When it comes to harnessing the power of digital channels for marketing, email marketing grabs the top spot. Over 89% of digital marketers use email marketing as a solid strategy for lead generation. There are a couple of reasons why email marketing has taken off as a successful marketing method and will continue to be so.
- It’s speedy: Emails are delivered lightning fast to users across a particular geographical area and get to work much quicker than traditional marketing methods such as flyers, posters, snail mail, etc.
- It’s trackable: The single-biggest advantage of email chains? One can track user metrics, open rate, the user’s actions after they open the email (visit the brand’s website, engage with the content on the email itself, etc.). These analytics can arm marketers with powerful user insights, leading to better improvements in their future campaigns.
When it comes to email marketing in the coming year, the following trends are here to stay. These trends cover almost every aspect of one’s email marketing strategy and provide useful insights while ideating and preparing for campaigns in 2022.
Trend 1 – Personalization
2021 has seen a rise in customised, user-specific emails that lead to a higher open rate and greater value-addition in the lead generation process. Personalization ties in closely with audience segmentation, and various brands like Amazon, Spotify, Shutterfly, and Target have harnessed their user insights and delivered cracking email campaigns. 2022 will see a rise in digital marketers using analytics and insights to create more customised email sequences.
A few examples of personalised emails include – offers and discounts based on the customer’s product preferences, newsletters that cover events in the customer’s city/vicinity, and completely staying away from email headings that go like this – “Hello valued customer”.
Trend 2 – Interactivity
From AI-based games to VR experiences, recent tech developments have boosted interactivity in the digital marketing sphere. The coming year is proving to be fruitful for increased interaction between brands and potential customers, especially when it comes to email campaigns.
An example of an interactive email marketing experience is sending out monthly newsletters with opinion-based pieces linked to relevant polls and discussion threads on the brand’s webpage. Shareability, user-friendliness, and relevancy all tie into making your brand’s email campaign a memorable one.
Trend 3 – Microsegmentation
Say goodbye to segmentation in 2022, thanks to the increasing need for micro-segmentation. Micro-segmentation can be defined as a more advanced form of market segmentation that groups a number of customers of the business into specific segments.
Greater personalization of email campaigns requires more detailed insights into consumer behaviour and user demographics. While segmentation might simply be according to an audience segment’s age or gender, micro-segmentation takes it one step further by using the following parameters:
- Location/proximity to the brand
- Purchase habits and preferences
- Age group, gender, AND profession
- Travel history (preferred travel locations, previous travel history, etc.)
Micro-segmentation not only adds the personalization your campaign needs but also helps increase the open rate by 203%.
To sum up? You need micro-segmentation in 2022.
Trend 4 – AI, AI, AI
Hopping on the AI wave in 2022 might just be the push your email strategy needs. Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is still in its younger stages of development but holds an enormous amount of potential for digital marketing efforts.
Trends like interactivity and personalization closely tie in with your brand’s integration of its email campaigns with AI-based software. AI can maximise your marketing efforts, as well as save a considerable amount of time and money:
- It helps with predictive analysis
- Optimises send times and batches
- Arranges mailing lists
- Sorts and optimises survey results and email analytics
Trend 5 – Focus on Value, Not Open Rate
At first glance, open rate statistics paint a grim picture. However, an open rate of so-and-so percent will not determine campaign success, but the value-added to your emails will. Tracking open rates is slowly becoming an obsolete practice, due to the privacy settings various companies are rolling out for their users’ safety.
Moving forward into 2022, brands should focus on utilising different conversion metrics and imparting value instead of bland promotional efforts. Email campaigns, as an example, will focus on resource-based sharing that involves imparting industry knowledge, How-To’s, product uses, and general awareness to improve UX and brand image.
Trend 6 – Mobile-Friendliness
Here are a few stats:
- 85% of users use smartphones to access email.
- Mobile accounted for 46% of all email opens in 2018.
- 47% of consumers use a mobile application for checking their email.
2022 will pave the way for email marketing that focuses on greater accessibility. Optimising your brand’s email campaigns for mobile friendliness can help improve conversion rate, open rate and improve user experience. Ensuring that the attachments in the email adjust according to the size of a smaller screen and reducing the file size of all the elements in the email are the best ways to aim for mobile-friendly email campaigns.
Trend 7 – Great Design
Great email campaigns have equally great design. Appropriate themes, brand colours, uncluttered placing, and lots of visuals make for an engaging email campaign. 2021 saw many design apps gaining popularity due to their ease of access and vast design library. Email marketing in 2022 will focus on better designing, adding to improved UX and brand image.
Crisp and attractive newsletters, bright and visual-based email campaigns and personalization will dominate email strategies for brands across the globe.
Wrapping up
These trends, if utilised correctly, can greatly boost brand reach and engagement, all while ensuring your users get the most out of it. From a great design to tracking certain metrics, 2022 is a promising year for anyone crafting an effective email marketing strategy.
For more email marketing tips, check out these recent Marketing.com.au articles: