How to Prepare your Emails for the Competitive Market
No matter how far we travel in time, emails are likely to be around. They have undergone a tremendous metamorphosis in the past years. What started merely as a channel for internal communication has evolved into one of the most powerful marketing channels that bring in the maximum ROI.
As the digital marketplace is getting more and more competitive, you must create emails that resonate the most with your subscribers. To make things easy for you in the coming days, we have curated a list of tactics that will let you build high-converting emails.
AI-assisted personalized email copy will get more popular
The majority of brands will go for AI-assisted personalized content in their emails. While this approach was popular with big brands with big budgets, it has slowly penetrated into smaller businesses too. Addressing the users by their first names will no longer suffice. Marketers will have to use customer data in real time with the help of predictive analytics and machine learning.
Brands will have to invest in BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification)
Cyber threats are constantly on the rise. So many brands are becoming victims of phishing and spoofing attempts. FBI’s 2021 IC3 report has revealed that 22% of all data breaches are due to phishing. BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) displays the logo beside the email message and helps in building brand credibility. It protects your brand from phishing or spoofing attempts.
The good news is that almost all the popular inbox providers are considering extending support to BIMI. So, it will grow to be a must-have from nice to have.
Cross-channel customer data will play a vital role in creating effective email marketing programs
The launch of Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection, App Tracking Transparency, and sunsetting of third-party cookies have compelled businesses to use cross-channel customer data in their email strategy. They will adopt customer data platforms and aggregate all customer data in a central repository. Consequently, it will help maintain data hygiene and mobilize data usage across different channels. It will, in turn, enable more relevant personalization, better segmentation, and smarter automation.
Marketers will have to switch to clicks and replies as performance metrics for emails
With the launch of Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection, users can hide their location and IP address. Also, it automatically downloads the tracking pixels without the email being opened. So, it can be misleading to record the open rate. Marketers should consider the click-through rate, replies, and conversions as performance metrics. Email open rate will no longer be a reliable metric to track.
Video email marketing will gain immense momentum
In the coming years, the usage of videos in emails will significantly increase. It will make emails more impactful for the readers while delivering intriguing storytelling to the inbox. With videos, you can facilitate communication and build better human connections with subscribers. It is great for generating donations for a non-profit organization, demonstrating a product, or promoting an event to get maximum footfall.
Micro-segmentation will become a best practice
The rise in AI-driven tools will give access to enormous subscriber data. Marketers will be able to segment their subscribers through advanced parameters, thereby contributing to a more personalized email experience. There was a time when people could segment according to basic parameters like age, gender, and geographical location. However, with predictive analytics, it has become possible to segment according to past interactions, previous purchases, and other relevant parameters.
More and more business owners will consider AMP emails
AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) has enhanced the website navigation experience for quite a few years. It has also entered the world of emails. The beauty of this technology is that it allows the subscribers to take action from the email itself. For example, You can send an event invitation email and let the users RSVP from the email itself. eCommerce industry marketers can incorporate AMP in their cart abandonment emails so that users can checkout without going to the app or website.
Currently, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Mail.ru, and FairEmail support AMP. In the coming days, many more email clients and inbox providers are expected to extend support for this trend.
The usage of interactive emails will grow significantly
Your subscribers are receiving hundreds of emails every day. To make sure that they engage with your emails, incorporate interactivity so that it encourages a dialogue. Mostly, emails are like a monologue but adding interactivity will prompt more users to take action. Interactive emails are still in the early stage of adoption. So, your brand can stand out by embracing this tactic.
Modular email templates will be the future
Email marketing is a complicated task with multiple processes. More often than not, brands have around 5-6 emails in production at the same time. Unfortunately, they are not well-equipped to meet the email production goals, especially when there is too much workload and resource crunch. The easy workaround for this problem is to use modular email templates. You can slice and dice these templates according to the purpose of your email and preferences. It is a convenient and effective alternative to email template production.
Customers will look for a consistent experience throughout the marketing channels
In addition to emails, you must invest in other marketing channels like social media, push notifications, and text messages. Whether it is the messaging tone or visuals, deliver a consistent experience throughout the marketing channels. For example: If you are promoting a new product through emails, convey the same message through your social media channels too.
Wrapping Up
Owing to the competitive bottleneck, marketers will leave no stone unturned to try innovative ideas in their emails. And the highlight is that email clients, inbox providers, and subscribers — all are getting more open to supporting these technical advancements. So, it’s a win-win situation for the entire email marketing landscape.
Just make sure that you have the proper technical set-up and strategy in place for the email strategy to work.
Featured Image by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash