Savvy marketers have always known that ‘the money is in the list.’ Effective email marketing techniques change rapidly and it is important to keep up with the latest trends. Here we take a look at five of the most important new ideas.
Advanced trigger sequences
Marketers have made good use of triggers in recent years, such as when a user abandons a shopping cart then the system can be triggered to send an automated reminder and perhaps a discount to encourage a successful sale. Email systems are increasingly integrated into CRM software (customer relationship management), and this will allow a much more powerful and fine-tuned use of triggers.
These actions can be individualized to each user, for example by tracking historical spending habits and how long it has been since they visited the site, tailored offers can be sent to their inbox to encourage long-term engagement.
Big Data and Artificial Intelligence
Your email list is not simply a list of contacts, it is also a very valuable source of marketing intelligence. Big Data has become a buzzword, but quite simply it means performing a large-scale analysis and extracting insights concerning information such as demographics, wealth, location and ages of your users. In addition to this, some email platforms are now integrating Artificial Intelligence methods into their software.
This could be used to predict the likely response of a user to email content or marketing offers. This means that deals or product descriptions could be tailored to fit the user profile exactly and offer a higher chance of engagement.
Mobile-optimized marketing<
Only a few short years ago, online web traffic passed the point where mobile users outnumbered desktop users. This lead to most websites being redesigned to offer a premium mobile experience in order to accommodate these chaining demographics. However, it has taken longer for this to be applied to the domain of email marketing.
When choosing graphics, fonts and text sizes, it is important to remember that the majority of people will now read your emails on a smartphone or tablet. By optimizing your content to shine on both desktop and mobile email clients, you will reach the widest possible audience.
Privacy concerns
2018 is the year where consumer privacy became a serious concern for many people. The realization that big companies were not always careful in handling sensitive data has encouraged some users to quit social media platforms. In addition to this trend, the European Union introduced the GPDR legislation governing how data should be used and safeguarded.
Must Read: 4 Reasons Why Your Email Marketing Campaign Is Failing
If you have customers in the EU, you will be obliged to comply with these new guidelines or face monetary fines. It is not simply a matter of legal compliance, as many customers will now view the way you handle their data as a reason to do business with you. By being pro-active you can turn this into a competitive advantage.
Interactive email content
Traditionally, if you wanted to interact with a user you sent them a link and enticed them to visit your site. Modern email clients have a rich suite of functionality built in which now allows the use of what has been termed ‘microsites’.
In practice, this means that interactive content can be fully embedded into the email itself, avoiding the need to visit a separate site. For example, many marketers make use of Solo Ads. Solo Ads are advertisements sent to a specific email list of subscribers. When creating your Solo Ad you could include video content, or you could have a customer survey which can be filled out and replied to from within the email itself.
