Is email marketing dead? For several years now, marketing experts have predicted the demise of this popular communication and marketing tool. However, the numbers paint a different story. Email use continues growing with global email users set to hit 4.3 billion users in 2022. Email marketing also delivers a massive ROI of $32 for every $1 spent in a campaign. Today, most businesses still rely on email for customer acquisition and retention.

As a business owner, you have to appreciate that email marketing is not static. The marketing technique has evolved over the years, and you have to embrace emerging trends to get the best out of your campaigns.

As 2019 comes to a close, it is time to start strategize your email marketing campaigns for 2020. Following are the 7 Email Marketing Trends you should keenly watch out for in 2020:

1. User-Generated Content –

It is tough to market effectively online amidst all the clutter and digital noise. You have to stand out, and this is where user-generated content comes in handy. For email marketing, this type of content increases the subscriber’s trust and compels them to engage with your brand further.

Such content includes reviews and testimonials by real customers. 82% of consumers find this type of content valuable. Many people today go online looking for reviews and testimonials in any form (text, images, audio and visual) before making a purchase.

To leverage this content in your emails, you have to incentivize and motivate your customers to contribute content. Such content connects with customers and email is an ideal tool to share it. Your marketing team should start leveraging such content in the next email marketing campaign.

2. Email Automation –

While email automation has been around for close to a decade, the technology keeps evolving. Big data and the emergence of advanced analytical tools make email automation one of the most effective marketing tools. It is now possible to target the right customers with relevant email content.

With advances in cloud services, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technology, email targeting will become easier in the future. This will enhance the customer experience and boost the efficiency of email campaigns.

It will also become possible to automate customer life cycle stages and workflows. Smart automation will boost the performance of email campaigns, increase the ROI, support A/B testing and much more.

Also Read: Top 10 Email Marketing Trends in 2019

3. Mobile Optimization –

49% of internet traffic now comes from mobile. As a marketer, this information is crucial as it affects your future strategy. In email marketing, this calls for mobile optimization for your customers to easily open their emails on any device.

Mobile now provides higher open-rates for emails than desktops. Your team has to start sending emails in a mobile-viewable format. This calls for changes in the coding, copy, images and overall design and layout. For the coming year, more people will open your emails on mobile devices. For this reason, you should implement changes to the copy and design of your emails to make them perfect for mobile viewing.

4. Interactivity in Email –

In addition to a multi-device responsive approach for your emails, you need to consider interactivity. Some trending interactivity features include animated buttons and calls-to-action, rollover effects to showcase product offerings, user-controlled Interactive image and product carousels and polls, user-generated interactive content and surveys.

5. Accessibility –

Marketers have to work harder to ensure even visually impaired subscribers can read their emails. Using Alt-text with every image will, for instance, make it possible for visually impaired readers to understand your emails.

A concise email copy will also boost accessibility. The use of shorter sentences, eliminating jargon and difficult terms and localizing your email content for global subscribers will also improve email accessibility.

Marketers can also design their emails for accessibility. This includes emphasizing real text in HTML and limiting all-image email templates. You should also create a strong visual hierarchy within the copy, consider the text justification, line spacing, use appropriate font sizes and high contrasting colors for easy reading.

6. Consumer Privacy Regulation –

The last few years have witnessed the heated debate over privacy protection when using online services. The passing of stringent privacy regulations such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) will have a great impact on digital marketing techniques, including email.

When collecting data and personalizing emails, marketers will have to consider these new rules to avoid hefty penalties. This is one of the most significant trends that will shape email marketing in 2020 and beyond.

7. Rise of Voice in Emails –

Voice assistants are all the rage with the biggest tech companies launching innovative software and hardware. It is only a matter of time before voice assistants start reading emails for users. The technology is already available that can allow readers to get their emails through voice and dictate replies in the same way.

Conclusion –

Email marketing is not dead but rather, it has evolved dramatically. The future is bright for email marketing and these innovative advances will refine it for the new business age. It is thus time marketers to start preparing for these coming changes.

Author Bio –

Benjamin Shepardson is the founder of NoStop Content. With an extensive career in digital marketing and web development, Ben’s knowledge of the industry has enabled small businesses to scale and grow through well-crafted content and strategy.

 

Also Read: Why Voice Search will play crucial role in Digital Marketing 2019?