Email is dead, right? No, of course not! But the days when you could simply send a promotional email to your entire mailing list and watch the sales roll in are definitely coming to an end. As a resolution for your business in 2019, I suggest putting that tactic in the rear-view mirror and revisiting your email communication strategies. As Marketing Director at Cyberimpact, it’s my job to keep an eye on email marketing trends and the feedback we get from our users, and to share some of my predictions with you. So here, in my opinion, are the most critical email marketing trends for 2019.
Make way for segmentation!
If you add subscribers to your email list ethically, your database will be full of fans of your organization. In many ways, these people have already “bought into” your business and want to hear from you. At least at some point, you offered them value, a reason to subscribe. In 2019, you should keep building that personal relationship through segmentation. For example, you can segment your list based on your customers’ interests and the types of content your subscribers have historically engaged with. Segmentation lets you tailor your emails to the needs of your different types of customers. You’ll spend a bit more time creating your emails, but they’ll be more effective! Successful segmentation can deliver some very interesting results:
- Better open and click-through rates
- A richer relationship between your brand and your customers
- More relevant content and offers, and therefore a better conversion rate
If segmentation seems complicated and like a lot of work, I get it. But don’t let the size of the task intimidate you. You can start simply with one segmentation criterion and two versions of an email. Then you’ll be able to see whether your results improve.
Video will keep growing
In 2019, the use of video in email marketing campaigns will continue to grow in importance. As we can see on social media and on the web in general, people love consuming video content. Did you know it’s possible to embed a video directly in an email? Yes, I’m talking about a video that plays right inside an email, not just an image linking to YouTube or an animated GIF. Unfortunately, many email clients (like Outlook and Gmail) are lagging behind and don’t support video in emails. So you need to plan ahead and have a fallback that displays when the video can’t be played. But I think that in 2019, we can expect this feature to be increasingly supported and, as a result, to see more and more emails containing videos. If you have video content to share with your subscribers, why not give it a try?
Emails will become more and more interactive
Email marketing is constantly evolving. The new trend is to include interactive elements in emails. I’m talking about elements like menus, image carousels, accordions, forms, search bars, countdowns and more. These are elements people are used to interacting with on websites and mobile apps. So why not include them directly in emails? Letting your subscribers click within an email to discover additional content removes a step, since they don’t have to leave their inbox to visit a website or app. And because the vast majority of emails are still static, it’s a great opportunity to stand out! However, just like embedded video, interactivity in emails relies on HTML5. Unfortunately, it isn’t supported by every email client, so some of your subscribers won’t be able to experience it. That said, as I mentioned above, I think email clients (Outlook, Gmail, etc.) will gradually adapt. The future of email depends on it!
Automation is great, but not at any cost
Email automation is all the rage, and that’s no surprise: this tactic can help you communicate better while saving time. For example, automated emails are a fantastic way to start a relationship with a new customer by welcoming them and sharing important information. Cyberimpact users take advantage of automation with automated marketing scenarios! But not everything that can be automated should be. There’s one trend I’ve noticed that I really dislike: automated cold outreach emails. I’m talking about “cold” emails sent to someone who doesn’t know the sender and designed to look as if they were sent manually to one person. I think people can still tell the difference between an email sent by a human and one sent by a machine. Personally, this practice leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Not to mention that it probably violates Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation. Please, if you send cold outreach emails, do it strategically by choosing your “targets” carefully and sending your emails manually from your own inbox. Automation works wonderfully for communicating with people who know your organization and from whom you have consent. Invest in your content strategy to attract prospects who are interested in what you offer and, over time, build that relationship. Not only will your subscribers get to know your business, they’ll look forward to your emails and trust your opinion. Whatever you decide to do in 2019, remember that there’s another person receiving your emails. After all, effective marketing always relies on genuine human interaction. Good luck!