put them side-by-side, predictive analytics users outperform non-users in every aspect. If you’re looking to improve customer lifetime value and average profit margin, predictive analytics is the way to go. Image courtesy of Business 2 Community.
Predictive analytics uses your historical and real-time data to help predict what actions your customers will take next. This means you have insight into what products they may purchase, how often they will use coupons, and when customers may churn. With this information, you have the ability to get ahead of their actions and provide them with the content they need at the right time.
Here are a few examples of how predictive analytics can improve your email marketing:
- Predict what customers will have a higher lifetime value
- Identify customers who have the potential of churning
- Provide opportunities for upselling and cross-selling
- Identify where customers are at in their purchasing journey
With the help of these details, you can make data-driven decisions on how to reach each customer and improve their experience with your brand.
3. Incorporate User-Generated Content
User-generated content is a great way to take your email marketing to the next level. People like content that they can connect with and that’s exactly what user-generated content does. It shows readers how real people, just like them, are using the products and services that your company sells.
It’s been said that 84% of people trust online reviews as much as they’d trust a friend. So, by sharing positive reviews and promoting the experiences of your customers, you can help put that information right in front of them and start to build a level of trust.
If a product has no customer reviews, many people are hesitant to make a purchase. Some will simply be more hesitant while others will choose to wait and do more research. Only a small percent of shoppers say that if there are no online reviews won’t affect their shopping behavior. Image courtesy of Social Media Today.
There are a number of different ways you can incorporate user-generated content into your email marketing. Here are a few examples of ways you can share content from your customer base:
- Share testimonials and real customer reviews
- Use customer photos to show off your products
- Promote products that are trending among your subscribers
You can get as creative as you’d like in the world of user-generated content. The great thing about it is you’re able to tap into your loyal fan network and have them help create your marketing emails. That means less time spent on creativity for your email marketing teams and more time spent promoting your products.
It’s a win-win. Your customers will feel engaged and you’ll have time to develop other marketing pieces.
4. Make Your Call to Action Irresistible
Okay, this one might not be the most groundbreaking of the new decade, but it’s something you’ll want to get right in your emails. This is because it’s how your customer converts and you make sales.
Without a call to action (CTA) that stands out and lets your customers know what the next steps they should take are, they will be lost. You need to make sure the goal you have for your customers is as clear as possible.
It might sound like a no brainer, but CTAs are overlooked by many companies. Including a CTA and placing it in an easy to locate place will almost immediately boost your conversion rates. You’re only hurting yourself by not adding a CTA to your email marketing, so why take the risk? Image courtesy of Emma.
Do you want them to come back to their shopping cart? Rate a purchase? Or check out a new sale? Make it as obvious as you possibly can for the user, if the CTA gets lost in the mix, you won’t see the metrics you were hoping for and your customers may get frustrated that the email wasted their time.
Here are a few tips for creating the best CTA for your emails:
- Make sure it stands out with contrasting colors
- Use action verbs to encourage users to take the next step
- Include a sense of urgency around the promotion or discount
- Don’t let it get buried in the email content, place it near the top
An irresistible CTA will surely increase your campaign statistics and help your customers find the product they want quicker and easier. No sense in beating around the bush put the hard-hitting information right out in front.
Is your email marketing ready for the new decade?
The new decade is a time to look into new technology and ways to reach your customers on a more personal level. Take the guesswork out of your email marketing strategy and give your customers what they want with data-driven analytics.
Implementing these trends in your email strategy will take your current marketing to the next level and improve your customer experience. It’s time to take your email marketing into the next decade, are you ready?