Covid-19 has changed even the most basic aspects of our lives. So, it’s no news that this pandemic, among other factors, has had a significant effect on email marketing strategies. While the core concept of email marketing remains the same- targeting the right prospects with the right content at the right time- it is noteworthy that various other factors taking root in the digital marketing industry are changing the way we can optimize email marketing strategies.

In this post, we are going to talk about the major email marketing trends that marketers should look out for. Let’s get straight into it, then.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

If you’re a marketer, you probably spend a lot of time figuring out at which stage a particular lead is. Segmenting leads based on the funnel stage that they are at is an important step before you can start sending emails to them. This process can be made significantly easier by leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning.

An AI-powered system will allow you to set up email campaigns based on a lead’s journey and current stage. Such automation takes the customer’s data, such as their browsing behavior, into account before automating a drip campaign. Even before you reach the step of setting up automated drip campaigns, AI can help you segment your audience. The point here is that AI-powered systems can help you streamline everything that needs to be done to have a highly innovative and effective email strategy.

Here are the key areas where you can use AI to optimize your email marketing strategy:

• Audience segmentation
• Automated drip campaigns
• Personalization of subject lines and content
• A/B testing different aspects of the campaign
• Send-time optimization
• Retargeting campaigns
• Interactive Emails

Text-heavy emails can be great for spreading your word in a professional and direct manner. But whether this would work for you or not is largely dependent on the niche you are functioning in. For a lot of marketers, interactive emails are doing wonders.

If you think about how the content is being consumed in the present day, you’ll notice that videos, snappy content, and even memes, for that matter, are becoming increasingly popular. So, to leverage this situation, marketers ideally need to focus on content that’ll capture their audiences’ attention. Interactive content can then help in increasing the engagement rate for your emails.

And let’s not forget the fact that these days customers are more likely to respond to out-of-the-box content and ideas because the competition is much too high. By investing in making your emails more interactive, you’ll essentially be raising the stakes in your particular industry. Now let’s get to the elements you can include in your emails to make them interactive:

• Surveys and polls
• Hover-over images and video content
• Gifs and relatable memes
• Allowing customers to see the products right in the email
• Gamification (quizzes, prize draws, tests)
• Hyper-Personalization

We have already talked about personalization a bit, but considering that it still remains one of the key trends in the digital marketing industry, it’s worth mentioning again. By personalizing your emails, you are essentially letting your customers know that you are putting them at the center. ‘User intent’ is one term that has gotten a lot of attention over the last few years.

You can’t just send a mass email and expect leads or customers to engage with that content. No, you have to move beyond and collect all the possible data points that will allow you to target your lead or customer in a precise way. And hyper-personalization goes way beyond, let’s say, putting the name of the customer in the email. If you look at companies that are trying to engage their customers through email marketing, you’ll notice that they are going above and beyond the norm. Domain registration emails, birthday emails, personalized subject lines, incorporating cameo videos in the email, and creating specialized videos and decks for clients are just a few examples that are working for marketing and sales folks these days.

Everyone is aware that companies possess extensive data about their leads. Moreover, social media has practically made what we used to call personal information easily accessible for whosoever is interested. With all this information, customers or prospective customers expect to be treated to something other than a general email blast. Marketers need to keep these things in mind while building an email marketing strategy.

User-Generated Content (UGC)

Arata, a skin and hair care products company, is making extensive use of UGC, and it seems to be working for them. What they are doing is targeting leads with videos that show how exactly their products have to be used and display the end results. This type of content goes a long way to establishing trust amongst would-be customers because they already know how a product can add value to their lives.

UGC basically works as a testimonial and will also ensure that certain end-users are not just customers but brand ambassadors (who doesn’t like to be under the spotlight once in a while, right?!). Think of how case studies work for a brand- they show the experience of another customer, which eventually convinces the prospective customer of the competence of that brand.

You can make all the sales pitches you want but nothing works better than a testimonial from an end user. You can easily include photos, videos, and even text-based testimonials, such as reviews, from actual users of your products to go a step further than singing products’ praises on your own.

Email Marketing Automation

Email marketing automation is probably one of the most important trends that marketers need to look out for this year. If you haven’t heard of drip campaigns yet, it’s time you make yourself familiar with the concept. Drip campaigns or email marketing automation involves the sequences of trigger-based emails, which in contrast with sending separate emails at a certain time, automates the entire process of sending email sequences.

By leveraging email marketing automation, agencies or individual can make sure you are only sending emails to people who are actually interested and not annoying them with a chain of content that they want nothing to do with. Once again ‘user intent’ comes into play here- an email sequence will only be triggered on the basis of specific actions taken by the user.

Marketers will also notice that by leveraging this strategy, the engagement rate for their emails has increased. In order to execute an efficient drip campaign, marketers will of course have to rely on a good CRM platform.

Final Thoughts on Email Marketing Trends

In an era where technology is one of the most dominating factors, it is essential to leverage it in a way that adds value to people’s lives. The digital marketing industry is becoming prominent by the day, and with the competition increasing practically every minute, marketers have to get out of their comfort zone and delve into dynamic creativity.

Email marketing is a large part of any digital marketing strategy. The way consumer behavior is changing, in terms of content consumption and time spent on consuming digital content, marketers have a way to engage these users in a known but constantly evolving manner. Before you decide to go deeper into any of the trends, we urge you to consider the relevance of a particular feature for your company, company size, and industry.

While technologies like AI and interactive content may sound appealing, you have to make sure of the fact that using these won’t burn a hole in your pocket. On the other hand, there’s no reason you should shy away from incorporating hyper-personalization, user-generated content, and email marketing automation in your email strategies. These trends have a universal application, are easy to implement, and will help you get the most out of your email marketing strategies.