As someone who is in-tune with marketing, you know you can’t neglect email in 2023. We’ve got a few email marketing trends to keep an eye on this year:
Automation
There’s lots of research out there to back up this fact: email automation is your friend. Gone are the days when you have to type a separate email to every client in your address book. You can set up emails to send to different customer groups (potential customers, loyal customers, customers who clicked but didn’t buy, and on and on). You can send a welcome email right when someone buys, with a discount coupon inside good for their next purchase. And by “you can” I mean your automation system can, for you. All you have to do is choose an automation tool, import your content, group people how you want, and schedule—- and you’re off to the races. With lots of great option (like Mailchimp) out there offering free versions, there’s no reason not to give email automation a fair shake this year.
PRO Tip: When you do set up your email marketing, ask yourself these two questions every time—before you hit send:
- Is this email interactive (forms, media, connection to site and other channels)?
- Does it offer my customer something valuable? (Advice, resources, discounts, downloads, etc)
Using Customer Data to Personalize
This is on every marketing trends list, every must-have list, for a reason. Customers respond to personalization. And I’m not just talking about putting their name on an email (although that’s definitely a plus). I’m talking about setting up your email lists so that customers’ email sequences are personalized according to their buyer journey. You can do this by building things into your automation like:
- Sending a welcome email to new customers
- Sending a birthday greeting
- Sharing offers and discounts with loyal customers
- Reminding people who filled their cart but didn’t make a purchase
You’re probably not a huge corporation that can use big data to gather customer insights. But there are still things you can do to collect insights about customers that can help your personalization/automation efforts, namely:
- Gathering social media platforms’ insights and analytics
- Collecting Site analytics
- Linking these analytics to your email platform/Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Videos
iOS 10 now supports HTML5 video format (aka what allows you to embed videos in emails). This is definitely something to keep an eye out for if you can’t use it, and start trying it as soon as you can. Simply put, video enhances interactivity, delivers content in a whole new way, and makes viewing an email a lot less boring. If video embedding isn’t supported yet, you can link to your videos easily— and try adding a few GIFs now and then.
Omnichannel marketing
Omnichannel marketing sounds pretty sci-fi, but all it really boils down to is integration. When you have an omnichannel approach to your email marketing, you’re bringing together all your brand experiences:
- In store promotions
- Online presence
- Brand personality and story
And email is essential to building the bridges that make this kind of marketing possible.
Bottom line: Bulk emails are about to go the way of the dodo (if they haven’t already), and you’ll need integrated, lively, personalized to get (and keep) the cutting edge with your digital marketing strategy in 2023. Plus: social media platforms—and their algorithms—come and go, but email outlasts them all. So making it a priority in your marketing plan is one of the best things you can do.
Have questions about email marketing trends? Find the answers in our Insights section!
