Anyone with a basic understanding of marketing knows it’s a constantly evolving field. That’s why I’m sharing a forecast of the 2019 email marketing trends.
Email marketing is a sector that reinvents itself year after year, with its own unique advancements.
With ongoing technological growth and new opportunities emerging, it’s essential to develop a solid annual strategy that leverages these factors to the fullest.
Staying on top of email marketing trends is crucial to maintain a strong position in the market, with consumers, and against competitors.
Around 2.8 billion people use email as a form of digital communication, making it a powerful channel for reaching and building loyalty with clients and consumers.
It’s important to speak the language your audience expects, with all its nuances and specifics.
Let’s take a look at the key factors to stay ahead with 2019 email marketing trends.
2019 Email Marketing Trends
Greater Segmentation and Target Automation
Over the years, email marketing has evolved to deliver what consumers need and want, aligning marketing strategies with consumer behavior.
Today, you can automatically segment your email marketing strategy to achieve higher engagement with your audience.
If done right, targeted segmentation can yield response rates up to 18 times higher, according to studies. Since you only need to set it up once and automate it, the business benefits are clear.
Consumers interact with these types of emails six times more, and in B2B, annual revenue increases as a result.
We strongly recommend focusing on this aspect of the 2019 email marketing trends—don’t miss out on this opportunity.
More Text, Less Graphics
The era of heavily designed HTML emails packed with graphics, illustrations, and photos is over. For a while, big companies overused this approach, eventually overwhelming consumers.
Recipients now associate these emails with marketing spam—and that’s the last thing you want your messages to be mistaken for.
A smart email marketing trend is the return to plain text emails. They feel more personal, and recipients are more likely to see them as coming from a real person at the keyboard, not a faceless marketing machine.
This approach can boost click rates by 14% and returns by 10%—not bad, especially when combined with the previous point.
It’s a brilliant way to personalize automation.
Storytelling – Tell Me a Story
Now that we know plain text works best, the next step is to focus on the content—the actual email copy.
Your emails should tell a compelling story, with content tailored to your audience—something that grabs their attention and keeps them reading.
The ROI for this approach is significant, and any marketing expert knows that a good story can drive major business success.
Storytelling is set to be one of the top 2019 email marketing trends, and demand for this skill is only going to grow.
Mobile First, Please
As with other areas of design and digital marketing, personalization is everything.
The mobile sector continues to grow year after year, steadily overtaking desktop usage.
Statistics show that the first place most people check their email is on their mobile device, so one of the key email marketing trends is optimizing content for mobile.
Most mobile users have their email synced to their device for instant access.
53% of emails are opened on mobile, 23% are reopened later, and 73% of Gmail users access their emails via mobile.
Don’t miss this chance to reach your audience—make sure to include this trend in your 2019 digital marketing strategy.
Artificial Intelligence
While we’re still in the early stages of what AI will ultimately become, companies are already leveraging artificial intelligence to help marketing leaders develop more effective business strategies.
AI can predict consumer behavior, preferences, and how they like to receive content.
This increases engagement and loyalty, making recipients more likely to become real customers.
Conclusions:
Now that you’ve seen this forecast, it’s up to you to decide whether to incorporate it into your 2019 marketing strategy.
No matter what, the main focus of 2019 email marketing trends is the ability to personalize your emails and build stronger relationships with both end consumers and B2B clients.
Technology will allow us to communicate more closely with our customers and achieve a higher ROI.
Our main goal is to be seen as people, not just salespeople—so customers lower their guard and see us as partners who can help them with products or services for mutual benefit.