Every business is evolving, and so is email marketing. The form began as a ‘bolt-on-to-other-platforms’ service used to promote websites and grow blogs. However, as businesses become more accustomed to using email in their day-to-day operations, email marketers must also keep up with the times to ensure their messages are as effective as possible.
Here, we’ll run down eight trends that are changing the way we use email.
Personal Touch Is Back
In the past, email marketing was about creating a generic email that addressed the widest audience possible. However, as businesses get more accustomed to using email in their day-to-day operations, marketers must start treating their customers with more personal touches.
Why? Because a business’s email clients, subscribers, and website visitors are all interacting with the brand through email. Therefore, the email content must relate to and engage with these individuals to create an impact and build trust.
According to HubSpot Blogs research, 26% of consumers want to receive personalized emails. Furthermore, the survey results show that 19% of consumers want to receive hand-written letters or postcards from business.
However, not all businesses can or should write their customers a letter. So how can marketers personalize their messages without actually speaking to their audience? By incorporating a personal touch into their strategy!
Many marketers are realizing the power of storytelling through email. Incorporating videos, infographics, and images into their email marketing allows them to craft personalized messages for their audiences. When done well, these tactics enable businesses to connect with their customers on a personal level.
Content Is The Key
More and more businesses are realizing that creating engaging content is the key to attracting and retaining customers. However, creating good content that resonates with consumers can be difficult. That’s why many businesses are looking to email marketing to help them create content that will engage their audience.
The problem is that many businesses don’t have the time to write compelling blog posts, create infographics, or film videos to promote their products. And even if they did, it’s doubtful these content would garner the same results as a well-executed email marketing campaign.
So, what can businesses do? They can hire freelancers to help them create content for their email campaigns or use software to quickly create engaging content.
For example, HubSpot Blogs found that 44% of consumers have formed an opinion on a product or service based on an email campaign. And that’s not all: the survey results show that 21% of consumers have made a purchase because of an email campaign.
Emails are proving to be a valuable tool for businesses of all sizes, especially when it comes to content creation. We recommend exploring content marketing strategy as part of your email marketing plan.
Email As A Real-Time Feedback Loop
In the past, when a business received orders or feedback from customers, they’d compile this data into a report and send it to the relevant people to follow up.
However, today’s businesses can’t be effective if they’re only relying on these reports, because, ultimately, people have to use the products or services in order to provide feedback.
Instead of just sending out a report, businesses can and should monitor these orders and feedback in real-time. The digital marketing firm HubSpot Blogs found that 36% of consumers want to receive email alerts or updates about their favorite products and services. This is especially beneficial for businesses that operate in several locations or have a lot of vendors that they work with, because they can use email to quickly and efficiently keep track of all these interactions in real-time.
In other words, the digital marketer can see everything that’s going on at any given moment, which gives them the power to act with more precision and effectiveness. When every bit of data is available, even the tiniest changes can be tracked and improved upon. In turn, this creates a continuously evolving learning curve that only helps the business move forward.
Video Is The Future Of Online Marketing
According to HubSpot Blogs research, consumers want to receive videos in their inboxes. Furthermore, the majority of consumers (63%) want to receive video alerts about products or services. This is especially beneficial for businesses that want to engage consumers on a personal level and provide them with useful information.
However, videos can be extremely time-consuming to produce, which is probably why only 22% of businesses have videos in their inboxes. To remain competitive, businesses must incorporate videos into their email marketing strategy. This can be done through paid or organic videos.
Paid videos require expensive cameras, lights, and professional editing suites. But, if you want to create a truly unique and valuable piece of content, then you’ll have to invest in these resources. As a business owner or operator, it’s your call whether you want to spend money on videos or not. But, in all cases, you must have a strategy and plan to make the most of this resource.
Infographics Are On The Rise
While videos are gaining popularity, infographics are quickly becoming a popular choice among businesses. According to HubSpot Blogs research, consumers want to receive infographics in their inboxes. Furthermore, the majority of consumers (62%) want to receive infographics about products or services they’re already familiar with.
Additionally, the data shows that consumers want to receive infographics in creative formats, such as calendars, posters, and brochures. Essentially, businesses must understand that consumers have different contact lenses through which they consume information, and so should the information being provided by the business. They also have different ways of interacting with this data, which means businesses should use these facts to their advantage.
With infographics, you can incorporate a lot of useful information into a concise and attractive package. And, because businesses are creating these pieces of content when they have more time, it’s relatively easy to get good results without investing too much effort. Furthermore, infographics can be shareable via social media, meaning your business can potentially reach a larger audience.
Interactive Email Design
Email design can also be considered ‘interactive’, which means it can incorporate various forms of media, such as images, videos, and links.
Not only do consumers prefer to receive interactive emails, but according to HubSpot Blogs research, 36% of consumers want to contribute or add to an existing conversation. Additionally, 24% of consumers want to receive notifications about offers and discounts related to the products or services they’re interested in.
If you’re looking to create a more personal connection and engage your audience, then consider using interactive email design.
Content Is More Than Just Words
While words are important, businesses must not forget about the importance of visuals and other content, such as videos and infographics. According to HubSpot Blogs research, consumers prefer to receive visual content, such as infographics, rather than just words. Additionally, the survey results show that consumers want to see the ‘value’ of a product or service before purchasing it. This means that visuals are proving to be a useful tool for businesses, especially when trying to promote a new product or service.
For example, HubSpot Blogs found that, in general, consumers prefer to receive information in pie charts, graphs, and visuals, rather than just in text form. This is extremely beneficial for businesses, because it takes the guesswork out of interpreting complex numbers and stats. Furthermore, visuals are far more effective and have a greater reach than text-based marketing. For these reasons, visuals are playing an ever-increasing role in online marketing.
As businesses evolve with the times, so does email marketing. However, regardless of the industry, it is crucial to ensure that the information put out by the business is both informative and engaging.